Dinosaur is the headline attraction of Dinoland and while the ride offers thrills, amazing animatronic figures, and a compelling storyline, the ride has fallen into an unfortunate state of disrepair. First off, the attraction’s name does not effectively describe the ride or its experience. However, the attraction’s original name, Countdown to Extinction, was far more enticing. As far as the ride itself, I would make sure that all the effects were restored to their original working condition. For example, Guests riding today might not know that the Pterodactyl originally swooped down at the Timer Rover and the Compsognathus leapt over the vehicle as it passed by. In addition, there are multiple lighting and smoke effects that were originally part of the ride that are no longer working.
I would also take the opportunity to “plus” Countdown to Extinction with enhanced show scenes to make the experience even more immersive. Dinosaur shares the same track layout as the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland, but where the two differ is in the amount of detail featured on the ride. Whereas Indiana Jones has elaborately themed and detailed scenes, Dinosaur is very dark with lighting that mostly just highlights the large animatronic figures while paying little attention to their surroundings. I would seek to enhance the attraction by building up the environments around the animatronic figures. A good example of this comes from some of the original concept art for the attraction:
The overall theme of Dinoland would be divided into two parts: the institute and the excavation site. The institute section would be home to Countdown to Extinction and also feature a new sit down restaurant where Guests would dine in a museum setting among massive dinosaur skeletons, fossils, and other exhibits. Picture something along these lines only with tables scattered amongst the dinosaur bones:
The excavation site would have the look and feel of a working paleontological dig and would include the current Boneyard playground, which I would enhance with some sort of interactive scavenger hunt akin to Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom or the Agent P World Showcase Adventure, in addition to the existing Restaurantosaurus counter service restaurant. The area would become far more detailed and immersive than its current state with a tremendous amount of rockwork meant to resemble the Black Hills of South Dakota.
This part of Dinoland would expand, take the place of Chester and Hester’s Dinorama, and would be home to an attraction that was originally planned for the park known as The Excavator.
The Excavator would have fit in perfectly with the backstory of Dinoland. For those of you that don’t know the tale, Dinoland started out as the site of a sand and gravel company. One day, as workers were digging up sand to load into a waiting dump truck, they uncovered a massive dinosaur bone. Scientists were then called to the scene and discovered that, just below the surface, was the paleontological find of the century. A wealthy benefactor for a local college immediately swooped in and bought up the sand and gravel pit.
That same wealthy benefactor became obsessed with why it was that so many perfectly preserved dinosaur skeletons could be found in this one spot. The only way to solve this particular mystery was to travel back in time and then attempt to observe whatever it was that actually caused this massive dinosaur extinction. The wealthy benefactor thus poured billions into the creation of the Dino Institute, whose research resulted in the invention of the Time Rover.
In this original backstory, the Excavator was supposed to be a piece of equipment which was left over from the site's sand and gravel pit days, a series of ore cars that had once been used to haul materials up out of the heart of this pit to the area where the dump trucks got loaded up. Over time, due to over-digging and as the sand in the pit began to shift, the Excavator became unsafe to operate. The sand and gravel company then shut down the ore cars and the Excavator stood empty and abandoned for a few years, becoming even more rickety and unsafe.
Then, when the wealthy benefactor bought the sand and gravel pit, he sent in groups of college students to work on the site. These college students then decided to put this old and unsafe piece of mining equipment back to work again, allowing them to use the old, rusty ore cars to haul some of the larger dinosaur bones that they've discovered.
As Guests move through the queue for this attraction towards the load area, they would walk past dozens of "Condemned" signs in addition to all sorts of safety barriers that the sand and gravel pit's workmen had set up that the college students have recently pulled down. The ride itself would be a wooden roller coaster that takes Guests past antiquated pieces of mining equipment, dodging around massive dinosaur bones and fossils, and careening through unstable mine shafts that could collapse at any moment.
This wild and crazy ride would be similar to the experience of Big Thunder Mountain but “plussed” with new technology. In fact, I think the Grizzly Mountain Mine Cars from Hong Kong Disneyland provide an apt comparison:
With The Excavator, an improved Countdown to Extinction, and the removal of Chester and Hester’s Dinorama, Dinoland USA would become a much more cohesively-themed land. Dinosaurs are creatures that captivate people of all generations and I feel that Dinoland in its current incarnation does not satisfy our curiosity of these creatures. This new Dinoland would do more justice to the land’s dinosaur theme and offer Guests two exciting and thrilling attractions.
