Jurassic Park: The Ride (Universal Studios Hollywood)
Encyclopedia
Jurassic Park: The Ride is a water-based amusement ride
Shoot-the-Chutes
Shoot-the-Chutes is an amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a ramp or inside a flume into a lagoon. Unlike a log flume, a Shoot-the-Chutes generally has larger boats and one single drop....

 that is based on Steven Spielberg's
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

 hit film Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...

and Michael Crichton's
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...

 novel located at Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood is a movie studio and theme park in the unincorporated Universal City community of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood movie studios still in use...

. The ride was actually researched and built while the Jurassic Park film was still in its production phase. It opened on June 21, 1996. Duplicates of the ride have since been built at Islands of Adventure
Islands of Adventure
Universal's Islands of Adventure is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It opened May 28, 1999 as part of an expansion that, along with CityWalk Entertainment District, the Portofino Bay Hotel, and Hard Rock hotel, converted Universal Studios Florida into the Universal Orlando Resort...

 and Universal Studios Japan
Universal Studios Japan
, located in Osaka, is one of four Universal Studios theme parks, owned and operated by USJ Co., Ltd. . The park is similar to Universal Orlando Resort, since it contains many of the same rides. Most visitors are Japanese tourists or tourists from other Asian countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong,...

. A river rapids
River rafting ride
A river rafting ride is an amusement ride that simulates whitewater rafting.-History:The river rapids ride concept was proposed by Bill Crandall and developed by Intamin AG...

 version of the attraction, which is entitled the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure
Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure (Universal Studios Singapore)
Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure is a raft water ride located in The Lost World zone at Universal Studios Singapore in Resorts World Sentosa, Sentosa Island, Singapore...

, opened in Universal Studios Singapore
Universal Studios Singapore
Universal Studios Singapore is a theme park located within Resorts World Sentosa on Sentosa Island, Singapore. It was a key component of Genting's bid for the right to build Singapore's second integrated resort. On 8 December 2006, the Singapore government announced that the consortium had won the...

 in 2010, and will be opening soon in Universal Studios Dubailand.

Opening

Among the guests in attendance at the ride's grand opening celebration in 1996 were film cast members Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...

, Ariana Richards
Ariana Richards
Ariana Clarice Richards is an American actress and professional painter. She is best known for her roles as Mindy Sterngood in Tremors, Lex Murphy in the film Jurassic Park, and as Carol Wetherby in the film Prancer....

, and Joseph Mazzello
Joseph Mazzello
Joseph Francis Mazzello III is an American actor who is best known for his roles as Tim Murphy in Jurassic Park, Eugene Sledge in the HBO miniseries The Pacific, and Dustin Moskovitz in The Social Network....

. Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

 also attended the opening, but requested that he be let off of the attraction before the 84 feet (25.6 m) drop (he apparently makes this request every time he rides the attraction).

Queue and Pre-show

The ride is designed to have the feel of Isla Nublar. Guests begin the queue by walking under the Jurassic Park Sign before waiting under an open-wall building. A tour guide appears on television monitors in the building, reviewing boarding and ride safety. Guests are then split into two lines to board their tour boats for the ride.

Ride

The ride starts with a raft entering the gates of "Jurassic Park". The riders encounter many dinosaurs, such as Ultrasaurus
Ultrasaurus
Ultrasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur discovered by Haang Mook Kim in South Korea. However, the name was first used unofficially in 1979 by Jim Jensen to describe a set of giant dinosaur bones he discovered in the United States...

 and Stegosaurus. As the raft is about to enter an area called Hadrosaur Cove, a parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was an herbivore that walked both as a biped and a quadruped. Three species are recognized: P. walkeri , P. tubicen, and the...

 pops up in front of the raft, followed by a second. The Jurassic Park Animal Control calls, revealing that the second parasaurolophus threw the raft off course, causing it to enter the raptor
Velociraptor
Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...

 containment area, which is shown to be heavily damaged.

Riders next encounter what appears to be an abandoned tour raft, where a Dilophosaurus
Dilophosaurus
Dilophosaurus was a theropod dinosaur from the Sinemurian stage of the Early Jurassic Period, about 193 million years ago. The first specimens were described in 1954, but it was not until over a decade later that the genus received its current name...

 is seen eating the remains of a poncho. A nearby motorboat is also abandoned. Apparently, the boat had been sent by Jurassic Park Animal Control to guide the raft towards a safe area, but the Dilophosaurus appears to have killed the tourists and boat crew.

The raft then heads towards the park's water pumping station. A crushed Jurassic Park tour vehicle falls from the top of a wall overhead and nearly crushes the riders below as Dilophosauruses jump out and spit their toxic venom (water) at guests. When night falls, sparks and flood lights are added to the effect.

The raft then enters the massive Environmental Systems Building and slowly begins to ascend a long lift hill. A voice on a loudspeaker in the building alerts guests that an emergency evacuation is going to be attempted. As the raft makes its way up the lift hill, numerous alarms are heard as escaped Velociraptors lunge out at guests. Once the raft reaches the top of the lift hill, it drops down a small waterfall and is attacked by a Tyrannosaurus. A claw falls from the ceiling followed by a set of collapsing pipes above riders' heads.

A technician begins counting down when the building's life support systems will terminate (due to "toxic gases" released during the Tyrannosaurus encounter). The raft climbs a small lift hill that brings it closer to the emergency evacuation drop. A second technician screams "If you can hear my voice, get out of there! It's in the building! IT'S IN THE BUILDING!"

The Tyrannosaurus then emerges in front of the raft, and lunges down to grab the raft, and the raft escapes by plunging down an 85 feet (25.9 m) high near-vertical evacuation drop and into a tropical lagoon outside the Environmental Systems Building. A Dilophosaur tries to squirt "venom" at the passengers one last time. The raft finally makes its way to the unload dock where guests disembark the ride through the Jurassic Outfitters gift shop
Gift shop
A gift shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs....

, where they may purchase Jurassic Park themed souvenirs, including photographs of themselves on the ride during the drop.

Jurassic Park in the Dark

During Universal Studios Hollywood's annual "Halloween Horror Nights
Halloween Horror Nights
Halloween Horror Nights is an annual Halloween event that occurs at Universal Orlando Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Singapore. Universal Studios remains operational during the day and transitions to Halloween Horror Nights at night...

" in 2009, the ride was temporarily renamed "Jurassic Park in the Dark." Most of the lights inside the Environmental Systems Building near the end of the ride were turned off, with only strobe lights illuminating violent scenes of raptors tearing apart scientists and game wardens. The tense Jurassic Park score usually heard during this portion of the ride was replaced with "Welcome to the Jungle
Welcome to the Jungle
"Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on its 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. It was released as the band's second single on October 3, 1987, and reached number #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number #24 on the UK Singles Chart...

" by Guns 'N' Roses.
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