Countdown to Extinction: Dinoland USA Appreciation

[WorldExplorer]

As the meteor draws nearer, I thought we could have a thread for the land. I go in every day I can and each time I just really want to talk to someone about it, so here it is. For Dinoland details you like, memories or stories you have, favorites parts, things you wish they did, whatever you would like to talk about.

It's a great land and I think there are a lot of things that go unnoticed but die hard theme park fans would appreciate, so I would like to highlight them here.

To kick it off with something simple you've probably at least heard of, here's one of my favorite things in the land; every O'saurus I could find! For those of you who don't know the story, "Restaurant O'saurus" started out as just Restaurant. Then one of the paleontology students put "O'saurus" at the end of it. Everyone thought it was so funny that it became a running gag and now you can see "O'saurus" added at the end of everything. Even their bar is called Lounge O'saurus!

I'm currently in Dino-Rama on my phone as I type this so I'll adjust the size later and put them under a spoiler for now;

Spoiler: O'saurus

(From the Boneyard)

This little scavenger hunt mainly takes place in Restaurant O'saurus (and the noted Boneyard one), but Chester and Hester's Dino Treasures used to have its own; a crate labeled Coke Cola O'saurus. It disappeared for reasons I don't know.

And of course; Cementosaurus and the Chimpmunkosauruses are the same thing but not technically part of the joke.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Thanks for documenting all of the -osaurus! That's a cool detail I never knew about or noticed.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Dinoland was always one of my favorite areas in the park growing up, especially before Everest was built. I remember playing in the Boneyard while my older brothers were riding Dinosaur. I also have a soft-spot for Dino-Rama, despite it's cheapness. As a kid, I loved Primeval Whirl, especially as it neared dusk and the lights were on.

But there's nothing to compare with Dinosaur. I remember my absolute horror the first time I rode it. And my absolute glee every subsequent time. It's definitely the ride I have watched the most POVs of on YouTube, keeping tabs on the animatronics, but also just to feel the excitement of Seeker's narration! If I'm lucky enough for it to still be open when I visit next summer, I will cherish my final memory of it! It's truly a one-of-a-kind experience all-around, and I will miss it dearly.

 

[Nottamus]

I will always remember my wife and I- on our first Disney trip 10 years ago.

We had a fast pass for dinosaur - it was like 4th day in the trip- as as we approached, we were greeted by the “do not ride if you have this condition” sign.

And even though we didn’t have those conditions - we chickened out! Went home without riding it

We booked our second trip for 6 months later when we got home, and rode dinosaur the first day - and loved it! Haha

Can’t believe we let a warning sign scare us off!

 

[Worldlover71]

I had the privilege of meeting the great Miss Phylicia Rashad many years ago and shortly after that meeting, visited Animal Kingdom for the first time. Much to my surprise, when I got to Dinosaur, there was my new "friend" up on the screen as Dr. Helen Marsh! I'm looking forward to the Indy ride, but I'll miss my small connection to Dr. Marsh.

 

[JIMINYCR]

During our early trip years my DS was at the young age when Dinosaurs were fascinating to him. All he talked about was Dinos. So DinoLand was a priority for our first AK visits. He was thrilled, although somewhat frightened by viewing the Dino who wanted to eat him on the ride through. We went on repeated rides until he had his fill of the Dinosaur ride. We still have great photos of him with the Dino statues at the front of the land. It has remained one of our fav rides even now that he is an adult.
Another great memory was being able to be on the trip when Lucky the dinosaur walked the property.
So sad to see it go but looking forward to having a great Indy ride.

 

[WorldExplorer]

Thanks for documenting all of the -osaurus! That's a cool detail I never knew about or noticed.

There are more, at least three (plus three more that are on the DVC booth and not part of the joke), I've taken the pictures so far apart they get lost. I'll need to put them in some kind of album link since the forum only allows ten pictures per post.

I'm also hoping there's a photo of Coke Cola O'saurus somewhere in this phone.

 

[cookiee_munster]

As the meteor draws nearer, I thought we could have a thread for the land. I go in every day I can and each time I just really want to talk to someone about it, so here it is. For Dinoland details you like, memories or stories you have, favorites parts, things you wish they did, whatever you would like to talk about.

It's a great land and I think there are a lot of things that go unnoticed but die hard theme park fans would appreciate, so I would like to highlight them here.

To kick it off with something simple you've probably at least heard of, here's one of my favorite things in the land; every O'saurus I could find! For those of you who don't know the story, "Restaurant O'saurus" started out as just Restaurant. Then one of the paleontology students put "O'saurus" at the end of it. Everyone thought it was so funny that it became a running gag and now you can see "O'saurus" added at the end of everything. Even their bar is called Lounge O'saurus!

I'm currently in Dino-Rama on my phone as I type this so I'll adjust the size later and put them under a spoiler for now;

Spoiler: O'saurus

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(From the Boneyard)

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This little scavenger hunt mainly takes place in Restaurant O'saurus (and the noted Boneyard one), but Chester and Hester's Dino Treasures used to have its own; a crate labeled Coke Cola O'saurus. It disappeared for reasons I don't know.

And of course; Cementosaurus and the Chimpmunkosauruses are the same thing but not technically part of the joke.

well isn't that just amazing-osaurus

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I suspect everyone knows this, but the Dinosaur ride was once sponsored. As such, the pipes above the loading area are still painted to look like ketchup, mayo, and mustard and what looks like a combo of scientific plant names +chemicals that are the ingredients of the 3 condiments. For example, the red pipe says: Lycopersicon lypcopericum (tomato), C6H12C6 (glucose), CH3COOH (acetic acid/vinegar), NaCL (salt), Allium sativum (garlic).

During the year of a Million Dreams, We were surprise-greeted by a team of CM's as we exited the Dinosaur preshow. They gave everyone YoMD themed Mickey ears. That was a fun one. Not one of the biggest prizes they handed out that year, but still a very fun, unexpected extra. It is almost hard to imagine today's WDW handing out bonus freebies like they did that year. Phew! That was a different Disney era!

Still, walking into that concrete hallway reminds me of that fun memory.

 

[WorldExplorer]

It's funny, of all the things in Dinoland, the condiment one is definitely the thing I see referenced as a trivia point the most often. It's a fun one, in the flagship ride, and doesn't require any context to make it amusing, so I guess that explains its popularity.

To add something else interesting in Dinosaur, here are some attempts to get a clear photo of the whiteboard right before you time travel. It looks like they let the cast members mess with it.

Spoiler: Dinosaur Whiteboard

I would like to try and get shots of all the security stuff, but the car only stops for a couple of seconds, so it's slow going. For now, the most important thing is that there's been a SpongeBob reference on Dinosaur for who knows how long.

During the year of a Million Dreams, We were surprise-greeted by a team of CM's as we exited the Dinosaur preshow. They gave everyone YoMD themed Mickey ears. That was a fun one. Not one of the biggest prizes they handed out that year, but still a very fun, unexpected extra. It is almost hard to imagine today's WDW handing out bonus freebies like they did that year. Phew! That was a different Disney era!

Still, walking into that concrete hallway reminds me of that fun memory.

That sounds so sweet! To go on a tangent, I got one of those, too. I "drove" a car at Lights Motors Action with a remote control (not really, of course).

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

It's funny, of all the things in Dinoland, the condiment one is definitely the thing I see referenced as a trivia point the most often. It's a fun one, in the flagship ride, and doesn't require any context to make it amusing, so I guess that explains its popularity.

I just find it a bit odd the pipes were never painted over.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Of course the two dino skeletons are also Chicago based replicas from the Field Museum.

The brachiosaurus mold or Olden Gate Bridge was not only at the museum but also at Terminal 1 at O'Hare airport..
Olden Gate at Dinoland

Brachiosaurus at Field Museum

Same Brachiosaurus mold at O'Hare airport

And of course There is SUE..
Field Museum prior to her permanent exhibit upstairs.

And her Mold replica at the entrance of the Dino Institute..

I do hope Disney intends to keep the Sue one at least for something to keep the Future in the past.

 

[WorldExplorer]

I would like to highlight the Boneyard.

(Established 1947)

(Note: I do not have pictures of everything I talk about here because there tends to be kids all over everything.)

The cool thing about the Boneyard is that I had absolutely no clue so much stuff was inside the Boneyard. I knew in the story of Dinoland it was where they were digging up the bones, but I figured it was a big mass of slides and squishy floors with some vague bone decorations.

It actually puts a lot of effort into selling the concept, though. In the Boneyard you will find, accompanying the various fossils, paleontology reports from students and professors. For example, in one area you’ll find two triceratops skulls locked together by their horns, and sure enough nearby you can read the paleontologists discussing how they got like that!

Spoiler: Large Image

You may have noticed that in the very center of the yard is a giant pile of fossils and bones. Well, here is a board inside that details what can be learned from that pile, supposedly from a lecture;

(If you noticed the names, that's a whole other thing I would like to go over in full later. Also, note that the lecture is at seven. I don’t know what’s been up historically, but as far as I know the Boneyard has not been open at 7 AM in recent memory. So it always happened this morning, when you weren’t here yet. Clever!)

And it’s not just signs, either. There's a full set at the top where the paleontologists work and hang out;

They have a pet dino;

Most adults will never go in there, most of the ones that do will be busy watching their kids, and most kids aren’t going to read the notes next to the slide. Yet they put the effort in. I love that.

One more fun thing; I'm pretty sure the Boneyard is the only place in Disney World that has themed water fountains (outside of, like, "we put wood around it").

Here are two that look like they're hooked up to portable water coolers:

And here's another that looks like a shower to wash off all that dirt and dust from the dig;

 

[Smiley/OCD]

I just find it a bit odd the pipes were never painted over.

I’m hoping they keep those pipes on the switch to Indy…it would be an awesome Easter egg and nod to the original Dinosaur…