Countdown to Extinction - Meteor or Dino Head?

[limbo]

I was skimming through some old footage of Dinosaur/CTX on YouTube, when I came across this...

That's the finale of the ride, but that doesn't look like a meteor to me. That looks a lot like ol' Carnotaurus. Most sources would agree that the original finale had a giant meteor en route for the ride vehicle, but this video claims to be from 1998, at the very most only a few months into the ride's life. Could it be that the meteor was switched to the Carni head as early as the same year the attraction/park opened? I have yet to find any footage or images of said meteor. Was it just the dino head all along?

Hmmm..

 

[Tom Morrow]

I rode it in Fall of 1998 and I know I never saw a meteor. I believe it was swapped out within months of opening, maybe even during soft openings.

 

[Kram Sacul]

I just want to know was the meteor spinning. It probably had more animation than the carno head on a stick that's there now.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Have you seen the size of that head lunging towards you? It's huge!
Found on pintrest

 

[limbo]

I just did a reverse Google image search to find more photos like that, and I stumbled upon the man in the photo's blog. Guess what it says:

"I worked on 5 dinosaurs and this guy was a last minute addition by Michael Eisner. This guy was requested 2 weeks before the ride opened."
source

Is it possible that the meteor finale was only there during previews?

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Have you seen the size of that head lunging towards you? It's huge!
Found on pintrest

Wow! Looks scarier in-picture than it does on-ride!

 

[JIMINYCR]

Wow... I'd love to have that mounted on my wall!!!

 

[wdwmagic]

I seem to recall the meteor only being there for previews, and the carno was in by the time the park officially opened. @marni1971 has a great memory for these things so could likely answer this one.

 

[WelshBatman]

Theme Park History has a video of the entire countdown to extinction history from 1998-2000. It does mention that one of the cosmetic changes made by Eisner between the closing of Countdown and its eventual reopening as Dinosaur was that the meteor at the end was changed to the Carnotaurus head that's there today.

In addition, there's a few videos from Countdown in 1998 on youtube. The thing I noticed was that while you can't see much of anything, you don't hear the carnotaurus roar at the very end where it's very noticeable now. Personally, all I remember about Countdown to Extinction was that it was more intense due to small things here and there. I can't remember a meteor at the end but some people apparently do.