Dinosaur has seen better days

[Sir_Cliff]

The current storyline is much better than a rich person sending you back right at the point of extinction "just for the lols" IMO

That wasn't what I was suggesting. More that this was a new technology for prehistoric safaris as a tourism experience and the stakes came from them sending you too close to the meteor striking for whatever reason.

But it IS technology made to just send people in time to see some dinosaurs. Going back to get a dinosaur is specifically Seeker screwing with what's normally a peaceful tour.

Parts are definitely convoluted (e.g. why Seeker had to tag an igaunadon at the worst possible moment), but I think the rescue a dinosaur part helps give a sense of a goal to move towards and a reason to force the vehicle to move faster (and maybe not make the best decisions along the way), like going into the pterodactyl nest).

That is a good point! I just think they need to find another way to add stakes than this whole thing with the iguanodon which, to me, is also an example of over-thinking back story. All they need is for this to be a tourism outfit along the lines of Space-X and have the person sending you back wink and say he'll make it more exciting but not to worry. Then you can just enjoy the dinosaurs, meteors, whatever narration they have about getting you out just in time. The whole thing about the iguanodon adds a layer of "so we're supposed to be doing what now?" to the experience for me.

Anyway, I guess this is getting a little too much into armchair Imagineering!

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

But it IS technology made to just send people in time to see some dinosaurs. Going back to get a dinosaur is specifically Seeker screwing with what's normally a peaceful tour.

Parts are definitely convoluted (e.g. why Seeker had to tag an igaunadon at the worst possible moment), but I think the rescue a dinosaur part helps give a sense of a goal to move towards and a reason to force the vehicle to move faster (and maybe not make the best decisions along the way), like going into the pterodactyl nest).

My guess (And this is where the tie in of the film is) When we first see Adult Aladar in the film is the exact moment the meteor strikes the earth....I'm just glad they didn't add those monkey's in the film...

 

[Movielover]

More that this was a new technology for prehistoric safaris as a tourism experience and the stakes came from them sending you too close to the meteor striking for whatever reason.

So basically the current story of the attraction just without the saving the dino plot which adds stakes and a logical reason why we would be going to the extinction event. Got it.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

So basically the current story of the attraction just without the saving the dino plot which adds stakes and a logical reason why we would be going to the extinction event. Got it.

I think we just disagree on this, but I don't think the current storyline works in terms of adding stakes as none of it makes much sense. The stakes can be the impending meteor strike without this weird layer of being asked to bundle an iguanodon into your jeep or tag it with a laser or whatever at the precise moment the meteor was about to strike.

There is room for lots of different types of attractions and storylines, but I do think they have become more literal and narrative than they were in the past when they would be content to just immerse you in an experience.

 

[Movielover]

I think we just disagree on this, but I don't think the current storyline works in terms of adding stakes as none of it makes much sense. The stakes can be the impending meteor strike without this weird layer of being asked to bundle an iguanodon into your jeep or tag it with a laser or whatever at the precise moment the meteor was about to strike.

There is room for lots of different types of attractions and storylines, but I do think they have become more literal and narrative than they were in the past where they would be content to just immerse you in an experience.

But why would a institution like the Dino Institute be sending us back right at the moment of the extinction event and putting us in harms way? The personal mission of Dr. Seeker storyline gives us the reason why we are there at that moment. It's the key to making the ride what it is.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

But why would a institution like the Dino Institute be sending us back right at the moment of the extinction event and putting us in harms way? The personal mission of Dr. Seeker storyline gives us the reason why we are there at that moment. It's the key to making the ride what it is.

That's why you would need a new setting like a slightly reckless tourism operator, plenty of which exist. It also fits the land more than the Dino Institute, which kind of sits awkwardly alongside the rampant commercialism of the rest of the town.

As for the current storyline, it just seems too ham fisted to me in having to lead you by the hand through a narrative that doesn't relate to the actual ride experience (you're essentially passive in a vehicle, not tagging anything) and is just sort of 'convenient' in that he happens to have tagged the dinosaur at the moment of maximum peril. To understand all that, you also have to sit through and pay attention to these videos explaining everything to you.

Compare that to Indy at Disneyland where you just need to walk through the queue set in a temple in which archeological work is being undertaken and some old news reels are shown to set up a basic premise that the temple is cursed. Even if you don't pay attention, the premise is simple enough that you will understand it on the ride. Then, the curse unfolds and you zip through all the various things that are unleashed. The end result is far more thrilling and immersive than being hand-held through this iguanodon story.

 

[Brad Bishop]

Many fans don’t think Galaxys Edge belongs in Disneyland

I agree with them. I was thinking of DHS. Star Wars is not a genre of subject matter then was fantasy, adventure, frontier, or science (Tomorrowland - they botched that one as well) are.

 

[Movielover]

That's why you would need a new setting like a slightly reckless tourism operator, plenty of which exist. It also fits the land more than the Dino Institute, which kind of sits awkwardly alongside the rampant commercialism of the rest of the town.

The whole reason why the tourist traps are there is because of the Dino Institute. It's the legitimate business surrounded by the cheap knock offs.

As for the current storyline, it just seems too ham fisted to me in having to lead you by the hand through a narrative that doesn't relate to the actual ride experience (you're essentially passive in a vehicle, not tagging anything) and is just sort of 'convenient' in that he happens to have tagged the dinosaur at the moment of maximum peril.

Pretty much any ride besides the shooting ones you are a passive audience. Do we control our tour through a haunted mansion? Are we in control of our boat traveling through a pirate town? Do we ourselves fly the Starspeeders? As for the convenience of finding our target right at the moment of extinction... well yeah, thats the narrative of the ride and it would pretty boring experience if we found him right out of the gate. Would Rise be as fun if we did not get spotted by the Stormtroopers in front of the elevators? Would Everest be as fun if the tracks were not destroyed and we just carried on to our original destination?

To understand all that, you also have to sit through and pay attention to these videos explaining everything to you.

Its literally 1 video for Dinosaur, it's not that difficult to understand, and its one of the better preshow videos IMO, represent a standard Institute safety spiel along with being interrupted by Dr Seeker. Its very much on the same level as the Back To The Future The Ride preshows. Then Dr Seeker literally repeats the setup right before the time vortex so I'm not getting how its difficult for you to follow the attraction's plot?

Compare that to Indy at Disneyland where you just need to walk through the queue set in a temple in which archeological work is being undertaken and some old news reels are shown to set up a basic premise that the temple is cursed. Even if you don't pay attention, the premise is simple enough that you will understand it on the ride. Then, the curse unfolds and you zip through all the various things that are unleashed. The end result is far more thrilling and immersive than being hand-held through this iguanodon story.

Funny since you seem to have missed the overall plot of the Indy ride with Dr Jones having gone missing in the temple, causing the tour company to put a hold on all tours, but Sallah wants to find Indy so he starts the tours again in hopes of you locating Dr Jones along the way. Actually Dinosaur does a better job setting up it's story than Indy IMO.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

The whole reason why the tourist traps are there is because of the Dino Institute. It's the legitimate business surrounded by the cheap knock offs.

Isn't the town there because there is an archeological dig? It's certainly plausible that they would build a museum on the site of the dig, but I don't think the Dino Institute is necessary for the town to make sense.

Pretty much any ride besides the shooting ones you are a passive audience. Do we control our tour through a haunted mansion? Are we in control of our boat traveling through a pirate town? Do we ourselves fly the Starspeeders?

That's the point. In Haunted Mansion, they don't show you a video at the beginning telling you you're on a mission to capture a ghost and then just project a net over one at the end so you can pretend you helped catch it; they were content with letting the experience of the mansion unfold around you. At least in my view, that is a more effective approach than what you see in Dinosaur.

Funny since you seem to have missed the overall plot of the Indy ride with Dr Jones having gone missing in the temple, causing the tour company to put a hold on all tours, but Sallah wants to find Indy so he starts the tours again in hopes of you locating Dr Jones along the way. Actually Dinosaur does a better job setting up it's story than Indy IMO.

Again, though, that kind of speaks to my point. I haven't ridden it for years and don't know if I was ever fully aware of that storyline, but you don't have to be. I suspect the ride actually might work a little better if you ignore that conceit and just take it as venturing into a cursed temple in the same way you do the Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc. Either way, the ride makes perfect sense and is arguably just as enjoyable whether you know the backstory or not.

Anyway, I'm happy to agree to disagree on the storyline. At least for me, it's one of the elements that contributes to why this has never quite been the headline attraction it should be.

 

[Movielover]

Isn't the town there because there is an archeological dig? It's certainly plausible that they would build a museum on the site of the dig, but I don't think the Dino Institute is necessary for the town to make sense.

The town was a small fishing village. Dinosaur bones were discovered and a group of paleontologists came to the area, setting up camp in a old lodge. They formed the Dino Institute there to continue their research and opened the lodge as a restaurant to fund their institution. This was in the late 40's. Then in the late 70's they built the new Dino Institute to expand their preservation and research including state of the art technologies. In the mid 90's Dr. Marsh (The "boring" lady in the preshow video that you ignore) becomes the head of the Institute and acquires a tech company that discovers the breakthrough of time travel. safe tours to the cretaceous period are set up to help fund the further research at the Institute. The massive popularity of the tours leads to locals Chester and Hester turning their gas station into a roadside attraction amusement park to make money off of the visitors to the institute.

Everything has a purpose in Dinoland's backstory.

That's the point. In Haunted Mansion, they don't show you a video at the beginning telling you you're on a mission to capture a ghost and then just project a net over one at the end so you can pretend you helped catch it; they were content with letting the experience of the mansion unfold around you. At least in my view, that is a more effective approach than what you see in Dinosaur.

Yes because that's the story of the Haunted Mansion. This is the story for Dinosaur and requires the video to set up the story. Its the same thing as the stretching room, that room sets up that you are trapped in the mansion and the only way out is to go deeper in. In Star Tours we need a video to set up C-3PO as our pilot. Its all in service of the story. I get that you don't like Dinosaur's story and I'm sorry you can't seem to grasp it, but to say that because you don't like it and it would be better without any type of set up or narrative is just ridiculous.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Yes because that's the story of the Haunted Mansion. This is the story for Dinosaur and requires the video to set up the story. Its the same thing as the stretching room, that room sets up that you are trapped in the mansion and the only way out is to go deeper in. In Star Tours we need a video to set up C-3PO as our pilot. Its all in service of the story. I get that you don't like Dinosaur's story and I'm sorry you can't seem to grasp it, but to say that because you don't like it and it would be better without any type of set up or narrative is just ridiculous.

Again, I'm happy to agree to disagree. Just to clarify this point, however, I think there is a disconnect between the story and the ride experience. The issue for me is not that it is a passive ride experience at all; I think I generally prefer those to the interactive ones that actually exist. My point was that the story is that you are supposed to be going to get something but you just sit in the vehicle and don't do anything. That is the analogy with Haunted Mansion: making the conceit that you have to bring back a ghost would, if anything, make an amazing attraction kind of lame because you're obviously just sitting there in your doom buggy and it would feel forced. For me, that disconnect is part of the reason Dinosaur's story doesn't work.

 

[Movielover]

Again, I'm happy to agree to disagree. Just to clarify this point, however, I think there is a disconnect between the story and the ride experience. The issue for me is not that it is a passive ride experience at all; I think I generally prefer those to the interactive ones that actually exist. My point was that the story is that you are supposed to be going to get something but you just sit in the vehicle and don't do anything. That is the analogy with Haunted Mansion: making the conceit that you have to bring back a ghost would, if anything, make an amazing attraction kind of lame because you're obviously just sitting there in your doom buggy and it would feel forced.

IMO it's one of the better attraction narratives because of it's story. I just don't get your reasoning. When I'm sitting in the ride vehicle I'm more focused on having fun and enjoying my time. But to each their own I guess.

 

[khlaylav]

To be honest, I think if they'd gone with something like "dino tourism," it'd be waaaaaay too reminiscent of Jurassic Park, even with the twist of time travel (and even that's taking from Michael Crichton's "TimeLine").

 

[draybook]

They've been dead for millions of years, cut them some slack...

 

[larryz]

They'd be better off just flipping the script on Jurassic Park and making this a new technology developed to send people back to the time of the dinosaurs. Perhaps even put in an eccentric billionaire Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos-type doing this as his own vanity project as that would fit with the rampant commercialism of Dinoland USA more than the Dino Institute and could also set up the unnecessary risks of sending you right to the point before the asteroid struck.

Maybe they could overlay a Hollywood talk show host consorting with a self-proclaimed scientist who could take us back to the birth of the universe and show us how we get energy from various sources like old, dead dinosaurs and swamps, the sun, and wind...?

 

[Ginzuishou]

Glad I got to ride dino when it was in its prime

 

[Ldno]

I agree with them. I was thinking of DHS. Star Wars is not a genre of subject matter then was fantasy, adventure, frontier, or science (Tomorrowland - they botched that one as well) are.

They say this but Galaxy’s Edge feels like it was built for Disneyland more than Hollywood Studios. It’s perfectly set up around both entrances in Frontierland and Fantasyland that you are walking towards another planet.

In hollywood studios it’s just shoehorned in Toy Story Land and that classic highway bridge throws it off completely with the old school Flatiron building facade with a subway entrance that leads to nowhere, hardly anyone remembers the San Francisco, new York and old buildings that made that part of the park work in the past.

I’m also glad to have ridden Dinosaur back in it’s prime, the chase, meteor showers, Dino animatronics, everything else was top notch, now it’s just a ride through a dark jungle with tamed sounds and special Effects LOL

 

[HauntedPirate]

If anyone wants to question "Why are they sending you back right before an extinction-level event?" - Just have it be a "65 million years ago? Whoops, I entered the wrong date!" kind of slip up, and the fun ensues.

The net on the carnotaurus... ouch. That's lower than Disco Yeti on the lame scale. And I didn't think they could get more lame than that.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

If anyone wants to question "Why are they sending you back right before an extinction-level event?" - Just have it be a "65 million years ago? Whoops, I entered the wrong date!" kind of slip up, and the fun ensues.

I agree. WDI in recent decades often seems to have over-thought these things!

 

[HauntedPirate]

I agree. WDI in recent decades often seems to have over-thought these things!

Must be their incessant need to have a 1200-page backstory for everything getting in the way of making rides fun.