Jurassic Park: River Adventure

Jurassic Park River Adventure, or Jurassic Park: The Ride, is a Jurassic Park water ride at the Universal Theme Parks. It is known to end with a big drop at the end of the adventure.

Ride Through (Hollywood)
The concept is that Jurassic Park opened as planned; the river adventure is an actual attraction in the park itself. It begins as a jungle river cruise past huge dinosaurs. After encountering an Ultrasaurus (a dinosaur since discovered to be a chimera), a pair of Stegosaurus, and Psittacosaurus, the raft begins heading toward a part of the park known as Hadrosaur Cove. A duck-billed Parasaurolophus bumps the raft, causing it to begin drifting into the Raptor Containment Area, a section of the adventure that (according to voiceovers on the ride) had never successfully been integrated into the rest of the park. "Unauthorized Entry," says a female voice over the intercom. The raft passes by a replica of the Raptor Pen from the film, and riders hear snarling Velociraptors in the dense foliage while branches move to simulate the creatures attempting to escape from their confines. Turning a corner, riders see a boat that appears to be in a state of disrepair: two Compsognathus are seen eating a bloody shirt (The CP5 which has been sent by Jurassic Park Animal Control to guide the boat towards a safe area but the compsognathuses came and killed the crew). The boat heads towards the pump station where riders see a Velociraptor run into a dark corner. On a wall next to the boat, a Jurassic Park Vehicle falls over the top and nearly crushes the riders.Velociraptors jump out at the guests. A large crate with something snarling inside also nearly falls on the riders. The riders begin to slowly head up a hill into a large building in silence. The riders enter a dark tunnel with several mock red lights on the ceiling. Several Dilophosaurus's spit their poisonous venom (actually, water) at the guests. As the Raft follows a 180 degree turn, the snout of a T-rex lumbers ahead. A raptor is seen tearing up a control panel. "Attention, this is an emergency. Toxic gases are present in this area. Life support is imminent...Life support systems will terminate in 15 seconds...10, 9, 8, 7, 6," says a female voice over the intercom. The Tyrannosaurus's head reappears once more in front of the riders to distract them from the 85 ft plunge below. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1," and the raft plunges down an 85ft near-vertical drop.

Differences in Florida
In the Florida version of the ride, the entire front section of the Tyrannosaurus comes into view before the final drop, scaled somewhat more realistically in accordance with both the movie and real-life animal.

The Florida version has its own Jurassic Park section featuring a re-creation of the Jurassic Park Visitors Center, Pteranodon Flyers, a suspended kiddie coaster, and a themed play area titled Camp Jurassic. There was also a "Triceratops Encounter" attraction. Unfortunately, this attraction was closed down in 2005.

In the ride, there are two parasaurs. Two compys are fighting over the shirt for someone who works at Jurassic Park and a crate nearly falls on riders, too. Several Dilophosauruses spit out water while guests are in the building.

Merchandise depicting "Jurassic Park: The Ride" can be found in Florida, where the "River Adventure" title is used.

Trivia

 * The first group of people who rode the river adventure were cast members (Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Richards, and Joseph Mazzello) from the movie series it was based on. Steven Spielberg also attended, but was asked to be taking off before the 80 foot drop.