7 Things To Miss at Dinoland U.S.A.

7 Things To Miss at Dinoland U.S.A.

Announcements were made last week that better clarify the beginning of the end for Dinoland U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World. It is time to give some retrospective to this love it or hate it land. We offer memories of what I love so much about Dinoland. And we’ll also share some things I definitely won’t miss after its departure. Join us for 7 Things to miss at Dinoland U.S.A.

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The End is Near–You’re Not Going To Make It!

According to the Disney World website, TriceraTop Spin, Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur treasures, and Fossil Fun Games will all close for good on January 13th right after Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, we have an announcement about that as well for later.

All of this comes at a time when a bigger announcement was made last week. I suppose I could do a podcast just on the piloting of the new Premiere Lightning Lane Pass.

  • Magic Kingdom: $329 to $449 per person, plus tax
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $269 to $349 per person, plus tax
  • EPCOT: $169 to $249 per person, plus tax
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $129 to $199 per person, plus tax

This range in pricing emphasizes how important Dinosaur is to the Lightning Lane mix. It also suggests how its change to an Indiana Jones experience as well as the addition of an Encanto attraction will send those much higher. By the way, Epcot would probably be higher right now if Test Track were operational. Its return will be important to bringing those up. In truth, almost all attractions presented at D23 allow those Premiere passes to increase in price.

1. Flora

I looked out at construction before it began at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I was also given a tour of the experience in the height of construction. But nothing quite prepared me for the first time I entered the park days before its official opening. As a Disney Cast Member I had to enter via a Cast Member entrance on the right of the main entrance, then taken across a street where my first steps in to the park were in Dinoland. That is where I began my journey with this land.

Cretaceous Trail was the centerpiece of this Flora. And while it was chipped away over time, it was still one of the great gardens of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The hopeful news is that much of this will continue on after the new land is re-opened.

Photo by Steven Smith
Image by Google Maps

2. Chester & Hester Dinosaur Treasures

The story of Chester and Hester begins at a time when they were running a gas station in a small town somewhere in Florida during the 1940s. The bones of a Tyrannosaurs Rex were discovered, which led to various paleontologists and their students excavating everywhere (hence The Boneyard). That leads to the barracks dorm experience in Restaurantasourus. Originally the gas station became a one stop souvenir shop, even before the Dino Institute was established.

This store is whimsical and represents an era lost in time. The accompanying carnival that Chester & Hester’s would later build is a place that should have been lost from the beginning.

Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

3. Boneyard

There are two parts to this, a play area with slides, ropes and more. This was not so much an authentic boneyard, but kids loved it and played on it extensively.

Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

Then across the bridge, there is a major sand play excavation area.

I have more memories of this with my small children than perhaps any other place at Disney during their youth. You could get the same sand buckets when you ordered a children’s meal at Restarantasourus. I have been partially buried many times on this playground.

Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

Jim Hill suggested that there might be something more in terms of a play area when this new land is finally open. My thoughts turn to the interactive children’s area at in Adventure Isle at Shanghai Disney.. It’s smaller in scope but does offer a playground of sorts. The photo below is of the Excavation Site at Camp Discovery.

Excavation Site at Camp Discovery | Attractions | Shanghai Disney Resort
Photo by J. Jeff Kober

This photo below shows how a theme more related to Tropical Americas looks at Tokyo DisneySea in the exterior of their Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull. We may do a future showcase of what Dinoland may look like when it becomes Tropical Americas, based on what we see in other Disney parks around the world.

Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

4. Restaurantosaurus Details

The food was really one of the worst in any Disney park. And it didn’t help that McDonald’s was its sponsor and supplier of French fries. But the decor and the details throughout this restaurant were charming and amusing.

Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

5. Story

As mentioned earlier, there are multiple stories told throughout this land, and honestly one of the best told in any park is the story of the Dino Institute and how Dr. Seeker i.e., Wallace Langham, who is out to grab himself an Iganadon. Of course, he’ll have to go around Dr. Marsh played so well by the lovely Phylicia Rashad. We move initially through the quaint exhibit in the older part of the Institute before we board ride vehicles, where our coordinates are set on finding a dino.

Dinosaur -- DinoLand USA - Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World - AllEars.Net
Video by Disney.

A much later story came a couple of years before Covid, when the gang of Duckburg took over Dinoland. This story had to do with the link between ducks and Dinos.

Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

This has come to include Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Launchpad McQuack, and Scrooge McDuck. Signage was made by Ludwig von Drake. It was a different approach than simply some kind of Toontown showing up.

6. Dinosaurs

There are plenty of Dinosaurs in Dinoland, and not the ones you find in California, or in the former Universe of Energy. Here’s a video if you aren’t familiar with these dinosaurs.

Imagineers made certain when Dinoland was built that the offering would be different than the former offerings in Disneyland and Epcot. And yet, for those who love dinosaurs, this park has no shortage of them. Beginning at the “Oldengate” bridge, we get dinosaurs.

Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

Sue was an actual dinosaur that is a replica of the largest and most complete T-Rex fossil ever found. It is 13-foot tall, 40-feet long.

Some 67 million years old, Sue was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1990. Named after fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson, the skeleton is one of the most famous fossil finds of the 20th century. It’s also the most complete, with over 90% of her bones found and excavated. 

While the real Sue is on display at The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, Dino-Sue makes her home here in sunny Florida.

Photo by Disney.
DINOSAUR | Animal Kingdom Attractions | Walt Disney World Resort
Image by Disney.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

This Iguanodon was seen by only a few on the Discovery River Boats.

Image by Disney.

7. Christmas

This isn’t the the Osborne Family Festival of Lights, it’s been a funky replacement of its own kind since around the time Pandora was built across the park. That was the era where they were trying to keep the park opened much longer in the evening. One way to do that was to add holiday lights around the park. And the craziest place in all of this is Dinoland U.S.A.

Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
New Holiday Fun at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom - Disney  Parks Blog
Image by Disney.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will celebrate the “75th Annual” Dino Institute Holiday Party from Nov. 12 – Dec. 24, 2024. While the park opened in 1998, remember that we shared earlier in the story that Chester and Hester found the dinosaur bones back in 1947. Well, that makes 75 years 2022. But remember, this is the 75th ANNUAL Dino Institute party. So technically, this is the third year. Kind of…

The End of an Era is Really Near.

Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

The saddest part of all this is really this is the end of Dinosaurs at Walt Disney World. Other than Gertie at the Studios and some bones along the tracks of Big Thunder, we will really be lacking in Dinosaur experiences. Disney has always been big on Dinosaurs since the New York World’s Fair where the Ford exhibit took you back to the age of the Dinosaurs. Those were then brought to Disneyland as part of the Disneyland Railroad experience. It was then later brought to Epcot in terms of the Universe of Energy.

In the words of Bill Nye, Dinosaurs are just way cool!

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