Dinos in Pop Culture - Animal Kingdom: Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama!

Today we are going into Animal Kingdom's DinoLand U.S.A and focusing on an area of DinoLand U.S.A. called:

 "Chester and Hester's DinoRama!"

We are welcomed by several dinosaurs including front and center a Parasaurolophus with a long-tailed pterosaur above, possibly a Rhamphorhynchus. 

Disney has described this area of the park as such:

The Story of Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama! After rare dinosaur fossils were discovered in 1947, a group of scientists decided to buy the dig area. But one small property—owned by locals Chester and Hester—refused to sell and instead opened a dino-themed midway called Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama!

So it is basically a dinosaur themed carnival attraction area. Not the most innovative Disney design, but whatever, it has dinosaurs.

So let's head on inside.

They have two rides within the DinoRama!

The first is the Tricera-Top Spin. You won't catch me dead on it but there are several Triceratops in which you can ride, similar to the main entrance model.

 But somehow my daughter convinced me to go on the other ride, the Primeval Whirl. Here is the banner over the front of the ride. The ride has since closed back in March of 2020, luckily I got the pictures when I did.

 There was a giant dinosaur in the vein of those dinosaur model kits where each bone is a piece of wood that locks together stuck into the middle of the ride. I think it is a T. rex but I am not certain.

 And...I'm on the ride.

 Here is the concept for the ride:

Back In Time

Take a trip aboard a spinning rollercoaster in this dinosaur-themed carnival-style attraction.

Hop inside a time-machine-styled contraption—created by research-scientist cousins Esther, Fester, Nester and Lester—and journey back to when dinosaurs ruled the earth. Climb a ramp and pass through a zany 4-ringed time portal before beginning a steady, swinging descent into the past.

A Trip to the Prehistoric Age 

Sweep through a series of sudden dips and turns as your time machine spins on its own path. Whiz by cartoon-styled dinosaurs hastily preparing for their impending extinction and glimpse a shower of kooky meteors. Thrill to twists and turns and glide through a fossilized jigsaw puzzle of dinosaur bones before leaving the past behind and making your way back to the present.

So basically you go back in time and are trying to outrun the meteor at the end of the Reign of Dinosaurs.

After finally getting off the ride, you are treated to a meteor pointing the way to where to throw up your lunch. 

One of the main eye pieces of the area is this giant Apatosaurus. I took this picture of it back in 2016 (above) but apparently the dinosaur changed color since then (below). 

 2017 had a new paint scheme. 

He's happy.

Like all good carnivals, they have an assortment of carnival style game spread throughout the area called Fossil Fun Games.

 Bronto-Score

 Whac-A-Packycephalosaur (sp)

 Get some treats at the "Corn-ivorse" (the puns were relentless).

Not an actual game but it might have been back in the day. It is also one of the few artistic reconstructions of T. rex that actually appears to have two fingers.

And of course I couldn't have left without getting a picture of this tribute to the past The Dino Diner. This appears to be a reconstruction of the original Iguanodon reconstruction from the Crystal Palace. 

Crystal Palace Iguanodon courtesy of Darren Naish of Scientific American.

And to add to the history, the original reconstruction of Iguanodon actually predates these Crystal Palace reconstructions where a dinner was held inside the dinosaur reconstruction on December 31st, 1853. So, it is fitting that the homage is a diner. 

Invitation sketch created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins for the December 31st dinner. Printed in the January 7th, 1854 edition of the Illustrated London News. 

You can find all of my Dinos of Disney compiled on my website at Dinojim.com.