Putting Their Own Spin on Things

Chester and Hester definitely have a different take on dinosaurs than their Diggs County neighbors. Their attractions are a breed apart, far more corny and cartoonish than anything coming out of the Dino Institute (although it wouldn't be surprising to catch a grad student or two testing their skills on the Dino-Whamma or the Fossil Fueler game).

Of course, the biggest and most popular attraction at Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama! has to be Primeval Whirl (the name is a clever homage to the Primeval World, a dino diorama that originated with the Ford pavilion at the 1964-65 World's Fair and can now be seen along the route of the Disneyland Railroad in California).

Primeval Whirl is Chester and Hester's tongue-in-cheek take on the Dino Institute's Time Rover Tours. Their spinning, wild mouse-style roller coaster purports to take passengers back in time to the age of the dinosaurs on a crazy chase to outrun falling asteroids.

It all starts in the queue area, where silly scientists are busy checking gauges and pulling levers to operate the time travel machinery. This is high-tech stuff! Okay... really it's not. After all, those fancy doo-dads on the machine are actually hubcaps and kitchen whisks.

Once onboard a time machine vehicle, cobbled together from other parts and pieces, it's off to the dino days. The main lift hill takes us past alarm clocks and hourglasses, way back to the dawn of time (listen for the "ding" of a kitchen timer when the trip is done). A trio of dinos tries to hitch a ride, carrying a sign warning us that "The End Is Near!"

Before we know it, an asteroid comes crashing down right in front of us, sending our time machine spinning out of control. It's not until we make our way through the jaws (and bones) of a big fella who didn't make it that we finally return to the present. (Photo below ©Disney)

Chester and Hester's version of time travel may not be as sophisticated as the tours offered at the Dino Institute, but it sure is fun... and you're less likely to get chomped by a Carnotaurus. It just goes to show that Dinoland, U.S.A. has something to offer just about any dinosaur fan, from the intellectual to the irreverent.

A Blast to the Past

Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama! is a throwback to the kitschy roadside attractions of America's past. Just as Main Street U.S.A. brought back fond memories of a simpler time for Guests in the 1950s, Dino-Rama! is rooted in similar nostalgia. It transports today's Guests to those family road trips in the back of the station wagon to see the world's largest ball of twine, South of the Border or a collection of giant, candy-colored cement dinosaurs.

Similar to Main Street, Dino-Rama! also presents itself through rose-tinted glasses. No roadside carnival was ever this well done, this clean, or this friendly. The Disney version is the idealized version. Here, even the games of chance have a winner every time.

The look of roadside Americana has been lovingly duplicated throughout Dino-Rama! From chasing rim lights to airbrushed character art, all the expected details are there. In true Disney style, though, everything is amped up a few notches. Take the TriceraTop Spin for example:

First, there's the clever word play on Triceratops. The entire attraction is designed to look like an oversize tin toy from the past, a child's spinning top. Notice the baby trike sitting high up on the handle and the threads of the screw where that handle twists into the top of the toy.

Once the giant toy is set into motion, that's when it really comes to life. The dinos around the perimeter rise into the air, as if being lifted magically by a flurry of golden stars. As they go higher, the top opens to reveal other trikes who bob up and down. Watch for the asteroids, though, as they fly around the edge of the top. They threaten to bring an end to our dino fun, but even after we come safely back down to earth, we know we can just get right back in line and do it all again.

Roadside America

In Dinoland, U.S.A., the Dino Institute is still the main show in town, funding all the excavation work and sponsoring the museum and its Time Rover Tours. With the influx of tourists, though, other enterprises have grown up and cashed in over the years. Chester and Hester may have started small with their service station turned Dino Emporium, but they've since expanded in a big way.

Drivers can't miss the signs as they pass along Highway 498 into Diggs County. Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama! is straight ahead. Situated beneath a giant, smiling "Cement-osaurus," it's a loving homage to those kitschy roadside attractions of the past.

Parking's just $2... if you can find a space in the lot. Then it's off to the fun!

Chester and Hester have taken over the old parking lot across the street from the Dinosaur Treasures store and turned it into a bright and colorful dino-extravaganza, sure to capture the attention of anyone driving by who might be heading to those far-less-exciting attractions offered by the Dino Institute.

Contrary to popular myth, the original construction of Dino-Rama! at Disney's Animal Kingdom did not simply involve pushing back the berm and setting things up on an old Cast Member parking lot. On the contrary, the parking lot look of this area was hand-crafted for Dino-Rama! by the Imagineers who designed it. Believe it or not, it was actually more challenging for the team to create the look of realistically worn asphalt (out of more durable concrete) than it was to do the naturalistic hardscape seen in the rest of the park.

Throughout Dino-Rama! you can find evidence of Chester and Hester's creative recycling of old items they had around the place. Discarded tires have been cut down and painted to create curbs. The base of an old lamp post has been welded together with a couple of birdbath basins for a drinking fountain. Even the license plate collection the couple had amassed over the years has come in handy, as both a border for flower beds and various hand-painted signs at the attractions.

The camper they once used to travel has been re-purposed as a Dino Diner (When Animal Kingdom opened, this was up at the current location of the TriloBites stand. It moved here when Dino-Rama! opened in 2001.)

There's lots of cheesy fun to be had at Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama!

But wait... Don't go just yet! There's more to do here than just look around. Come back tomorrow, and we'll have more dino details for you...