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.

It's Fast! It's a Blast! It's in the Past!

Under the direction of Dr. Helen Marsh, the Dino Institute and Chrono-Tech have developed an entirely new way to study dinosaurs. No more digging. With their Time Rover transports, scientists can go back to the Jurassic or Cretaceous periods and observe dinosaurs as they lived.

Time Rover Tours have also now been opened up to the public, another of Marsh's creative yet highly controversial revenue-generating schemes. Guests visiting the Institute for the tours are shuffled past the museum displays and into one of two Orientation Rooms for a briefing from Marsh and one of her assistants, typically Dr. Grant Seeker.

Then it's on to the secret underground research facility where the time travel experiments have been taking place. We are most definitely in a behind-the-scenes area, with nondescript concrete walls and exposed utility lines. Some attempt has been made to dress up the space with large banners, but it's clear that museum visitors aren't typically allowed back here. Surely, once Marsh proves the viability of the Time Rover Tours, the funding will come through to make this area look as polished and professional as the rest of the Institute.

Pipes, wires and cables run throughout the facility. It all looks highly scientific. (Note the red, yellow and white tubes labeled with the formulas for ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise - a nod to the attraction's original sponsor, McDonald's.)

We board the Rover vehicle, pick up a charged ion flow from the parallel time converters, then it's off to the Cretaceous period for a prehistoric adventure.

Before blasting back through time, though, pause for a bit of Hidden Disney. This sector ID can be spotted on the right, just past the load zone. CTX-WDI-AK98 translates to Countdown to Extinction (the attraction's original name), Walt Disney Imagineering, Animal Kingdom 1998 (the year the park and the attraction opened).

Thanks to Dr. Seeker's meddling, we actually end up in the late Cretaceous period, around the time that meteor fragments are pummeling the earth. We narrowly escape the debris storm and the jaws of a hungry Carnotaurus and make it safely back to the Institute.

We don't come back alone, though. We bring along "one additional passenger... extra large!" The Iguanodon can be seen on security monitors, wandering the halls of the Dino Institute as the scientists try madly to track him down. (Extinct Attraction Note: When Discovery River Boats plied the waters of Disney's Animal Kingdom, they would come across a large Audio-Animatronic of the escaped Iguanodon near the shores of Dinoland.)

After this episode, Seeker will surely be fired. Marsh may even be removed from her post as Director. One group's jobs are secure, though... the paleontologists digging up fossils the old fashioned way.

Get Institutionalized

When the Dino Institute outgrew their facilities in the old fishing lodge, they moved into the modern edifice we see today. The current museum building was constructed well away from the unruly environment of the dormitories and even further removed from other undesirable neighbors (Chester & Hester anyone?).

The Dino Institute stands in stark contrast to the rest of Diggs County's environs. Separated by commanding monuments and set amidst beautifully manicured grounds, the Institute is a model of professional excellence and decorum. Visitors hoping to gain a true education in the area's paleontological history are invited to visit the museum and its current marquee exhibit, entitled "DINOSAUR." (The attraction, originally called "Countdown to Extinction," draws elements from the 2000 Disney film Dinosaur. In addition to the name, the statue out front was also changed from a Triceratops to Aladar, the Iguanodon hero of the film.)

Pause for a moment before entering the museum, and you'll notice this dedication plaque, stating the opening date of the facility as April 22, 1978 (exactly twenty years prior to the opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom). The concrete structure is in line architecturally with buildings from the late '70s period.

Once inside, take time to peruse what new Institute Director Dr. Helen Marsh describes as "those quaint exhibits in the old wing." They're actually very interesting, showing us examples of living things still around from the days of dinosaurs as well as a variety of theories for why dinosaurs became extinct.

Just as the professors and interns disagreed on how to interpret some of their finds, the Dino Institute Museum's displays present several theories on extinction. Were the dinosaurs killed off by a massive asteroid impact, or was it something else like the spread of disease or the rise of mammals? Perhaps it was a combination of these things.

Once we get into the main room of the museum, though, it becomes clear that the Dino Institute feels the asteroid impact was the primary cause. We are presented with a wall-size recreation of the earth's strata, showing the ashy gray layer known as the KT Boundary. Scientists believe this layer was formed as the ash and soot from the asteroid impact settled back down to earth. Most significantly, dinosaur fossils are only found below the KT Boundary, implying that the creatures did not survive the event.

The center of the room is dominated by the massive skeleton of a Carnotaurus, the horned predator featured as antagonist in the Dinosaur film and in the attraction of the same name (more on that tomorrow). For dramatic purposes, the size of Carnotaurus has been exaggerated (it would have been slightly smaller, about 25 feet long) and its red color has been imagined to give it a more menacing appearance.

Of course, no visit to the Dino Institute would be complete without a stop at the museum's gift shop, well-stocked with the finest items with which to continue one's dinosaur education.

Welcome New Interns

The story of Dinoland, U.S.A. is told through the relationships between several distinct groups of characters, each with a passion for dinosaurs that is sometimes at odds with one another. The first groups we meet are paleontologists, legitimate scientists whose work is being funded by the Dino Institute, and the graduate student interns who are working with them.

This bulletin board, placed just across from the Boneyard active dig site, is filled with details that help flesh out the story of these groups. Front and center is this letter from Dr. Bernard Dunn, welcoming the new batch of interns. The text of the memo tells us a lot about Dunn's personality and point of view, especially with phrases like, "the seriousness of the scholarly endeavor on which you are about to embark" and "I am certain... that you will serve with diligence, dignity and decorum."

A glance around the rest of the board, though, indicates Dunn may not quite get his wish of a perfectly professional batch of interns. Even his posted plea to "Keep the board clean!" has been ignored, as the students have covered the space with clippings, doodles and personal ads.

It looks like Dunn is planning a trip to the Dinosaur National Monument (on the Colorado and Utah border). He's looking for someone to house-sit while he's gone, but he may be hard pressed to find a grad student who fits his bill: "tidy, responsible, trustworthy, fastidious, nonsmoker, no pets, no visitors, no fun."

We'll see more of the conflict between the stodgy professors and the rambunctious grad students elsewhere in Dinoland. Back to the bulletin board, though, we have more to discover. This newspaper clipping (below) does a number of things. First, it introduces us to the rest of the main characters in this part of the story. There are the professors: Dr. Bernard Dunn, Dr. Shirley Woo, Dr. Eugene McGee and Dr. Tina Lee. And there are this year's crop of interns: Mark Rios, Jenny Weinstein and Sam Gonzales.

It also foreshadows key elements of the Dinoland story that will come later in our adventure. The lead article discusses Dr. Helen Marsh's appointment as the new Director of the Dino Institute and is followed by a story on Marsh's recent partnership with a firm called Chrono-Tech. Chrono-Tech is a small "relativity lab" out of Arizona, whose work has been described as "temporal peregrination and artifact recovery." Hmmmm...

Finally, up in a corner of the bulletin board, intern Jenny Weinstein has posted a hand-drawn map of the area. It looks like she's expecting visitors today (us, perhaps?), but just can't pull herself away from her work. She must be really, REALLY busy, though, because this map pretty much describes Dinoland, U.S.A. as it appeared in April 1998 when the park opened. There are attractions that no longer exist (Fossil Prep Lab and Dinosaur Jubilee were on the site that is now Dino-Rama) and animal exhibits that have changed (Chinese Alligators have been replaced by an American Crocodile). The "exhibit" at the Dino Institute is even listed under its original title, Countdown to Extinction (the name changed to Dinosaur in 2000).

It just goes to show that details like this can be easily overlooked, but for those who take the time to stop and study them, they offer deep insight into the stories told in the Disney Parks.