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.
