Home > Florida > Animal Kingdom > Dinosaur > Review Comments
 Review of Dinosaur @ Animal Kingdom
-5 Rating Posted by: BobFunland on 3/22/2006 12:00:00 PM
Oh my goodness THIS ride has an 8.xx rating on this site? OK I really wanted to give it a chance, but it was pretty lame in my opinion. "Not our dino!" will be one of the most memorable yet disapointing lines in amusement park history to me - the ride was very poorly done. The effects were pretty weak and too random and the ride was very predictable. Kinda jerky and like a poor mans Spiderman - but Disney has much more money than Universal so that cant be true! It wasnt a horrible attraction but it was very weak and I think that its terribly overrated here. Unless, of course, I rode an entirely different ride than everyone else

UPDATE: I think a three may have been too high, Im settling with a two.
 

Review Comments

Pete C on 4/7/2006 5:15:01 PM said:
How is the ride predictable when you cant even see where you are going?
BobFunland on 4/8/2006 1:35:14 AM said:
Cause you know its going to be "not our dino" LOL
praxis on 4/8/2006 11:42:58 AM said:
Hmmm, a quick check of Bobs profile shows that that aint so, anonymous one. I cant be sure of his opinion of dinosaurs in general.
BobFunland on 4/8/2006 12:12:58 PM said:
Im not a Disney fanatic but that doesnt mean I hate the place - they have a lot of very cool attractions (Splash Mt, Everest, Tower of Terror etc etc) but also a lot of attractions that just arent all that good in my mind.
Scott on 4/9/2006 12:42:39 PM said:
I wouldnt call this a "poor mans spiderman" since it opened a few years before spiderman. I can understand what your trying to say. Budget cuts are totally obvious in some spots.
Pete C on 4/12/2006 2:55:22 PM said:
Ill be honest this ride is definitely no Spiderman, however I think a 3/10 is too harsh for this attraction. To me a 3 is either an extremely boring ride, which Dino isnt, or the type of ride that physically hurts you like a Vekoma SLC or Flight of Pain during its glory years with the OTSRs. At worst, Dinosaur shouldnt get less than a 5 by anybody. The theming is definitely not Disneys best, but its pretty damn good by any standards outside of Disney or Universal. But, whatever...I guess everyone has their own way of interpreting the rating scale.
BobFunland on 4/12/2006 8:10:52 PM said:
It wasnt boring - if it was boring, on top of being mediocre in quality (personal opinon, take it or leave it) and lacking that suprising edge that makes other similar rides enjoyable at least the first time around, it would have got a lower score.
mrceagle on 7/5/2006 10:49:54 PM said:
I think you road a deferment ride. Not guessing hear. is it the fact they opted to use Animatronics for the entire ride instead of Video effects any park of this. I personally injoyed the ride. the animatronics are easily some of Disneys best and if you look around there is allot to see especially in the first section. I agree the time travel Aspect and presentation could have been better. but the rest of the ride was enjoyable.
BobFunland on 7/5/2006 11:28:53 PM said:
I think I know what I rode, dammit. Not like there are many attractions at the AK to get confused... edit -- where did I say what they used (projections/animatronics/spell check)
Raptor on 7/6/2006 4:05:15 AM said:
I agree that 3/10 is a little harsh. Budget cuts are pretty obvious in a lot of areas, but its still fun and more advanced than pretty much all rides outside of Disney & Universal. One thing I do like about Dinosaur, is while it is a bit on the cheesy side, its a completely original story and not taken from anything, which is something you dont see very often anymore.
praxis on 7/6/2006 7:30:27 AM said:
Well, it is based on the movie of the same name...
vbarbieri on 7/6/2006 2:39:49 PM said:
Well again what is a poor score to one is a horrible score to another. To me anything below a 7 (70%) is a failing grade. So a "3" is HORRIBLE But that does not seem to be the scale for this site. Bob, or anyone else for that matter, can you educate me on your rating scale.
BobFunland on 7/6/2006 4:58:06 PM said:
I try to spread my ratings out evenly, with perhaps a slight hesitation towards 1s and 10s only. To attach some adjectives to the numers: 1 - horrible; 2 - pitiful; 3 - weak; 4 - mildly entertaining; 5- mediocre; 6- ok; 7 - good; 8- great; 9 - fantastic; 10 - superb/aproaching perfection
Pete C on 7/6/2006 6:04:21 PM said:
I want to know how Gobbler Getaway gets a 9/10 and this ride gets a 3/10. So GG is "fantastic"? I beg to differ. Im sorry, but there is no way that Dinosaur is worse than Gobbler Getaway...a ride that goes about 2 mph through a cheaply themed, trippy Thanksgiving. I would have thought MIB raised the bar for shooters. Anyway, GG wouldnt even get a passing grade in Fantasyland, yet you put it in Holiday World and it gets 9s. Flat-out, head-to-head...Dinosaur vs Gobbler Getaway. Explain to me how it is better. I usually like Bobs reviews, no doubt, but this one...I just dont get it.
BobFunland on 7/6/2006 7:24:45 PM said:
They are entirely different rides though. Gobbler is the second best shooter I have been on, the best of course being MIB. The ride was done very well... and to imply that Gobbler Getaways park has anything to do with it is absurd, IMO. The concept is out there alright - very different and unique. I thought that, for what they had to work with in terms of what Holiday World wants (family friendly = no violence = no shooting, Thanksgiving theme etc), Sally pulled off the ride extremely well. Walking through it and getting a lot of information about the ride fed to me was certainly a big influence on my score - afterall, the ride wasnt even finished completely when I was there. That probably played a large part in my appreciation for the ride, and the score is as much for the manufacturer as it was for the ride itself. As for Gobbler versus WDW rides.. I liked it better than Peter Pan or Small World or Haunted Mansion or any other Disney darkride other than Tower (if that counts as a darkride, which I think it does).. and I sure as heck aint a HW lover
taylorb251 on 7/6/2006 7:32:57 PM said:
Better than Haunted Mansion? Better than any Disney darkride? You have to be kidding me.
mrceagle on 7/6/2006 7:53:48 PM said:
Bob your talking things way to much to heart. My " I think you road a deferment ride." was in Direct response to a statement you maid. "Unless, of course, I rode an entirely different ride than everyone else" So what is your problem? "is it the fact they opted to use Animatronics for the entire ride instead of Video effects any park of this." I should have ended it like this ?????? Since I really have no Clue still of why you didnt like this attraction.
BobFunland on 7/6/2006 8:09:31 PM said:
Yes, I didnt care too much for Haunted Mansion but did probably give it a fairly good score because I think it is still a quality attraction. This ride is garbage. Also, mrc, you commented on a review I wrote three months ago - I didnt even realize you were running off one of my comments As for your "is it the fact they opted to use Animatronics for the entire ride instead of Video effects any park of this." comment, I still dont know what it means. I didnt like this attraction because (again, referencing my review which I thought did a decent job explaining my thoughts) I felt it was rough, cheaply done and very predictable.
tacoking on 7/6/2006 8:51:56 PM said:
Bob, I think I am going to let you go on this one.
Scott on 7/6/2006 8:53:04 PM said:
Bob, did you ride buzz? I always thought that was a good shooter...
Raptor on 7/6/2006 10:00:47 PM said:
praxis, the Dinosaur attraction has nothing to do with the movie Dinosaur, they only changed the name of the attraction from "Countdown to Exctinction" to Dinosaur for marketing purposes, mostly (thats my guess). That, and its easier to call it "Dinosaur". However, the movie has been forgotten so I dont even consider the name of the attraction to be a tie-in of any sort.
vbarbieri on 7/7/2006 11:17:13 AM said:
Sorry Bob, I was just looking for some insight into how rides are rated and you were very helpful. Thanks for the insight. If anyone else would like to contribute I would be grateful. I realize this is probably better handled in a forum but I figured I would ask.
mrceagle on 7/9/2006 10:16:05 PM said:
Bob, what I was wondering is was the Animatronics angle they used one of the reasons you felt the ride was "cheaply done and very predictable/" Im wondering what would make you think of it as a better ride and some examples of what you though was done wrong.
praxis on 7/9/2006 10:38:33 PM said:
Raptor (youre named after a dinosaur - cool!)... Actually, the ride Dinosaur does have several ties to Dinosaur the movie. Both take place at the time of the impact that spelled the end of the Cretaceous, the iguanodon you look for in the ride is the one from the movie, and the "bad guy" carnivore in both is the carnotaurus. Not the biggest movie synergy, but there is some...
Raptor on 7/10/2006 12:05:25 AM said:
Oooh, I didnt know that. Ive never actually seen the movie (probably not many people have, lol), I just assumed that since the ride came first, and they didnt change anything except the name, that it didnt have any relations to the movie.
taylorb251 on 7/24/2006 5:55:13 PM said:
"Haunted Mansion pulls off some really sweet tricks and gimmicks to frighten its riders. Wont go into details since its a dark ride and that just aint right, but just remember its Disney and they do stuff pretty darn well. The one thing I didnt care too much for was the vehicles, I greatly prefer the individual vehicles banging through doors to the never-ending train of sorts that this mansion has. Other than that, an awesome dark ride. Oh, and poor Fred. " Bob you gave HM a 9, didnt care for it much huh? I dont care that you didnt like dinosaur but to say that the Grobbler is better than any disney darkride is crazy. Maybe you should go an edit your review of the HM so it reflects your statements.
BobFunland on 7/24/2006 9:55:37 PM said:
I stand by my statement that Gobbler beats anything at WDW. Just because I also gave it a nine doesnt mean my review should lose validity, in a scale with only 10 options, some attractions will score the same as others, especially when you have 400+ reviews. I think that the Haunted Mansion was the best of the Disney dark rides, and they really did do some incredible stuff, but I also didnt care for the type of ride it delivered. Had it been the old-school banging through rooms in individual cars, then yes, it would have gotten a 10. But I know Disney has their capacity concerns so I cant fault them too much... I thought a point deduction was fair.
taylorb251 on 7/24/2006 10:50:21 PM said:
I dont care how many reviews you have written. Coaster05 has written more and I dont see him acting like a little kid by lowering his score because some people disagreed with him. I think you defended your points well on your review of the ride but to lower it because you got disagreed with, is for grade schoolers. I almost always agree with your reviews or at least repect your opinion. But you lost me on this one.
Scott on 7/24/2006 11:09:54 PM said:
Gobbler Beats out Tower of Terror bob? Im sorry, but that is hard for me to believe. Oh, and lowering it out of spite is something I wouldnt expect from you.
BobFunland on 7/25/2006 12:20:38 AM said:
^^ Dinosaur was the crappiest of those sorts of rides I have ever been on with a possible exception of to Back to the Future (I have no idea what I gave it, I probably reviewed it years ago).. they are both equally crappy IMO. By virtue of it being so low, it probably deserves a 1. thats my justification, there you go.

And no, Scott, I dont think it beats Tower, as I said above "or any other Disney darkride other than Tower (if that counts as a darkride, which I think it does)"... that was my fault for forgetting it when I made my last comment.
Post Review Comment
You must login or create an account to post a review comment.
 
Clicky Web Analytics