The Jurassic Park River Adventure (as it was originally known) first set sail Summer 1996 at a cost of $110 million. It remains the most expensive amusement ride of all time, and actually cost twice as much as Jurassic Park the movie.
Design and development work on the ride first began in November 1990 – six years before the ride was opened, and incredibly over three years before the movie Jurassic Park was released (1993). Landmark Entertainment started work on the project in early 1991. Although a River ride features in the book Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, it was cut from the film during production. By this point, the decision had been taken to use a water-based ride at Universal Studios, so it went ahead, and the River Adventure had to wait until the third movie in the series.

• Description of the Ride and Scenes (with plan)
• Photo Gallery
• Video and Audio Clips
• The Dinosaurs
• Construction, History and Development of the Ride (updated: April 2009)
• Opening Ceremony (1996)
• Celebrity Visitors
• Creative Team
• Environment
• Technology
• Jurassic Park Links