The 16 dinosaurs that populate the Jurassic Park world are a massive part of the ride’s success. All were designed and built by Sarcos in their facility in Utah before being painstakingly installed in the ride environment at Universal.
1) ULTRASAUR 1 – as tall as a
five storey building (50 feet)
2) ULTRASAUR 2 – Baby
3) PSITTACOSAURUS 1 – on rocks
4) PSITTACOSAURUS 2 – on rocks
5) STEGOSAURUS 1 - 18 feet tall,
40 feet nose to tail. Paddling tail in the water.
6) STEGOSAURUS 2- Baby
7) COMPY – fighting over popcorn
box
8) COMPY – fighting over popcorn
box
9) PARASAUROLOPHUS – lurches
out of the water knocking the boat off course.
[The Parasaur only moves up and down out of the water
currently. The original Parasaur had mouth and head
movement, but was one of the victims of the negative
interaction between water and animatronics!]
10) DILOPHOSAURUS (spitter) in the boat
11) DILOPHOSAURUS (spitter)on the left
12) DILOPHOSAURUS (spitter)on the right
13) VELOCIRAPTOR to the left of the lift
14) VELOCIRAPTOR through the ceiling
15) TYRANNOSAURUS REX through the ceiling
16) TYRANNOSAURUS REX – Final
plunge – 20 feet tall
Soon after opening back in 1996, many problems developed with the animatronics due to the constant soaking they received. Although many of the dinosaur figures were designed to be fully immersed in water, the mechanisms did not cope too well, and some figures had to be rebuilt to a higher specification or simplified to reduce the complexity of movement. Even now, the dinosaurs require regular attention and are reskinned on occasion. The latest round of work was completed in February 2007.
