Dinosaurs Alive! | |
---|---|
Canada's Wonderland | |
Area | Planet Snoopy |
Status | Removed |
Opening date | May 6, 2012 [1] |
Closing date | October 29, 2018 |
Replaced by | Snoopy’s Racing Railway |
Carowinds | |
Area | Carolina RFD |
Status | Removed |
Opening date | March 29, 2013 [2] |
Closing date | August 18, 2019 [3] |
Replaced | Joe Cool's Driving School |
Cedar Point | |
Area | Adventure Island Camp Snoopy |
Status | Removed |
Cost | $1 million [4] |
Opening date | May 12, 2012 [5] |
Closing date | September 3, 2018 |
Replaced | Paddlewheel Excursions |
Replaced by | Forbidden Frontier (2019-2022) |
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom | |
Status | Removed |
Opening date | April 28, 2012 |
Closing date | October 28, 2018 |
Kings Dominion | |
Area | Old Virginia |
Status | Removed |
Soft opening date | April 5, 2012 |
Opening date | April 6, 2012 [6] |
Closing date | October 28, 2018 [7] |
Replaced by | GrimmWoods (2021-Present) |
Kings Island | |
Area | Coney Mall |
Status | Removed |
Opening date | May 26, 2011 [8] |
Closing date | October 29, 2017 [9] |
Replaced by | Orion, Kings Mills Antique Autos |
Valleyfair | |
Status | Removed |
Cost | $3.5 million [10] |
Opening date | May 11, 2013 |
Closing date | October 27, 2019 [11] |
Replaced by | Monster Jam (2022-2023) |
Worlds of Fun | |
Area | Africa |
Status | Removed |
Opening date | April 20, 2013 |
Closing date | October 27, 2019 [12] |
Replaced by | Zambezi Zinger |
Ride statistics | |
Attraction type | Walkthrough exhibit |
Theme | Dinosaurs |
This is a pay-per-use attraction |
Dinosaurs Alive! was an animatronic dinosaur themed area which formerly operated at several amusement parks, but has since been closed.
The exhibits were created by Dinosaurs Unearthed. Some markets, like Toronto, previously staged their touring exhibit at other venues. [13] Some reviewers noted that seeing a roller coaster in the background was an "incongruity". [13] A sand pit allowed children to "dig" for dinosaurs at an area near the end of the attraction. [14]
The exhibits featured dinosaurs that were built to scale and depicted various habitats they would have likely encountered. Among the variety of species present throughout the attraction, the dinosaurs themselves could range from several feet in height and length to the much larger Ruyangosaurus, which stood more than 30 feet (9.1 m) tall. [15] Each amusement park configuration was unique, with some featuring exhibits not present at the others:
In addition to being life-sized, many of the dinosaurs were animatronic. Models featured moving skin, with no visible joints or seams. [13] Some were interactive, that allowed visitors to press buttons on the exhibit's sign to control the movement of various body parts depending on where the button was located (e.g., button on snout opens jaws, button on throat thrashes neck and button on rear makes the tail sway). The non-interactive animatronic dinosaurs were activated when motion sensors detect movement by guests walking by. Sound effects from hidden speakers also accompanied the various movements including roaring, bellowing and/or shrieking. [14] [13] [24]
Location | Park | Dinosaurs | Trail length | Area |
---|---|---|---|---|
Calgary, Alberta | Calgary Zoo | 20 | ||
Vaughan, Ontario | Canada's Wonderland | 40 [1] | Unknown | 7 acres (2.8 ha) |
Fort Mill, South Carolina | Carowinds | 32 | 1,000 yd (910 m) [25] | 5 acres (2.0 ha) |
Sandusky, Ohio | Cedar Point | 50 | 1,900 ft (580 m) | 4 acres (1.6 ha) |
Allentown, Pennsylvania | Dorney Park | 37 | 2,100 ft (640 m) | 3.3 acres (1.3 ha) |
Doswell, Virginia | Kings Dominion | 36 | 3,000 ft (910 m) | 6 acres (2.4 ha) |
Mason, Ohio | Kings Island | 60 | 4,000 ft (1,200 m) | 12.5 acres (5.1 ha) |
Scarborough, Ontario | Toronto Zoo | 16 | ||
Shakopee, Minnesota | Valleyfair | Unknown | 2,837 ft (865 m) | 5 acres (2.0 ha) |
Kansas City, Missouri | Worlds of Fun | 35 | 1,900 ft (580 m) | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
A dinosaur-related 3D movie was shown at Carowinds in their respective Action Theater with the motion seats removed. It was also shown at King Dominion and Canada's Wonderland as well. The film was included with park admission at most parks, [26] [27] [28] while admission to both the attraction and film costed $6 at Canada's Wonderland. [13] At Wonderland, the film shown in the theater is the 11-minute Monsters of the Deep, [29] while Dinosaurs: Monsters of Patagonia was shown at Carowinds and Kings Island. [28]
Kings Island, Cedar Point and Carowinds charged an additional $5 admission per person over the age of 2. However, Carowinds did offer special Dinosaurs Alive! endorsement stickers that could be attached to season passes for $15, granting the passholder unlimited trips through the exhibit for that season.
The added admission fee was the target of criticism. Cedar Point representatives have stated that the fee is to avoid overcrowding in the section. [25] A writer for Wired.com suggested that, given the cost of admission, parking and food at Canada's Wonderland, the added cost of Dinosaurs Alive! was trivial. [13] Some theme park enthusiasts suggested in advance of opening that the attraction would not be "repeatable", in advance of its Cedar Point opening. [25]
Many dinosaurs in the Canada's Wonderland attraction were juveniles, causing one reviewer to speculate this was "a cost-saving measure." [13] The reviewer also noted that in some instances, the info panels didn't match the depiction in the exhibit. For example, the Canada's Wonderland Eotyrannus lacked feathers despite the nearby illustration suggesting otherwise. [13]
Paramount Parks was the operator of Paramount's Kings Island, Paramount's Kings Dominion, Paramount's Great America, Paramount's Carowinds, and Paramount Canada's Wonderland, which annually attracted about 13 million patrons. National Amusements-owned Viacom assumed control of the company as part of its acquisition of Paramount Pictures in 1994.
Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a 134-hectare (330-acre) amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life Assurance Company, it was the first major theme park in Canada and remains the country's largest. Cedar Fair purchased the park from Paramount Parks in 2006, and they have owned and operated the park since then. In 2019, it was the most-visited seasonal amusement park in North America with an estimated 3.9 million guests. The park still retains this record, with an estimated 3.8 million guests in 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kings Dominion is an amusement park in the eastern United States, located in Doswell, Virginia, twenty miles (30 km) north of Richmond and 75 miles (120 km) south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the 280-acre (1.1 km2) park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 rides, shows and attractions including 13 roller coasters and a 20-acre (8.1 ha) water park. Its name is derived from the name of its sister park, Kings Island near Cincinnati, and the nickname for the state of Virginia, "Old Dominion."
Valleyfair is a 125-acre (51 ha) amusement park in Shakopee, Minnesota, United States. Owned by Cedar Fair, the park opened in 1976 and now features over 75 rides and attractions including eight roller coasters. Valleyfair also has a water park called Soak City which is included with the price of admission. Cedar Point and Valleyfair were the first two parks in the Cedar Fair chain and a combination of the park names – "cedar" and "fair" – were used to name the company.
Carowinds is a 407-acre (165 ha) amusement park primarily located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on March 31, 1973. Carowinds straddles the state line between North and South Carolina, adjacent to Interstate 77, with a portion of the park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. It was constructed at a cost of $70 million following a four-year planning period led by Charlotte businessman Earl Patterson Hall. Carowinds also features Carolina Harbor, a 27-acre (11 ha) water park that is included with park admission. Annual events include the Halloween-themed S-Carowinds and the Christmas-themed WinterFest.
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