DINOSAUR
| DINOSAUR | |
|---|---|
| Park | Disney's Animal Kingdom |
| Land / area | DinoLand U.S.A. |
| Type | EMV dark ride |
| Opened | April 22, 1998 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Height req. | 40 in (102 cm) |
| Status | Closed |
DINOSAUR, stylised in capitals, was a dark ride in DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney's Animal Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida. Opened with the park on April 22, 1998, as Countdown to Extinction, it used enhanced motion vehicles to carry guests through a simulated journey to the late Cretaceous period, moments before the asteroid impact that ended the age of the dinosaurs. It was renamed DINOSAUR in 2000 to coincide with Disney's animated film Dinosaur. The attraction closed permanently on February 2, 2026, as part of the replacement of DinoLand U.S.A. by a Tropical Americas land.
History
The ride was developed alongside the animated film, with both projects sharing the same two featured species: the plant-eating Iguanodon, the film's protagonist, and the predatory Carnotaurus as its antagonist. The Carnotaurus had been described scientifically only in the mid-1980s, making it a comparatively novel choice of villain at the time.
The ride system was not new. DINOSAUR used the enhanced motion vehicle, or EMV, developed for Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland (1995), and its track layout was very close to that attraction's, around 150 feet shorter at about 1,856 feet (566 m). Each vehicle sat on a base that pitched and rolled independently, producing the sensation of driving over rough ground.
Countdown to Extinction opened as one of Animal Kingdom's headline attractions on April 22, 1998, sponsored by McDonald's, as was the rest of DinoLand U.S.A. The original version was darker, louder and rougher than the ride most guests later knew. When the film Dinosaur was released on May 19, 2000, the attraction was renamed to match it, its intensity was moderated, and its height requirement was lowered from 46 inches to 40 inches (102 cm), although the story and scenes were left substantially unchanged and contained no direct retelling of the film's plot.
In August 2024 Disney announced at D23 that DinoLand would be replaced by a Tropical Americas land, with a new Indiana Jones attraction taking over the DINOSAUR building using the same ride system. The rest of DinoLand closed in stages during 2025, leaving DINOSAUR as its last operating attraction until February 1, 2026.
Experience
The attraction was housed in the Dino Institute, a fictional scientific organisation whose building combined fossil exhibits with the loading area. A plaque gave its dedication date as April 22, 1978, twenty years to the day before the park opened.
In the pre-show film, institute director Dr Helen Marsh (Phylicia Rashad) welcomed guests to a routine time-travel tour. In the loading area, researcher Dr Grant Seeker (Wallace Langham) revealed his unauthorised plan: the tour would be diverted to the very end of the Cretaceous to bring back a tagged Iguanodon, with the asteroid impact imminent.
Guests boarded 12-passenger Time Rovers dispatched to a point shortly before the impact. The ride passed Audio-Animatronics dinosaurs — 11 figures were visible on a typical journey — including Styracosaurus, Parasaurolophus and raptors, while a Carnotaurus repeatedly pursued the vehicle. As meteors began to fall, the rover made a final escape back to the institute, with the Iguanodon, revealed in security-camera footage in the exit corridor, having followed it through.
Darkness, sudden appearances of the predator, loud effects and vigorous vehicle motion made DINOSAUR notably intense for a ride without drops or speed.
Legacy
DINOSAUR was for most of its life one of Animal Kingdom's few thrill attractions and the anchor of DinoLand, and its closure ended the park's dinosaur theme. Its ride system and layout survive in its replacement, as DINOSAUR itself had inherited them from Indiana Jones Adventure. Its original name also survived to the end in the Time Rovers' CTX designation.