Showing posts with label Dinoland. Show all posts
Disney's Animal Kingdom Puts Details At Your Feet
The Disney World Imagineers do some of their best storytelling at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park. Some of the best details that they have created are ones that you never really notice, but add so much to the fullness of the story that they are telling. Without these added touches the stories are not as believable and complete.
Details At Your Feet
One such example of this amazing detailing can be found in Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama. This area pays homage to classic roadside attractions that could be found along Route 66.
Disney Imagineers paid special attention to the details of the surfaces that you walk on and see in this area. To start with they have created part of the walkway to look like a two-lane highway, complete with blacktop and road striping.
The Dino-Rama area is filled with carnival games. To further the illusion and story the area has been made to look like a re-purposed parking lot. The surface was aged with cracks and the striping of a parking lot is evident throughout.
The level of detail is taken way beyond the ordinary. In order to "sell" the story that they were creating, the Imagineers went to the next level to create the details that you see in these pictures. It is truly amazing that they went to these lengths to tell their story.
Odds are you may have walked through this part of Disney's Animal Kingdom dozens of times and never noticed the parking lot striping or realized why it was there. It was put there not to be noticed, but to help make all of the other elements of the area come together for the story.
Take the time to look around during your next Disney World Vacation and notice some of the wonderful details that exist in the Disney theme Parks. You may be surprised at what you find when you start really looking.
Disney World Shopping: Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures
Shopping at the Walt Disney World Resort is often more than finding the perfect souvenir to remember your Disney World Vacation. The shopping destinations can be attractions unto themselves with incredibly detailed theming and lots of details that you can spend time enjoying. One such shopping "attraction" can be found in the Dinoland section of Disney's Animal Kingdom. It is called Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures.
Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures
In keeping with the kitschy feel of Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama, the souvenir shop is the ultimate combination of 50's roadside attraction, dinosaur nostalgia, and pure Disney Imagineering fun. There is nothing high tech to the sights in this shop, but there certainly is plenty to see. There are dinosaurs and dinosaur references literally EVERYWHERE! From plastic dinosaurs, to comic books and movie posters, you don't have to look far to uncover another dinosaur.
The Mickey Mouse Marionette was a really cool item spotted in the store.
The toughest part of shopping at Chester & Hester's Dino Treasures is knowing where to start. The dinosaur references are everywhere!
How can you not love the Godzilla reference shown in the diorama above?
Disney World Magic
Do not pass up the opportunity to check out this amazing Disney World store. Whether you end up buying anything thing here or not doesn't really matter. You miss out on a wonderful part of Disney Imagineering magic if you do not take the time to see all that there is to see.
Make sure that you treat this store like the other Disney World Attractions on your "Must Do List." You will be glad that you did.
Disney's Dino-Rama Pays Homage To Route 66 Landmarks
The signs are great and definitely worth reading during your visit to Disney's Animal Kingdom.
While you are strolling through Dinoland reading the signs, you can quickly equate them to billboards that are sometimes posted starting 100 miles or more before an attraction just to get you to pull over and stop when you finally drive by.
Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama is a stark contrast to the much more serious Dino Institute that also resides in Dinoland. The whimsical approach taken by Chester & Hester is their attempt to slightly mock the stuffy Dino Institute and make a profit selling their wares in true roadside attraction fashion.
It seems like no sign within Dinoland is spared from Chester & Hester's advertising.
Finally you reach the main entrance to Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama! The roadside attraction / carnival atmosphere is maintained throughout the area. It is not meant to be taken seriously, so just relax and have fun!
Dinosaurs Abound In Disney's Animal Kingdom
Dinosaur lovers will get a chance to see several full size dinosaur skeletons in Dinoland U.S.A. Reminiscent with what you would see in a museum, these help build scientific credibility for the Dino Institute.
Little do Disney World guests realize, but soon after seeing this Carnotaurus skeleton they will be transported back in time and chased by a "real" one.
Dino-Sue is a 13-foot tall, 40-foot long reproduction of the largest, most complete T-Rex ever found. Clocking in at 67 million years, Dino-Sue is the length of a 4-story building. The actual dinosaur remains that the Disney World Dino-Sue are based upon can be seen in Chicago's Field Museum.
The pre-show area for the Dinosaur! attraction is the Dino Institute. While working your way to the attraction, you can see and learn about various dinosaurs like the triceratops pictured below. The experience is very much like a dinosaur exhibit at a Natural History Museum.
After visiting the Dino Institute you can go to the nearby Restaurantosaurus to grab a bite to eat or just continue your Dinosaur sight seeing. Throughout this deceptively large restaurant are numerous rooms where dinosaur fossils, pictures, and archaeological tools are on display. It makes sense since this is where the interns that work at the Dino Institute live.
There is much to see of the dinosaur variety than just the fossilized remains. There are full scale reproductions that you can see and be photographed with.
In from of the Dinosaur! attraction is a life-sized Iguanodon. This is the friendly dinosaur that you are trying to retrieve from the past during the attraction.
There are also full sized dinosaurs that children can touch, climb on, and generally explore.
These rooftop dinosaurs are the result of some playful hi jinx by the Dino Institute Interns.
The Dinosaur! attraction sign shows a glimpse of what the Carnotaurus looks like.
When you venture into Chester & Hester's Dino Rama the dinosaurs go from realistic to playful.
Some Dinosaurs have become relegated to being spokes models for souvenir shops.
Others become part of theme park attractions.
Photo Opportunities Galore
There are numerous wonderful photo opportunities to pose with a dinosaur, so plan on taking many pictures during your visit to Dinoland U.S.A.
Dinosaurs Abound
You can spend several hours having a Dinosaur scavenger hunt with your family while visiting Dinoland U.S.A. trying to see who can locate the most dinosaurs during your visit. The fun part is that you never have to go far to find the next dinosaur or part of a dinosaur.
For the Dinosaur lover in your family make sure you plan on spending plenty of time here during your next Disney World Vacation.
