One of the longest closures of the year across all the Orlando theme parks is none other than Jurassic Park River Adventure, located at Islands of Adventure in Universal Orlando.
The attraction closed for the lengthy refurbishment on January 5th and currently isn’t expected to reopen until November 19th. It’s been behind walls practically ever since, but now, we’ve got a look at what’s really going on behind the scenes, all thanks to @bioreconstruct on X/Twitter!
These aerial photos give us all a great view of what work is being done deeper in the ride, the parts that there’s no way we could see with the walls being up as they are. We’re now about halfway through the refurbishment, so the question stands: how much work has actually been done? Well, the iconic Ultrasaurus mechanical neck has finally returned after being gone for the majority of the project so far.
Additionally, one of the boats has also returned. Previously, these had been stored over near Epic Universe after being wrapped in plastic, and now, at least one of them has returned to its home park.
Looking through other outdoor sections of the ride, it really puts into perspective just how large this ride really is, especially considering it doesn’t even count the indoor refurbishment we can’t see.
There’s also new wall construction happening over at the paddock area of the ride. Those walls are pretty high, and the scaffolding goes up alllll the way, signaling to us that this appears to be a pretty large part of the process.
Just look at it from another angle — that’s a BIG section to work on!
From the outside of the ride, at normal eye level, there’s also work being done on the roofing of the entrance building. This is where you walk to enter the queue for the attraction.
While November feels like it’s worlds away, we know it’ll be here before we know it, and we’ll be able to ride again. In the meantime, if you’re looking for more Universal news, check out our posts below!
More Recent Universal News!
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We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest news coming out of Universal parks and beyond, so stay tuned to DFB!
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Wow, this looks like something cool to visit, especially with the Dino theme. The younger children will love this. Disney missed the boat when it removed DinoLand instead of expanding it. I will be going to Universl with my grandchildren for sure.