Triceratops attraction at Islands of Adventure reopens after many years

The Triceratops attraction in Jurassic Park at Universal’s Islands of Adventure reopened yesterday after being closed for many years.

Formerly known as Triceratops Encounter, the attraction is basically the same as before, but with a new name, Triceratops Discovery Trail. Guests walk-through the electric fences of Jurassic Park to meet one of three “living, breathing” triceratops dinosaurs. The large animatronic dinosaurs each have their own names and personalities.

The attraction is not yet on the park map and team members were calling this week a soft opening. Upon leaving the attraction today, guests were asked their opinion of the experience. It’s expected to stay open for good now, but the team members said that will be decided after this week. There’s a long queue area that’s not yet open, but it will probably open once the soft opening is finished.

Guests can also meet a baby triceratops held by one of the Jurassic Park staff while waiting to enter, and they sometimes bring the baby in to interact with the large triceratops. The attraction is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. all this week.

The lifelike qualities exhibited by the dinos is hard to explain, so here’s a video preview of the experience:

Triceratops Discovery Trail at Jurassic Park in Universal Islands of Adventure

Photos and video by Banks Lee.

MouseFanTravel

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

6 Comments

  1. Great to have it back, always loved that attraction — but it seems like her mouth isn’t working yet. It’s stuck in an open pose — I remember it being able to close more…?

  2. Good call DC. The mouth was adjusted to keep the possibility of hands from getting caught and you so you are right. Her mouth had a larger range of motion. Her eyes did not seem position right either however her head and neck movement was very smooth. They all took alot of work and the cold weather made them difficult animals in the morning when it was less than ideal temp for Hydraulics.

    Dino George (repair tech)

  3. How come they closed it that many years ago? I thought they only had one, now they have 3? I’ve seen it many years ago and wondering what has changed since then.

  4. The were 3. The Trikes became very expensive to operate and maintain they did not attract alot of guests. So says the 8 year old guest “thats not a dinosaur, thats a robot”.