When my oldest son was younger, he was into movies about friendly monsters and dinosaurs, like many little boys. When Jurassic Park came out, it was 1993, so he was a toddler and movies were on VHS tapes. We watched that movie over and over and over, to the point where the tape started to blip and have problems. He was crushed! We used to both cry when Ellie and Dr. Grant came upon the field of dying dinosaurs. Fast-forward to when Jurassic World came out, we watched it together. He’s a young adult now and it brought back wonderful memories of watching movies with him as a child.
If you’ve seen Jurassic World, you know that Owen Grady has a special dinosaur that he worked with, a velociraptor named Blue. Blue helped save the day in Jurassic World, but Owen had to leave him behind when they evacuated the resort. We may have gotten pretty sad then, too, so when we saw the trailer for the newest Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom movie came out, we were excited to see that Blue was making another appearance.
But would he be a good or bad dinosaur? That remains to be seen. Here’s the trailer in case you haven’t watched it yet.
This summer, in honor of the movie, Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando have a special Raptor Experience available in the parks. Guests can get close to the raptors and take photos with them. You just may not want to get too close.
These formidable hunters each bares 56 razor-sharp, bone-crushing teeth and lunges forward with curved talons that extend up to 12 inches from their 18-inch-long feet. Towering 12 feet in height and 15 feet—from tail to snout—the aggressive carnivores will each succumb to highly skilled handlers who adeptly guide them to within feet of guests.
Does that scare any of us off? NO WAY!
The Raptor Experience is part of the Countdown of the Extinction of Jurassic Park — The Ride, as the current ride goes away to make way for the new ride, a technologically advanced ride coming to the park in 2019. Blue roams outside the entrance of the Jurassic Park ride, guided by handlers who will let this scary-looking creature get within feet of brave guests!
Join me as we say goodbye to my favorite ride in the park and simultaneously get excited to see the new one debut next year.
Hold onto your butts! Universal Studios has spared no expense in making an amazing ride for us, and in the meantime, this Raptor Experience is a fun way to celebrate the new movie. (Bonus points if you recognize my gratuitous use of movie quotes.)
Welcome to Jurassic Park!
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