Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama

Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama is a unique area of Animal Kingdom. There is nothing like this in any of the other DIsney World parks. It’s designed to look like a midway of a state fair. There are a couple of great rides (or if you’re like Dad great rides to miss) and some interesting midway games. There is also a trailer in the back that sells drinks and some food.

This is almost a Fred Flinstone type midway. Prehistoric looking rides and games are all around. You will expect to see Fred and Barney pushing the car right through the middle of everything.

Primeval Whirl at Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama

Photo by Bob Owen

Dad lives about a mile from the local amusement park. I drive by it every day. Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama reminds me of a local amusement park, but a lot cleaner. It’s amazing how the Disney Imagineers can take such a simple concept and put a neat spin on it.

Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama

This part of Animal Kingdom is a “primeval” amusement park. It has a roller coaster, a spinning ride, some midway games and even a concession stand.

Location

Chester and Hester’s Dino Rama is part of Dinoland USA and is located between Dinosaur and Finding Nemo the Musical. It’s across from the Boneyard and Restaurantosaurus.

The Midway – Fossil Fun Games

All good carnivals/midways should have games of skill or games of athleticism. Both are here in Fossil Fun and Games. The hook is all the games have a dinosaur theme like Dino-Whamma, which is the hit with the mallet strength game. Here’s a list of the games

• Fossil Fueler – Squirt gun game
• Mammoth Marathon – Horse race game
• Bronto Score – Basketball toss
• Whac-A-Packycephalosaur – A whack a dinosaur game

There is an extra charge for these games. Let me repeat that, there is an extra charge for these games.

Not as Scary as this looks

Photo by Peter Lee

Triceratops Spin

This is a Dinosaur version of Dumbo. You and 3 friends are stuffed into a dinosaur and go round and round, up and down. There is a joy stick in both the front and back of each Dino. The front joystick controls the pitch and the back joystick controls the height.

Like Dumbo, this is a very short ride with a very long line.

Dad’s Ride Information Table

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Primeval Whirl

This is one of the most interesting roller coasters anywhere. Take a ride back in time. As you climb the first hill, you are “transported” back in time. The roller coaster is pretty mild, but the trick is it spins all the way through the ride. Round and round and round and round.

Again this is a very short ride with a very long line.

Primeval Whirl

Photo by Samantha Decker

Dad’s Ride Information Table

Disney usually does a great job on creating lines that tell part of the story. Not so much on this ride. There are a couple of signs, but mostly you just stand in line forever and wait to get on the ride.

There are 2 tracks here. You should try them both out. Or not.

Are You Tall Enough?

Primeval Whirl has a height requirement and it’s one of the tallest in all of WDW.

You have to be 48 inches tall to ride Primeval Whirl.

Dad’s Disney World Height Requirements page

Dad also has a cool little tool to measure the kids as they grow and keep track of when they are tall enough to ride the rides. I call it Dad’s Are You Tall Enough To Ride?…

Every ride at WDW is on this chart. Mount it on the wall and keep track of the kids while they grow.

Get Dad’s Are You Tall Enough to Ride?…

Video of Primeval Whirl

Here is the video from one side of the ride. Warning, it is the full ride.

The Dino Diner

The Dino Diner is not a gourmet restaurant from long ago, but a midway food trailer that serves hot dogs, popcorn, chips and drinks. It’s a very convenient place to grab a cold drink while the family rides those rides that go round and round.

Crowds

Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama is not the busiest part of Animal Kingdom, the nature of the rides make for long lines and long waits. Crowds can really mess things up. How can you avoid crowds at Disney World? Good question. Dad knows. Dad’s Crowd pages are full of helpful tips and suggestions for dealing with the lines and throngs that invade WDW every day.

Dad’s Animal Kingdom Crowds page

Planning when to visit

Every trip to Walt Disney World must have a plan. That’s Dad’s story and he’s sticking to it. Even in the slowest times lines in Chester and Hester’s Dino Rama can get kinda long. This is why Dad recommends everyone get a subscription to Touringplans.com. They have all the information you could ever need about what parks to visit, when to ride each ride. They are amazing.

Dad’s Touringplans.com page

Fun Facts

Here are some interesting tidbits –

• The two tracks at Primeval Whirl are identical. They just face different directions.
• The top speed of the roller coaster is 29.1 mph.
• The front joystick of Triceratops Spin controls the rocking motion the back joystick controls the up and down.
• There are 13 cars on Triceratops Spin.

Dad’s Bottom Line

Dad’s not a big fan of this Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama. The rides that go round and round and round and round .. (you get the idea). Dad’s suffers from a small (or maybe not so small) bout of motion sickness. Things that go round and round … don’t agree with Dad. The rides are pretty, and the rest of the family just loves them. Dad is getting pretty good at the Midway Games.

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