Of all the options to replace Dinosaur, this is probably one of the best.
My pitch was always either Indiana Jones tracks down a Cryptid, or a Dinosaur that escaped extinction somehow. This seems like it's going that direction. I hope that they keep a similarly wild ride profile, and that there is a palpable sense of danger throughout. Those are some of my favorite parts of Dinosaur as-is. I also hope they really lean away from trying to emulate the existing Indy rides. Thankfully, it seems like they are, at least to a certain extent.
This will clearly be a superior ride in terms of general appeal and ridership, and probably in scope too. As much as I love this aspect of it, Dinosaur is mostly shadow-y foliage. It gives it a really fun, scary vibe. It gives your brain the room to imagine what is going on around you and makes the ride seem so much larger scale than the building actually is. It's the Alien Encounter of dark rides. But with the lights on, there really isn't much there at all. I think they have a chance to really elevate the ride into something really stunning, beautiful, yet still scary and imposing to look at. I think that swapping the perspective of the chase sequences, from the darkness giving a sense of great and dense expanse, to the dimly lit caves and temple corridors giving a sense of Claustrophobia and unease, that's the direction that I hope they go in with this. That will make the sacrifice of Dinosaur worth it to me, personally.
And hey, I'll count my blessings: Least it isn't a Zootopia clone! Rest easy, sweet Carny.
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