I LOVE the discussion this caused!
Yeah, it's interesting to see some of the differences between this art and the final ride design we have now. I noticed that in the art from this set that the final drop is not entirely inside the dark building, either. You see a GOOD portion of the track coming out of the building, slanting down. I think they were wise to change it to the way it is now, concealing just how steep it really is and keeping it that much more mysterious before you go on. It also makes it scarier as you go down since it's a fairly dark tunnel with just the light at the end, haha!
I still can't get over how detailed that image is, even if it is almost something you miss entirely if you aren't looking for it. You see the Parasaur coming out of the water, knocking it off course (even though, looking at the image... where else could the boat have gone anyway?). The extra boat in the carnivore area that the Dilophosaur will be in. And if you look REALLY closely, you can even see what looks like the Psittacosaurs (they are very small, and white, easy to miss)! The only thing you can't see are the Raptors and the Rex, who are of course in the building.
Now the other art of the Dilophosaur and the Raptors I also like very much. Notice the gate logo in the background, how it looks? It's even represented, from behind, in the park overview concept art, if you notice. Interesting design! I wonder if they thought of it before the movie was even done, since we know that's not how it looks in the film or in the final design. I also always thought this was kind of an amusing bit of art, since the family seen in the foreground are staring in awe... at a terrifying creature that looks like it is about to eat them! LOL. I mean... it's walking on the water RIGHT toward them! LOL.
Of course that third concept art photo shown is indeed the very same one featured in the film in the background of the following scene. Not only do you see the image itself (8 seconds in), but right before you do, as we see Ellie Sattler at the dinner table, you HEAR in the background an advertisement of sorts for their "jungle river cruise"... followed by Hammond himself saying that "not all of these attractions are ready yet, of course". I love how the movie itself incorporates the ride (and in essence, the missing sequence from the novel) even if it is done so a bit quietly. :
https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Nz8YrCC9X8?start=8&feature=oembed
I guess this was the art mentioned earlier in this thread that suggests vegetation would have enclosed this whole area? I think that actually would have been AWESOME if they would have stuck with that. It's curious... you'd thinking by enclosing the entire ride somehow all the way through, like a traditional "dark ride" that it would have made it easier to maintain. I'm sure the sun and other weather elements play just as much havoc on the animatronics and other effects as the water itself does, if not more.
