Go behind the scenes of Jurassic World – The Ride with the cast and crew

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

This past July, Universal Studios Hollywood allowed the doors to swing wide for one of their latest attractions, Jurassic World – The Ride. As a Shoot the Chute attraction, located in the Lower Lot area of the park, this massive ride invites guests into a world populated by dinosaurs. As you make your way through each section of Universal's wild ride, you're greeted by members of the JURASSIC WORLD cast, including Owen (Chris Pratt), Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), and Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong). With these familiar faces as your guide, you're invited to learn much about our prehistoric pals before, yup, you guessed it, everything goes terribly wrong.

To celebrate the ride's recent opening, Universal has released a video hosted by the attraction's cast and crew that takes you behind-the-scenes of one of the most elaborate rides ever built. In the video, JURASSIC WORLD writer-director Colin Trevorrow talks about recreating the look and feel of the Jurassic franchise for the ride. Soon thereafter, JURASSIC WORLD producer Frank Marshall explains that as a way of trying to make the ride feel authentic, key members of the JURASSIC WORLD cast were invited to reprise their roles for portions of the ride. As Senior Director & Executive Producer at Universal Creative Jon Corfino explains it, having the characters there makes it feel like you're watching "Jurassic TV." For these televised segments that accompany you throughout the journey, characters Owen, Claire, and Dr. Henry Wu educate you about the different species found in Jurassic World, and how each one plays an important part in balancing the attraction's delicate ecosystem.

For more details about what the ride entails, you can read Universal's official descriptions of the attraction's features below:

Part of the original content created exclusively for the new ride will feature Owen, Claire and Dr. Wu shedding light on their interactions with the dinosaurs along with facts and information about the imposing prehistoric creatures that first roamed the earth more than 65 million years ago. This spectacular new ride will feature an original storyline that will take guests on a breathtaking excursion through the theme park as depicted in Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s film, JURASSIC WORLD.  It will soar to new heights with the addition of iconic dinosaurs from the movie, including the colossal Indominus rex and the magnificent aquatic Mosasaurus in her natural habitat.

For the first time, JURASSIC WORLD fans will have the chance to see this impressive creature and become immersed within her massive Aquarium Observatory. Appearing to span over 60 feet in length and tipping the scales at over 30K pounds through stunning state-of-the-art visual effects, the Mosasaurus is a sight to behold as she moves just inches away from guests throughout her glass enclosure filled with the equivalent of 3.5 million gallons of water.

For the aquatic attraction, Universal teamed with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to bring the Mosasaurus to life and to capture the realism of her underwater environment using a combination of spectacular visual effects and cutting-edge technologies, including the use of motion parallax, a technique that shifts the guest’s perspective of the Mosasaurus as she moves throughout the tank. The team also employed a series of lighting enhancements allowing the aquarium to intuitively shift from day to night, as well as visual changes to the environment during inclement weather, thus creating a variety of visual scenarios guests can experience based on when they experience the ride.

While I've yet to experience Jurassic World – The Ride myself, I do have it on good authority that the attraction is worth the price of admission and then some – especially if you're a fan of giant lizards. Personally, I'd be curious to check out the re-vamped exterior of the attraction, now that Universal have re-structured their old Jurassic Park ride to include a bold, new entryway, stonework landscaping, and a contemporary re-design of the park gates, complete with torches to give guests those real deal feels. Also, I really want a tour of that section of the ride that hosts a massive Mosasaurus. That aquatic beast was by far my favorite dino introduced in the new Jurassic World films, and I would love to get up close and personal with it.

Jurassic World – The Ride is now open at Universal's Hollywood location. Be sure to check it out the next time your visit the studio's elaborate theme park.