Primeval Whirl
(photos below)

In the Dinorama section of Animal Kingdom, there's an outdoor roller coaster called Primeval Whirl. It's actually a "low-budget" take-off of Dinosaur, another attraction also in Animal Kingdom. It seems that a dinosaur-fossil-hunting couple known as Chester and Hester have set up the Dinorama area as a tourist trap in order to raise money to support their archaeological habit. In addition to Primeval Whirl, Dinorama also has Triceratops Spin, a large gift shop, a snack bar, and a host of carnival games to entertain Chester's and Hester's visitors.

The coaster is rather ordinary, it has hills and heights, and perhaps the fact that each car rotates on its own chassis (in addition to the forward motion on the tracks) makes it somewhat unique, but not enough so to warrant any special treatment here. The fright factor--for me at least--comes from the fact that the track framework looks rather "skimpy" with respect to the size of the ride vehicles. Of all the rides at WDW, this is the one I most try to avoid.

Primeval Whirl is more of an ordinary carnival-style coaster than something that, in my opinion, should be in a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. In fact, the whole Dinorama area seems like a stopgap measure to fill space (and time) in a park which was frequently criticized for having to little to do. However, while Dinorama may have served its purpose in the recent past, with the several new gatebuster attractions and shows which have since opened in Animal Kingdom, I feel that Dinorama has outlived its usefulness. I hope that the future will see this area redeveloped--either as a higher-quality Dinorama, or as something else altogether.

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