Currently closed. Re-opening May 23, 2013

Description And Comments

One of IOA’s first headliner attractions, Jurassic Park River Adventure is based on the original Jurassic Park film’s idea of a dinosaur-centric theme park. In the River Adventure, guests board tour boats which float through the grounds of Jurassic Park, past huge dinosaurs, prehistoric-looking ferns and plants, and the occasional geyser. The scenery, background music and ride narration are all done well, and Jurassic Park River Adventure is one of the more immersive attractions in the entire resort. And unlike the film, where reptiles run amok and humans are part of the Dinosaur Dining Plan, absolutely nothing goes wrong during the River Adventure ride; everyone is returned to the tour’s dock safe, dry, and filled with awe from these magnificent, gentle creatures.

We made up that last part, of course. In reality, your tour boat is nudged off course by a dinosaur at exactly the most inopportune time: just as you’re floating past the vicious raptor enclosure, whose gates have been mysteriously unlocked and left open. Before you have time to ask what OSHA’s inspectors really do during the day, your boat is climbing through the inside of the raptor facility amid the destruction and carnage wrought by the escaped animals. Your first face-to-face encounter with a giant raptor is also your last, as you find rescue by plunging more than 80 feet into the river below.

Touring Tips

Riders don’t get as wet on River Adventure as they do on Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges or Dudley Do-Right’s Whipsaw Falls. Still, bring a poncho or plastic bag to keep as dry as possible. There’s a viewing area to the left of the ride’s final, big drop, where you can see how wet riders are getting, before you decide to ride.

A Honolulu reader thinks Jurassic Park doesn’t pass the smell test:

The Jurassic Park ride is a lot of fun—so fun, in fact, that you won’t realize how truly HEINOUS the water that drenches you during the climactic splashdown is until much later. We sat in the front row for the ride and got soaked. Three hours later, my girlfriend and I realized we reeked.

Young children must endure a double whammy on this ride. First, they’re stalked by giant, salivating sometimes spitting) reptiles, and then they’re sent catapulting over the falls. Unless your children are fairly hardy, wait a year or two before you spring the River Adventure on them.

Because the Jurassic Park section of IOA is situated next to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the boat will experience heavy crowds earlier in the day. Try to ride before 11 a.m.

Jurassic Park River Adventure Wait Times

This chart shows you roughly how long you'll wait for Jurassic Park River Adventure when you visit on a day with a given Islands of Adventure Crowd Level. The blue bars represent the average "peak" wait time (that is, how long the line will at its busiest). The bottom and top black lines represent the range of peak wait times to expect (for you fellow nerds out there: it's the 5th percentile and 95th percentile of peak wait times). Please note that these are estimates, and for a better forecast for your travel dates, see Jurassic Park River Adventure Wait Times.

Special Comments

Must be 42" tall to ride.

Special Needs

Other Attractions in Jurassic Park

Touring Plans with Jurassic Park River Adventure

What is a Touring Plan?

Lands