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The Jurassic Park Visitors Center is a fictional visitors centre at the hub of Jurassic Park , featured in the 1993 blockbuster movie of the same name. The center is located at the Zoo -like amusement park set up by billionaire John Hammond (founder of InGen ) on the island of Isla Nublar (near Costa Rica ). The theme is dinosaurs and the center is the main hive of activity for guests visiting the park, once witnessing the Brachiosaurus and Parasaurolophus after landing. EXTERIOR The exterior of the building is made of grey limestone and follows an unusual Concave curve. The lower front section, which has flowing water ducts and decorative foliage on either side, follows a Convex curve and is split in half by the stairs, which lead up to the main entrance door. On the door is the design of an egg with sun rays spawning from it on its surface. Around the door is fake engraved dinosaur fossils for effect. Six tall black tinted windows, three on either side, span the building along with plants. The top of the building has 3 thatched Tiki -hut styled roofs with one big one in the center to house the main entrance hall. The top also has guard rails, apparently for use as some kind of observation deck. Lining the front of the visitors centre is the tour car track, as well as a lake. Lush rainforest trees surround the area. Close observation of the Visitors Centre shown in the movie reveals two more possible doorways at the "ends" of the building, but the back is never seen or described. In the novel the building is described as being mainly glass with a black metal frame, while the movie version has a more tropical / colonial theme. The novel and film show the building under construction. INTERIOR Inside is the main entrance hall, leading off to different parts of the building. There's a staircase leading to the balcony walk way and above that are glass windows bringing light into the hall. The middle of the hall shows 2 dinosaur skeletons, one a T-Rex and the other an Alamosaurus , suspended by cables in a fighting pose. Once again the hall is made of limestone with wood edges and the floor is laid with black Marble . At the rear of the room is a long illuminated wall length painting of dinosaurs in their natural habitat. The rear also leads to the restaurant and gift shop. A banner hangs across the hall with the words, "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth." Again the interior was still under construction. Mr. DNA Ride: behind the scenes tour The first attraction is the Mr. DNA ride and presentation. Mr. DNA is a cartoon character based off of a strand of DNA. Here visitors sit in a moving theatre and, to start, watch a short film of how Jurassic Park came to be. Lap bars come down and the theatre moves on along a track to show visitors the inner workings of the park. Narrated, the tour passes by the laboratory where the dinosaurs are re-created and then moves onto the office/control center heading the park. (The tour continues further, but was cut short in the film, so what stage comes next is unknown.) V.I.P. dining room There is a dining room featured in the film that appears to be reserved for V.I.P. visitors. The room is small and is painted black. Screens line the walls and projectors continuously show various information about the park's creation and dinosaurs. Main restaurant The restaurant is rather large and the long illuminated wall length painting of dinosaurs is carried through into this room. The tables have chairs made of Bamboo and there are candles on each table. The food served is unknown, but from the food served in the V.I.P. room, it is small elegant dishes (i.e. Chilean sea bass). A buffet table with cake and ice cream was on offer in the film. Fans line the ceiling, plants are scattered around and a big kitchen is featured to the rear. Gift shop The gift shop leads off the restaurant but is rarely featured. The shop stocks normal merchandise and apparel such as t-shirts, lunch boxes and mugs etc., all themed with the colors and Jurassic Park logo. Embryo storage This room is off limits to visitors. The room stores dinosaur embryos in a deep freeze state in specially made tanks. DAMAGE During the dinosaur breakout, the building incurred extensive damage. The main hall was nearly completely destroyed when velociraptors entered the building and climbed onto the skeleton formation, buckling them and bringing them crashing to the ground. A T-Rex also caused damage in the hall. The theatre window was shot at by Dr. Alan Grant trying to fend off velociraptors from bursting through and the control room was covered by glass by a Velociraptor breaking through. All the skeletons have fallen down. Michael Crichton's original novel stated that the entire Park was destroyed by bombing, but in the movie the Visitors Centre appears to have been abandoned and left derelict. PRODUCTION LOCATIONS
JURASSIC PARK: SAN DIEGO Featured in is another fictional attraction and visitors' center that was under construction in 1997. This park was built before the Jurassic Park: Isla Nublar was ever made. Hammond abandoned it in favor of the island setting. The park was later a second attempt at putting dinosaurs on showcase for the whole world, but this time at a more commercial location. The team, led by Peter Ludlow (Hammond's nephew), went to Isla Sorna, the breeding ground for the Jurassic Park dinosaurs to bring the now wild dinosaurs back to San Diego to create the attraction. The attraction is rarely featured, but what is seen is an aerial shot of the complex. The attraction is a more compact mini version of the original park. It is circular in shape, with the walls built up as mountains to enclose the area. This is headed by a replica of the main gate featured in the first film, with the "Jurassic Park" title engraved into it. The complex is open top but the main attractions are enclosed inside the layered windows. The site probably has all the same amenities as the first visitors' center, but these aren't shown. Unfortunately the attraction never made it past construction stages, due to problems in capturing the dinosaurs and has since been torn down. REAL JURASSIC PARK VISITORS' CENTER Universal Orlando Resort in Florida has the Jurassic Park Discovery Center, a version of the visitors' center from the film. Inside is a re-creation of the dinosaur skeletons seen in the movie center's lobby. Along with educational set pieces and the chance to possibly see a dinosaur be born in the hands of a scientist, the center has a restaurant and a gift shop, themed but not at all like the movie version. The 'land' at Universal also has many themed attractions. EXTERNAL LINKS AND REFERENCES
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