Primeval World is a short attration on the Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland and on the Western River Railroad at Tokyo Disneyland.
It was formerly part of the Ford Magic Skyway attraction at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
It is based on the Rite of Spring segment of the 1940 Disney animated feature film Fantasia.
In Disneyland, it comes immediately after the Grand Canyon between the Tomorrowland and Main Street stations. In Tokyo Disneyland, it is located in a mining shaft behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, heralded by a Triceratops skeleton at the entrance to the tunnel.
At the Primeval World, guests see a number of dinosaurs in a supposed natural habitat after traveling back in time.
Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Animals
- Edaphosaurus - Actually a reptile that died out before the dinosaurs existed, though this is a common mistake. They are among the first creatures shown, and have characteristic glowing red eyes.
- Giant Snails
- Giant Scorpion
- Meganeura
- Brontosaurus - A large, long-necked plant eater seen in the water. Both adult and young are present.
- Pteranodon - Though it is a flying reptile, they aren't seen flying and are instead perched on cliffs.
- Triceratops - A parenting couple of these three-horned dinosaurs are seen watching over their hatchlings.
- Ornithomimus - A small herd of these ornithomimids are seen at a watering hole in a desert. They may not actually be Struthiomimus, as names are not mentioned on the ride.
- Megalosaurus (skeleton only)
- Plateosaurus (skeleton only)
- Tyrannosaurus Rex - One of the last dinosaurs to be seen, it can be seen fighting a Stegosaurus around a lava pit.
- Stegosaurus - One of the last dinosaurs to be seen, it can be seen fighting a Tyrannosaurus Rex around a lava pit.
The Primeval World diorama was originally constructed by Disney for the 1964 New York World's Fair as part of the Ford Magic Skyway attraction, where it was viewed from a Ford Mustang and was narrated by Walt Disney himself. The attractions It's a Small World, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and the Carousel of Progress were also constructed for the same Fair and transferred to the park after the closing of the Fair in 1965.
Mistakes
- As with many of the dinosaur-based items in the world, it depicts dinosaurs from all different time periods and places in the same habitat. This is also seen in the film The Land Before Time, and Dink, The Little Dinosaur which is non-Disney.
- Many of the dinosaurs are out of proportion to their actual size.
- The Tyrannosaurus rex near the end has a number of anatomical faults:
- The head is wrong shape.
- There are three claws on the hand (three fingers like an Allosaurus or Gigantosaurus); Tyrannosaurus had two.
- It is standing upright, which has been determined wrong.
- Its tail is dragging on the ground.
- The Brontosaurus are seen chewing plants like cows. This is known to be incorrect, as they swallowed their food whole and it was broken down by gizzard stones (gastroliths)
- The Brontosaurus also had nostrils on their nose instead of the top of their head.
- Brontosaurus had spines.
- Brontosaurus did not drag its tail on the ground.
- Stegosaurus's tail should be more elevated and have only four spikes instead of five.
- Ornithomimus had feathers.
- Pteranodon is shown standing on its hind legs, when it should be on all fours with its wings folded like a vampire bat.
- Pteranodon like all pterosaurs also had fur and lacked bat wings.
- Edaphosaurus went extinct before the dinosaurs existed, and it should have naked mammal-like skin instead of scales.
Gallery
Animals
