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You've seen it a million times while driving down the parkway in Pigeon Forge
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It's too large and too cheesy looking to miss. Perhaps you've taken the bait, or maybe you're too highbrow to have even considered it
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Regardless, we all know it. It's practically a landmark of the Pigeon Forge Parkway
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That's right, we're talking about the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride. Today, we wish to start an internet debate about this piece of parkway history
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Is the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride an area icon, or is it nothing more than a tourist trap
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Hey guys, it's Morgan with thesmokies.com and today we're at the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride
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The notorious Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride, I should say, because there are definitely some interesting reviews about this attraction online
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I gotta admit, I've actually lived in the Smokies almost my entire life, and yet I have never done this, passed by this a million times, never once set foot inside, so we're all going to be in for a surprise today
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While we were getting on the ride, we saw that there was an assortment of mismatched mannequins out front who were missing miscellaneous appendages
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At first, we wondered if it was on purpose or if it was for effect. But after laughing and taking a suspicious amount of photographs of one of the detached limbs the lone employee came over to remove the limb and tuck the now armless sleeve into the mannequin pocket to be a bit less obvious What a spoilsport
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What's it like to ride the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride? The best way to describe the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride is to imagine what Disney World's
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It's a Small World would have been like with far less funding, more dinos, and without
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the annoying music. It's also three times darker. The boat is mildly jerky, but in a forgiving way
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We would say no more jerky than the Blazing Fury, but much slower
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And we can't mention this enough. This ride is dark. As in, perhaps the darkest ride we've ever been on
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In fact, you spend the vast majority of your time on the ride barely being able to see a thing
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Every few seconds a spotlight shines on a featured animatronic dinosaur who performs its obligatory shaky movement
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You hear some sound effects until the scene goes dark again and you move on. And finally, is the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride a tourist trap or a beloved icon
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We think the answer depends on your personality, and we could see it going both ways
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Here are some pro-tourist trap arguments. Those who would say this attraction is a tourist trap would argue that it's overpriced, outdated, and poorly maintained
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After all, you're paying $18.99 per adult for 10 minutes of entertainment
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Compare that to other popular area attractions for a moment that offer a day-long experience
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For instance Soki Mountain runs at for general admission for an entire day worth of entertainment Truist trap opponents might also argue that it outdated As one hilarious Google reviewer put it
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this ride transports you back in time. To the 1960s, to be specific
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And finally, we believe this to be the strongest pro-tourist trap argument
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Their phone doesn't seem to actually work. To be clear, it rings
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It just doesn't ring at the actual attraction. We don't think we're alone in this experience either
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as several Google reviewers also mentioned the same complaint. Here's why the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride could be considered a beloved icon
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While we say it's overpriced, outdated, and poorly maintained, we could also argue that the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride is the stuff that pop culture icons are made of
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It's the Sharknado of rides. Who are we is a culture to lift up Dollywood's Blazing Fury
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which is from a similar era with similarly dated animatronics, as a beloved piece of Dollywood's history
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only to turn around and make fun of the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride. The Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride has been around for years
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It's part of Parkway history. We happily quote Blazing Fury's cheesy lines and scream
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FIRE IN THE HOLE! upon taking off. And, if we're being really honest
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Blazing Fury's mannequins and props are just as cheesy, mismatched, and at times just as creepy as Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride's mannequins
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What do you think about the Jurassic Jungle Boat ride Is it a tourist trap Or is it a beloved piece of parkway history Alright so we just got off the ride and it very very interesting If I had to describe it
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I would probably say it's like Blazing Fury level props. Very, very dark. Like the video we took
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you might think it's just a bad dark camera, but it was that dark inside. I would say it's a small
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world type speed, maybe slower and a little bit more jerky. Definitely not a fast ride at all
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I mean, it's, I could almost see this kind of being a cult classic. It's also kind of
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it's kind of expensive in my personal opinion. I mean, it's like 17, $18 a pop per adult for
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a relatively short ride. Now with that in mind, I mean, it is 10 minutes long, so it's going to be
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longer than most of your regular theme park rides are right um but for 18 bucks for 10 minutes per
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person there might be slightly more entertaining attractions here in the smokies but like i said
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i definitely think this might be a cult classic to be honest with you this this is an establishment
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this has been here for years if we put blazing fury on a pedestal and quote all the lines and
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get inside every time we get on that i mean how is jurassic boat ride any different so i would say
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that's my very fair review. Y'all thanks so much for watching this video. Don't
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forget to like and subscribe our YouTube channel The Smokies Calm
