The original plan for
DinoLand U.S.A. was to include a
wooden roller coaster named The Excavator. Its concept would utilize mine cart style train cars in a ride through the old work site where, in the backstory for the land, the very first bones were found in Diggs County. Warning signs would flank the entry as guests boarded what could be assumed was an attraction set up by the grad students that ran the nearby dig site. During the ride, guests would pass through dinosaur bones and around the centerpiece for this out-of-control wooden roller coaster: an old excavator that the college kids altered to look like a dinosaur, giving the attraction its name. The Excavator was cancelled due to budget cuts after the failure of
Disneyland Paris, formerly known as Euro Disney. Officials revisited the idea of a
mine train roller coaster for
Expedition Everest, which would open in 2006. On September 29, 2000, Disney announced that they would be adding new attractions to their
Magic Kingdom and
Animal Kingdom parks. The Magic Kingdom would be getting
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, a family ride based on the 1992 film
Aladdin. Disney's Animal Kingdom would be receiving Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama, which would be located in the
DinoLand U.S.A. area. The new section would feature several carnival games and a snack trailer on an old asphalt parking lot across from a gas station and store. Plus, this area would include two new rides, which were Primeval Whirl and TriceraTop Spin. TriceraTop Spin would be similar to The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, while Primeval Whirl would be a dual track
spinning Wild Mouse roller coaster built by
Reverchon Industries. Primeval Whirl officially opened to the public on March 31, 2002. It was the first roller coaster to open at Disney's Animal Kingdom. On June 17, 2019, the ride was reduced to seasonal operation, and later in September, park officials stated that the attraction would only be operating on a seasonal basis. On July 16, 2020, officials confirmed that the attraction would not re-open after various speculation, since the park was temporarily closed, and the ride was permanently closed on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the announcement, the ride vehicles were removed from the track. In September 2021, construction walls were installed in the surrounding area of the attraction. Demolition of the ride began that same month on September 22 with the removal of track sections. The entrance sign was taken down a few days later. By November, both tracks were demolished and the site was mostly cleared. In August 2024, it was announced at the
D23 fan event that the area that the ride was located in, DinoLand U.S.A., would be replaced with a new land called Tropical Americas, which is scheduled to open in 2027. ==Ride==