Jurassic Park River Adventure is currently closed for a massive refurbishment in Islands of Adventure at the Universal Orlando Resort. It’s not set to reopen until November 20th, leaving it closed to guests for more than 10 months.

Thanks to new aerial views from theme park photographer Bioreconstruct we’re getting a great bird’s eye view of some of the work happening on the attraction, including improvements on some of the dinosaur animatronics.

The River Adventure ride closed on January 5, 2026, and will remain closed through November 19, 2026.

Universal Orlando has revealed no details for the attraction’s closure, only saying it is “closed for planned maintenance.”

Signage along the work walls in front of the attraction only say the ride will be reopening “LATE 2026,” despite the exact reopening date of November 20, 2026 being listed on the official website.

When the closure was first announced the biggest question on everyone’s minds was whether or not the ride would be converted into Jurassic World, or remain as a Jurassic PARK experience.

We had covered this topic many times before, including way back in 2021, and we continue to stand firm here at Park Stop that this ride will NOT be changing into Jurassic World.

Seeing these latest aerial views from Bioreconstruct, we can now see for certain that the first scene will remain intact, with an updated Ultrasaur animatronic. The Jurassic World counterpart in Universal Studios Hollywood replaced this first scene with a screen-based mosasaur tank sequence, something we are NOT getting here in Orlando.

A new, clean white armature has been installed for the neck of this Ultrasaur animated figure. The skin was removed over a month ago, but these new bright white elements are new.

Fans are hopeful that these improvements will help the figure with more articulation, and keep it from appearing to have a “broken neck,” as it has for many years prior.

Nearby, somewhat further down the river, which is dry in this spot of the ride, the baby stegosaurus has been receiving work as well.

This stegosaurus has seen its face skin removed to upgrade its head’s moving elements. These improvements have been ongoing for weeks as well.

The adult stego, which is usually located directly across from the baby, appears to be missing at this time.

Work on the ride system itself can be seen happening around this area, with pipes disconnected and work seemingly happening on pumps that help keep the water flowing.

Further down the ride, the exterior walls have seen portions replaced and refinished. Weatherproofing materials, in yellow, can be seen installed on the center-right portion of the next photo.

The final finish will be added on top of the weatherproofing, giving these exterior walls a concrete-exterior appearance.

At the end of the ride, the splashdown section of the path is still filled with water. Without the water pumping or flowing, it appears to have turned to a murky green color.

The rockwork walls beside the splashdown section previously had scaffolding up, which has already been removed, so work on those might already be completed.

A single boat has been left on the ride course, possibly for testing purposes during the ride’s downtime.

A few additional boats can be found backstage near the attraction.

The majority of the ride’s full fleet of boats can be seen staged in a lot located across the street from Epic Universe, seen below. This is the same location where the track for the Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift coaster being stored before being installed at Universal Studios Florida.

Back at River Adventure, we still have no idea what type of improvements are being made inside of the ride’s large show building. Rumors for new animatronics have given way for new rumors of possible budget cuts, leading to the possibility of just improvements to any existing figures, but no new dinosaurs outright.

The ride usually closes annually for a deep cleaning to the waterways and repainting/repairs of various show elements, but this is longest refurbishment period in a very long time, so fans are hopeful for more than just some new paint. We may have to wait for November 20th to know for sure!

A big thanks to Bioreconstruct for the incredible aerial views. You can follow him on social media for more theme park photography, or on YouTube to see these improvements in motion. Check out his recent video below for more detail!

---

Subscribe to the RSS feed to never miss an update, or enter your email below. Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Other photos as captioned

---

Consider supporting us on Patreon for as little as $1/month. All patrons receive behind the scenes posts and exclusive podcasts. Learn More

---