Anyone who has ever wanted to plan a fake vacation to a fake destination using a real website is in luck. To promote the release of the fourth film in the Jurassic Park franchise, Universal Pictures created an elaborate interactive website advertising the film’s massive Jurassic World theme park as if it were a real place. The level of detail is slightly insane, including weather reports (currently 79 degrees and cloudy), wait times (only 11 minutes for Gallimimus Valley), and even an online menu for Winston’s Steakhouse (featuring Chilean Sea Bass for $34).
The site naturally links to the film’s social media accounts, online store, and trailer, but it’s also got fun content like an interactive map that details the park’s layout and a glimpse at the park’s Hilton Isla Nublar accommodations.
It’s worth digging around a bit as there’s plenty of content to be found, particularly via the main menu that can be accessed from a tab in the upper righthand corner. For instance this Park Cam page links to “live footage” from around the park while this page has info on the dinosaurs featured in the film. Scroll down to the bottom of the various ticket package pages to read fake reviews from fake customers, including one that notes, “You’d think that with all the money they spend on the dinosaurs, they’d figure out how to install towel warmers in the bathrooms.”
Weaving its web of lies even further, the Jurassic World site also links to the film’s previous viral website for Masrani Global, the fictional corporation that purchased the franchise’s previous fictional corporation InGen, which made the dinosaurs back in the first film.
The whole thing eerily blurs the line between fantasy and reality all while perfectly capturing the tone of an amusement park website (“When feeding a baby dinosaur, hold your hand flat and don’t tease. Even herbivores can bite!”). But most importantly of all, it brings back Mr. DNA.