Whenever I hear "Hawaii," these are what come to mind: the beach, surfing, hula, all things tropical, and from time to time-- dinosaurs, too. Wait, what? Did I just say "dinosaurs"? You bet I did! September last year, I got a taste of the aloha way of life in Oahu, HI. Out of the tourist-y things I did, one of the highlights of my trip was seeing Kualoa Private Nature Reserve, also named "Jurassic Valley" after the Jurassic Park/World films shot there.
You don't have to be a movie buff to know that the Jurassic Park films are one of the best movie franchises ever. Having seen the original trilogy and its 2015 sequel, I knew we had to visit the filming location. We booked Kualoa's Premier Hollywood Movie Site Tour, a 2.5 hours tour around the expansive private property.
We were late to our chosen time slot by around 20 minutes (because Filipino time) but the staff was kind enough to allow us to catch up with the tour! No kidding, they put our group on board a Jungle Jeep and drove us all the way to the first stop. It was such a thrill taking the rough road, and we even had a good view of the coastline.
Thank goodness we got just in time for the first stop in the tour! The observation deck in Jurassic World was the part I was looking forward to the most. The tour guide was kind enough to wait a little for us to arrive before the officially starting the tour (really embarrassing, but thankful for their hospitality!).
If you've seen the movie, you'll recognize right off the bat the wall with scratch marks, left by the Indominus rex. We also got to go up the observation deck itself! It's truly amazing how much magic a movie crew can make. You'd think the deck is big, but it's just small in person. Even the view, which in reality is full of greenery, was transformed in the film thanks to CGI. It's also worth pointing out that the small space has no airconditioning at all. Imagine the level of professionalism that the cast and crew have in order to endure several takes in that space! Unfortunately, there were no sightings of Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Blue, nor any other dinosaurs lol
Kualoa Ranch has served as a film location to many films and TV series besides Jurassic World. A couple of these (as mentioned by our great tour guide) are Lost, Hawaii Five-O, Godzilla (2000), 50 First Dates (2004), and most recently-- Kong: Skull Island (2017). The wide valley, in particular, has been featured in many other films-- if not run over by vicious creatures, then blown up in action films.
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| Plane wreck from Kong: Skull Island (2017) |
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| Mokoli'i, also known as Chinaman's Hat |
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| One of many footprints scattered in the valley, for Godzilla (2000) |
I personally have not seen the film Kong: Skull Island, but if you have, then you might recognize scenery below. I'm also including the movie trailer, featuring Loki, Captain Marvel and Nick Fury-- I mean, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel Jackson, and more. Besides the plane wreck, they also kept around the boneyard-- made of fiberglass.
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| A portion of the fallen tree from Jurassic Park (1993) |
The guide also brought us to an old bunker, which was transformed to house different props used in films shot in the ranch. Besides some movie trivia, we also got a short lesson on the history of the place.
(Photos from September 2017)
Wish we spent more time in Kualoa to be honest. There's so much more you can do there besides the movie sites tour, like zipline, horseback riding, ATV, etc. If you ever visit island of Oahu (where Hawaii's capital, Honolulu, is), I say Kualoa Ranch is worth the trip!
As it turns out, the original Jurassic Park films were filmed in Hawaii for the most part, but in Kauai-- another one of Hawaii's main islands. Something to consider for next time, perhaps???
Oh, and just because I can, I'm also including a trailer of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The iconic theme song never fails to give me goosebumps, but I get extra feels thinking that I've seen a piece of Isla Nublar in real life! Definitely will be watching the film when it comes out (as of writing, it's this week!)
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