Animatronic Dinosaurs at Lake George, New York

Lake George, New York, 2019: outdoor dinosaurs for a seasonal attraction. A seasonal site has one requirement that overrides everything else. The exhibits have to be finished before opening day, because the visitors arrive on a fixed date whether or not the last jaw drive is calibrated.

What a Seasonal Calendar Changes

• Weather at both ends. Summer heat and humidity at peak, freezing nights at the shoulder of the season. The build is specified for the full range, not for the photograph in the brochure.
• One installation window. A compressed pre-season slot means units arrive tested, crated as sections, with a sequence the site crew can follow without an engineer beside them.
• Storage between seasons. Outdoor units that come down for winter need a documented shutdown and startup routine, because the closed months are when seals and drives fail silently.

Installation Was the Risk

The photographs from this project are mostly installation photographs, and that is the honest record. Sections arrived on a telehandler, a finished theropod body went onto the hook, and each unit was positioned against the site plan before it was fixed down. Getting that wrong is expensive: a unit set in the wrong place has to be lifted twice.

We supply a lifting plan that states where the slings go. A frame rated for the load will still bend if it is lifted at the wrong point, and the damage usually shows months later as a jaw that no longer closes cleanly.

Built for the Full Year

Outdoor specification on these units meant a corrosion-protected frame, sealed electrical enclosures and a weather-rated skin finish. The control configuration was set for the US power supply before crating, so commissioning was a connection check rather than a conversion job.

Every unit ran a complete motion cycle on our factory floor. The first time an exhibit moved in New York was not the first time it had moved at all.

The Documentation Pack Came From Here

Lake George is where the pack was standardised: installation manual, wiring diagrams, spare-parts list and maintenance guide in one envelope. A site crew should not have to email the factory to find out which cable goes where, and after this project they did not have to.

The interpretive signage on the trail is the venue’s own work, and it is worth noting: species labelling is what turns a row of animals into an exhibit that teaches something. If your site does not have that capability, it is worth commissioning alongside the models. For the outdoor specification used on the units, see the theme park scene page and the dinosaur range.

Questions Buyers Ask

How long does installation take? It depends on crane access and the number of sections. What we do fix is the sequence, so the site crew is never waiting for instructions.

What about winter? We supply a shutdown and startup routine. Follow it and the seals and drives come back correctly in spring; skip it and the first month of the season is spent repairing.

Can we add units later? Yes. Later additions are built to the same specification, and for a US client the electrical configuration is already on file.

Site Photographs