Flyers Jurassic Park Adventures Book 3 Written by Scott Ciencin Cover by Jason Zamajtuk (The page numbers come from the 1st printing, paperback edition, published March 2002)

The escaped pterosaurs from Isla Sorna migrate to Orlando, Florida, where they terrorize the Universal Studios theme park.

Read the story summary at the Jurassic Park Wiki.

Didja Know?

Most of the book takes place at the Universal Studios theme park in Florida. The film arm of Universal Studios is the owner of the Jurassic Park franchise license, so the park's prominent inclusion in this book is at least partly self-promotional.

Didja Notice? 

Page 5 reveals that the Spinosaur on Isla Sorna has already wiped out several of the dinosaur species on the island.

Page 6 suggests that the dinosaurs have proven to have amazingly advanced immune systems that researchers want to exploit once Dr. Grant's crew has stabilized the out-of-balance ecology on the island.

Grant doesn't like the celebrity status he's attained and the promotional appearances he must make to support his efforts on the island. He makes a crack that next he'll have to appear on a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire; this is a real world internationally syndicated game show and has become the most popular international television franchise of all time.

The book signing and pterodactyl events on pages 8-10 turn out to be a dream sequence, but since they describe real-world places, people, and pop culture, it is probably intended to be based on an actual appearance made by Eric Kirby (except for the pterodactyls, which are just a nightmare element).

On page 8, Eric is doing a book signing at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, CA. Mysterious Galaxy is a real-world independent bookstore in that city, known for its science-fiction and fantasy selection of books. The owners are mentioned to be a couple named Jeff and Mary Elizabeth; these are the real names of the store's owners.

Page 10 mentions that Eric has made appearances on Good Morning America, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and 60 Minutes. These are real talk/news programs in the U.S. and syndicated elsewhere.

Also on page 10, a fan of Eric's attending the signing is wearing a University of California sweatshirt. The University of California is a public system of universities in the state of California.

On page 13, Eric ruminates on rumored sightings of the escaped pterodactyls in South America, Great Britain, Texas, and Japan. The Great Britain and Japan sightings are probably intended to be hoaxed sightings or misidentifications since they are far overseas from the escape point of Isla Sorna. South America may have been an early retreat of the pterosaurs and the Texas sighting(s) may have been during the creatures' flight which eventually finds them in Orlando, FL.

On page 19, Grant says that all the people who truly understood what InGen was doing with its genetic experiments were lost on the first island or at sea during the evacuation. This is the first we've heard of JP personnel having been lost at sea (other than the crew of the S.S. Venture, ferrying the father and child T. rexes to San Diego in The Lost World). If others were lost at sea...how?

Reporter Manly Wilks reveals that he works for the International Examiner, presumably a tabloid newspaper. In the real world, the International Examiner is a free newspaper published in Seattle, WA for the Asian-American community. In the book, the name is probably meant to suggest the real world U.S. tabloid, the National Enquirer.

On pages 26-27, Grant discusses some fossilized Titanosaur eggs found in Argentina. Titanosaurs were a group of sauropod dinosaurs. Argentina is known as one of the largest sources of Titanosaur fossils.

Chapter 5 suggests that the pterosaur flock has "names" for each other based on physical characteristics unique to each individual: one is thought of as Fire because of its coloring of the fiery dawn and another is Flood for her watery blue and gray shoreline markings, etc.

On page 36, Eric and Amanda board the Jaws ride at the park. This is a real ride at Universal Studios Florida, based on the 1975 Steven Spielberg film.

On page 37, the tour guide on the Jaws-ride boat comments, "I wonder if we should've used a bigger boat." This is based on a line of actor Roy Scheider's in the film; after seeing the size of the great white shark they are hunting he states, "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

On page 38, the tour guide mentions dolphins like Flipper. This is a reference to the dolphin character who has appeared in films and television shows since the early 1960s.

On page 45, one of the pterosaurs flees at the sight of the mechanical shark in the lagoon of the Jaws ride. Josh suggests that it may have thought the animatronic beast was a megalodon or something. Megalodons are prehistoric sharks, but they existed long after the extinction of pterosaurs.

Page 49 mentions the re-creations of San Francisco, Hollywood, and New York in the park. These are actual sections of the Orlando park.

During the Pteranodon attack, our heroes enter the Earthquake attraction. This attraction is based on the 1974 film called Earthquake featuring Charlton Heston, just as the attraction is described here. The ride was closed and replaced with another attraction in 2007.

Page 64 reveals that, unlike real Pteranodons of the Mesozoic, the genetically engineered ones of InGen have teeth. This concept is depicted again in the JP comic book mini-series The Devils in the Desert. But the Pteranodons in this story seem to be derived from the ones seen in Jurassic Park III, which do not have teeth! So how did the ones here acquire them?

Page 68 mentions Kongfrontation. This was a ride based on the King Kong franchise owned by Universal and was closed in 2002.

On the Kongfrontation ride, our heroes enter the tram at a re-creation of the Roosevelt Island subway station near the 59th Street Bridge in New York City. This is an actual part of the Kongfrontation ride and re-creates the real Roosevelt Station.

On page 82, some animal control officers mention a bear incident in Oviedo. This is presumably a reference to Oviedo, FL, a small city in Seminole County.

On page 84, one of the animal control officers mentions an article about InGen's genetic engineering in Time. Time is a weekly newsmagazine published in the U.S.

On page 96, Manly mentions that he used to be a local reporter in Toronto for the Evening Star. Presumably he is speaking of the Toronto Star, published in Toronto, Canada, which was once known as the Evening Star (though not since the early 1900s!).

On page 105, one of the Pteranodons flies towards Fievel's Playland. This is an actual attraction at the park.

Page 116 reveals that Dr. Grant has signed a deal to write a book about the Pteranodon incident at Universal Studios Florida.