
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 18, 1993                   TAG: 9310140308
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Beth Macy
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

THANKS, SPIELBERG

Mark Cline swears the opening and naming of his new theme park in Natural Bridge had nothing to do w ith the timing of the hit movie "Jurassic Park."

Cline's reptile-filled wonderworld, called Enchanted Castle Studio Tours, opened last weekend - the day after Steven Spielberg's blockbuster movie hit the screen.

Part of Cline's tour features a section called "Jurassic Neighborhood," where creatures include:

Tyrannosaurus rex, with a bicycle in his mouth - "like he's chewed up the biker and spit out the bike."

Apatosaurus, chewing through a house.

Triceratops, up-ending a car.

Stegosaurus, pulling a carriage sulky.

"It was pure coincidence," Cline contends of the similarities. "My dinosaurs rip up the neighborhood.... I had no idea they would do that in the movie; what am I supposed to do - sue Steven Spielberg?"

In typical Cline style, the studio tour features plenty more besides the dinosaurs, starting out with a sperm-and-egg theme wherein visitors walk through a simulated uterus, then birth canal.

Other attention-grabbers include a revolving bookcase, monsters, animated figures and a special-effects section.

And, well, if it stands to benefit just a tad bit from Spielberg's dinosaur frenzy, Cline won't be complaining.

Tours, located two miles north of the Natural Bridge Zoo on U.S. 11, cost $5 for adults, $3 for kids.

by CNB