Why was there a toilet with working plumbing near the T-Rex paddock?

Question

In Jurassic Park (1993), there is a rather iconic scene wherein the blood-sucking lawyer gets eaten by the T-Rex while sitting on a toilet.

Earlier in the movie when Grant, Sattler, and others exit the vehicles to get a closer look at the triceratops, Muldoon, Hammond, and Arnold get annoyed that they left the vehicles and say that they are going to get locks to keep people in the SUVs. With this in mind, it seems strange that there would be a toilet near the T-Rex paddock since guests should not be able to use it (because they should be locked in). If it were only intended for employees, then I would have expected only a porta-potty, not a full-flush toilet that requires working plumbing running to and from that location.

Is there an in-universe explanation for this toilet's location? I realize the out-of-universe explanation is that it adds a bit of humor to an otherwise tense scene.

Although, if it is just for employees then Hammond really did spare no expense. — SethMMorton, Mar 25 '18 at 19:11
It was a movie addition, and was likely just a visitor's toilet. The script simply called it a "cement block outhouse" — Edlothiad, Mar 25 '18 at 19:15
Because when one of those things is coming towards you, you'll need it — Valorum, Mar 25 '18 at 19:22
“it seems strange that there would be a toilet near the T-Rex paddock since guests should not be able to use it (because they should be locked in)” — stranger than, in case of an emergency, forcing guests to poop themselves in a locked car? Unusually for a question on this site, you may not have over-thought this enough. — Paul D. Waite, Mar 25 '18 at 22:56
@PaulD.Waite Indeed - my over-thinking skills pale in comparison to many on this site :) I suppose I was approaching it from Hammond's point-of-view, where no emergencies were anticipated in the first place. — SethMMorton, Mar 25 '18 at 23:12
Considering the guy sat on it has his pants up and is clearly just resting on it rather than taking a dump, I'm not sure it does actually work. — user, Mar 26 '18 at 13:32
@user Agreed that he’s not actually using the toilet at the time so we don’t know if it truly is working. I am working under the assumption that since it is a flush-style toilet there at least were plans to hook up working plumbing at some point, otherwise the first user would end up being rather disappointed. — SethMMorton, Mar 26 '18 at 14:11
@Seth I think he probably was using the toilet at the time, I know I would be in that situation, whether or not I had the presence of mind to lower my pants first. — Bohemian, Mar 26 '18 at 15:57
Couldn't be simpler, it's a guest toilet at a normal guest stop. If you're thinking of "long plumbing lines", it would be completely normal to have a septic system for a toilet like this. (A fun question, though!) — Fattie, Mar 27 '18 at 00:47
I'm more concerned about why he has his trousers up if he's sitting on the toilet — marcellothearcane, May 24 '20 at 07:38

Valorum · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-25T20:17:29.347

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This appears to be a guest toilet. Next to it is a large and prominent sign that shows what's in the paddock and offering the "camera" symbol to show that it's a good place to stop and take photos. It also offers some warnings about appropriate conduct.

Presumably guests, after taking flash photos, yelling at the T-Rex and throwing food into the enclosure will need somewhere to poop before getting back in the car.

edited Mar 25 '18 at 20:17

answered Mar 25 '18 at 20:07

Valorum

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What a stupid place for a guest toilet! IIRC (and as evidenced by this image), there was a cement tunnel to the left that the tour vehicles went through. Why not put the guest toilets within the safety of that tunnel? – istrasci Mar 26 '18 at 16:10
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@istrasci - The track side of the fence was supposed to be entirely safe for staff and guests. – Valorum Mar 26 '18 at 16:13
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@istrasci I believe the safety of the toilet would be greatly improved by keeping the Tyrannosaurs in the Tyrannosaur paddock. – kingledion Mar 26 '18 at 20:26
@Valorum: Sure, and cars are supposed to also be safe for the passengers when properly operated and all traffic laws are followed by everyone on the road. But they still include seat belts, air bags, and other safety measures just in case. So why not make a toilet in a cement tunnel that can't be knocked over by a T-Rex instead of a flimsy bamboo hut that can be knocked over by a T-Rex?? You know, just in case... Just saying it seems like a really lazy oversight in safety, especially for someone who spared no expense. – istrasci Mar 26 '18 at 20:38
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Hm. I dunno. After agitating the T-Rex, they probably won't need to use the toilet. Maybe it's to go before they do so? ;) – jpmc26 Mar 26 '18 at 21:37
All these responses based on the Stupendous Power of Hindsight! I've been in zoos and outside an enclosure with four full grown tigers, a dude sold ice cream from a vending cart. The flagrant negligence! I remember the crowd of happy children gathering for their treat sent the tigers into such a frenzy they escaped and killed five people...OH WAIT...that never happened. And the designers of Jurassic Park didn't expect anything to happen either. – Blaze May 25 '20 at 02:08
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@Blaze - What flavour ice cream and did you get one? – Valorum May 25 '20 at 07:40

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 25 '18 at 23:15

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Because John Hammond "spared no expense." It would make sense to him to have quality plumbing installed throughout the park, especially for the rich clientele he wanted visiting.

answered Mar 25 '18 at 23:15

Nicole Sharp

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Except he didn't want just rich people, he envisioned the park as being for the masses. He makes it clear to the lawyer who suggests something like "coupon" day. – n_b Mar 25 '18 at 23:54
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"Spared no expense" except he overworked, underpaid and understaffed the IT department, resulting in the downfall of Jurassic Park. I smell a carefully timed and plotted conspiracy between Hammond and Mrs. T-Rex, a very complex Rube Goldberg machine of events were meticulously planned out in order to get the lawyer killed. I mean, it's no coincidence Hammond walks out without a scratch at the end of the film. – Ghoti and Chips Mar 26 '18 at 02:25
@ghoti of course Jurassic Park was an inside job – user13267 Mar 26 '18 at 08:33
@user13267: the truth can finally be told. It was the triceratops. They didn't like the berry selection on the breakfast buffet. (BTW: this was the movie my wife and I went to on our first date. And she married me anyways. Hooodathunkit..? :-) – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні Mar 26 '18 at 11:15
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@GhotiandChips - IIRC he dies in the book. – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні Mar 26 '18 at 11:16
@GhotiandChips - Nedry was well paid but greedy – Valorum Mar 26 '18 at 12:05
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@Valorum I am totally unappreciated in my time. You can run this park from this room with minimal staff for up to three days. You think that level of automation is easy? (sips soda) Or cheap? You know anyone who can network eight machines and debug two million lines of code on my salary? If so, I'd love to see them try. Overworked, underpaid and understaffed ring true, from what I can tell. I'm happy to assume his salary isn't appropriate, just as I assume you are happy to assume the opposite. – Ghoti and Chips Mar 26 '18 at 12:31
(and also it was a joke, which means the evidence required to support the premise isn't as important as the amusement you may get from reading it, though "to each his own" is a good aphorism) – Ghoti and Chips Mar 26 '18 at 12:33
@BobJarvis IIRC the art in question is Jurassic Park (1993), the movie adaptation, which was the piece I was referencing in my comment. – Ghoti and Chips Mar 26 '18 at 12:34
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@GhotiandChips Plenty of businesses have spared no expense on the customer experience while lacking the infrastructure to support it... – corsiKa Mar 26 '18 at 13:51
@corsiKa You're basically rephrasing my comment, which also says he spent all that legendary lack of expense on the front-end. – Ghoti and Chips Mar 26 '18 at 14:40
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"Spared no expense" Helicopter was missing a passenger's seat-belt. and only one member of the security was paid overtime for the weekend. – PStag Mar 26 '18 at 15:29
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@GhotiandChips Hot take from left field! My dad worked at Thinking Machines Corporation. The founder (Danny Hillis) was friends with Steven Spielberg (evidently through the computer graphics for movies business). Spielberg agreed to namedrop the CM-5 (then the fastest computer in the world) in his movie, instead of the Cray computers in the novel. That is why both CM-5 and Thinking Machines get a shout out (by Nedry) in the movie. The price tag of that computer? Probably in the $20 million range. Definitely, spared no expense! – kingledion Mar 26 '18 at 20:44
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8 machines is a large home or smallish business network – pojo-guy Mar 26 '18 at 21:37
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Some clarification... @GhotiandChips the line in the film is "what I bid for this job" not "my salary". It wasn't Hammond being cheap it was Nedry. Secondly, at the op, it was the lawyer who wanted expensive clients, Hammond clearly states he made the park for the children. – Mark Mar 27 '18 at 00:10
@pojo-guy you didn't adjust for inflation. 8 machines networked in 1993 would be more like a large corporate IT network of a thousand nowadays. I mean, my home network today has several Arduinos, several Pis, three desktops, two laptops, and several games consoles, tablets, phones, smartwatches, Kindles, or other devices connected to it. Imagine what a comparable home network of 2043 would look like... – flith Mar 27 '18 at 10:12
It also depends on the computer. Even in 1993 8 "machines networked" would be a SMALLER Mainframe, or he could actually mean 8 large expensive machines. – TomTom Mar 27 '18 at 10:25
16 machines networked in 1993 was a well equipped university classroom that i managed. Networking was new, but not that new. – pojo-guy Mar 27 '18 at 10:25
@flith Specifically what's being referenced here involves going into the novels, but Nedry was actually hired to put together the gene sequencing database that was responsible for allowing them to manipulate all the possible outcomes of the DNA they were building. He references connection machines in the movie, which you can read about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Machine – Mark Mar 27 '18 at 13:25

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 26 '18 at 20:59

Presumably the cars would be unlocked at appropriate places (like those designed for photography and potty stops). They exited the vehicle at a point when it wasn't intended that they do so.

Problems often arise once something is rolled out that weren't anticipated during design, and Hammond's comment was a reasonable thought on how to tweak the system to handle the unforeseen.

Why was there a toilet with working plumbing near the T-Rex paddock?

3 Answers3