Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur? I do, it was at the Insights Science Museum in El Paso, TX. That was one of my favorite childhood memories and the fact that animatronic dinosaurs are still being toured around the country to enthrall children warms my heart. Jurassic World has it’s own touring exhibit that has thrown its hat into the arena and I was recently able to check it out. It’s a very fun experience for the whole family and I’d like to share my thoughts.

Your adventure begins on a ferry to Isla Nublar that was a nice albeit not very convincing touch to start you off. I wasn’t very impressed with this part of the exhibit but only because I felt it was a missed opportunity to include a Mosasaurus or some other aquatic dinosaur. My 5-year old son however was worried because he’s a bit afraid of boats and while he knew he wasn’t on a real boat he was tense the whole time, adding to his excitement. Once the ferry arrives you’re greeted by the iconic Jurassic World gates and a glorious sauropod. Seeing the brachiosaur took me back not only to my childhood in El Paso but also the original Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios before it got updated. From that moment on I was hooked.

There are several animatronics and they all seem to be of the highest quality. In fact while the brachiosaur reminded me of the ultrasaur from the Jurassic Park Ride, the animatronic is way more advanced and puts the classic ride to shame. Moving on you get to see a dinosaur lab that’s very well themed with many interactive exhibits, the highlight being touching samples of dinosaur droppings. There are touch screens and photo ops in this lab section but the smile on my son’s face when he touched dinosaur “poop” was worth the trip to San Diego. He also enjoyed petting a baby parasaurolophus but it was no match for doo-doo.

After the lab you’re escorted to the raptor paddock. The whole exhibit is guided and has timed sections which I enjoyed because while it doesn’t allow you to revisit or free roam the “park” it makes you feel you’re on a tour and does a great job at crowd control. The raptor paddock has a great photo op with the raptor squad that I found very cool. There’s a brief demonstration with Blue with an actor playing a raptor wrangler but I didn’t like that as much as the raptor animatronics. I will say that’s probably because I’m spoiled by the Blue meet and greet at Universal Studios which my son makes me do almost every time we go.

The next section of the tour is very much geared at the younger members of the group with a “dig site” area for finding fossils. It’s something that every Natural History or Children’s Museum has but it’s a hit with kids and my son enjoyed it. There were two couples on dates in my tour group and they got into it too. In this section you get to meet Bumpy the ankylosaurus from Camp Cretaceous. It’s a very cute puppet and I have to admit it’s the puppet I enjoyed the most, she’s very cute.

Our tour then got a special look at Jurassic World’s newest attraction, the Indominus Rex! This was a very impressive animatronic that was fun to see. It was very comparable to the animatronic at Universal Studios Hollywood and definitely one of my favorite parts of the whole exhibit. My son was very impressed and even a bit scared which proves how effective the immersion is. He knows he’s seeing a controlled animatronic but is cautious just in case. This section is timed and in my opinion all too brief but I could probably spend 30 minutes just watching it breathe.

The tour is close to wrapping up at this point and the group is moved into a photo op area with a flying dinosaur puppet and a full scale gyrosphere replica. You’re given plenty of time to get some pictures here and was a prelude to the grand finale. Before you’re ready to move on though your group is informed that something has gone wrong. Who would have thought a dinosaur based theme park would have issues?

The final section ends with a bang and has arguably the best animatronic. The effect makes you believe that Rexy has escaped and she’s on the move toward you. I don’t know how this was accomplished and it was very fun watching Rexy “walk” ready to attack you and your group. My son loves Rexy and he actually walked out as soon as the doors opened into the gift shop. He eventually regretted it and tried to sneak a peek of her as the group after us was exiting into the gift shop. I think the best thing I can say about the exhibition is that both my 5-year old and myself had a blast. It’s an experience that speaks to dinosaur lovers of all ages. If you’re in San Diego or the SoCal area, tickets can be purchased here!