Macaroni Kid Review:
If you or your little ones love dinosaurs or are simply fascinated by them, “Dinosaurs: Unextinct” at the LA Zoo is a must see. Life-size dinosaurs with life-like movements will leave your family in awe. The exhibit itself feels like walking through a self-guided stroll along a lush trail. The tropical landscaping and foliage evoke a time where dinos roamed the earth. As an added bonus, the Jurasic Park theme playing in the background really sets the mood!
As you walk through the trail there are plenty of photo ops with the dinos. In fact, you can’t help but take a picture of every one of them. The life-like animatronic movements are much more exciting than fossils or still statues. I like that the dinosaurs were all on display in such a way that you could get up close to them (you literally have to hold yourself back from reaching out and touching them). Along the trail, friendly and knowledgeable docents answered our questions and gave us interesting dino-details.
One highlight was the Pachyrhinosaurus, which was on display without an enclosure. Though it doesn’t move, it gave my son the opportunity to “pet” it and climb it. My son also enjoyed the fossil dig, where you can brush and dig for fossils, and the dino families, since my son loved the baby dinos. His personal favorite, the Stegosaurus robot, can be controlled with the push of various buttons. He laughed every time he pressed a button and a part of the Stegosaurus moved. Each button corresponded to movement of particular part the Stegosaurus. This robot was fun for us adults too!
We loved the T-Rex. It was enormous and he was feasting on a Triceratops. By far the largest dinosaur in the exhibit, it really gets your heart pounding as you think about the incredible size of the creatures.
For you tech lovers, the “Dinosaurs: Unextinct at the L.A. Zoo” augmented reality app brings the dinosaurs into the palm of your hand. The app allows you to see the dinos in motion; walking, running, etc. It also allows you to get a 360 degree view of the dinos. Remember to download the “Dinosaurs: Unextinct at the L.A. Zoo” app from home. The app is large and thus it is better to download it while on WiFi.
Overall the exhibit is well done, fun, and a learning adventure that is worth a visit. After you are done visiting with the dinos you can enjoy the rest of the animals at the L.A. Zoo.
Lurking impatiently in a once off-limits corner of the Los Angeles Zoo, a ferocious pack of 17 life-size, life-like prehistoric creatures await the opening of DINOSAURS: UNEXTINCT AT THE L.A. ZOO, a spectacular, all-new exhibit, on April 15, 2016. For a limited time only, these animatronic dinosaurs, brought to life with electronic "brains," will take visitors back in time for a colossal adventure, providing a rare chance to discover a lost world from millions upon millions of years ago while warning about the very real threat of extinction faced today by many endangered species. Among the exhibit's added features is a Fossil Dig, a Stegosaurus robot with controls guests can operate to make the creature move; a climbable Pachyrhinosaurus; and a free downloadable augmented reality app to access special content, including 3-D views of all the dinosaurs. The experience promises gargantuan levels of awe, as well as plenty of “aha”s, with fascinating facts about the prehistoric era, the featured dinosaurs and their similarities to L.A. Zoo animals. Best of all, entry to Dinosaurs: Unextinct at the L.A. Zoo (#DinosAtTheLAZoo) is just $5 per person in addition to regular Zoo admission, and free for wee ones under age two.
Guests embark on this must-see, self-guided stroll along a trail through lush landscaping with foliage similar to the earliest known trees and plants at the time dinosaurs roamed the earth, among them ferns, cycads, conifers and ginkos. The exhibit represents a staggering array of dinosaur anatomic shapes and sizes, ranging in heights up to almost 22 feet, lengths of just over 21 feet and weights topping 6,700 pounds, from locations around the earth and geological eras spanning 65 to 200 million years ago. Visits with the creatures, all boasting an extensive range of motion in a manner experts believe the animals would actually have moved, begin with a Suchomimus, complete with a fierce crocodile-like mouth, from the Cretaceous period some 110 million years ago, followed by a Brachiosaurus, from the Jurassic period 156 million years ago, whose 18-foot-long neck required a gigantic heart to pump blood up to the top. Next, guests encounter two Coelophysis dinosaurs, from the Triassic period 210 million years ago; a Citipati from the late Cretaceous period, which used its feathers to protect and warm its eggs, just like modern-day birds do; and a Carnotaurus, a bipedal carnivore covered in small scales and bony lumps from the late Cretaceous period. More dinosaurs include an Edmontonia, an herbivore with heavy body armor to defend itself, from the late Cretaceous period; the iconic Triceratops from the Cretaceous period 72 million years ago; and a Utahraptor, the alpha predator of the early Cretaceous period 124 million years ago, whose most unique feature was an extra-long, sickle-shaped claw on the second digit of each foot used to pin down and tear apart prey. Dinosaur families are represented by a Dilophosaurus and baby Dilophosaurus, fast moving bipedal carnivores from the Jurassic period 201 million years ago; and a Diabloceratops, its baby and a Diabloceratops nest, representative of the dinosaur from the late Cretaceous whose name means – and aptly describes – its "devil-horned face. Finally, no remarkable dinosaur exhibit would be complete without a Tyrannosaurus, better known as a T-Rex, one of the largest and most powerful dinosaurs, from the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago.
Along the way, visitors encounter a Fossil Dig where they can brush away sand to uncover "bones" made from a fiberglass mold taken from an actual juvenile Maiasaura fossil, a large, herbivorous hadrosaurid that lived in the area currently covered by Montana during the upper Cretaceous period about 76 million years ago. Other "don't-miss" fun includes a stop at a Stegosaurus robot with controls guests can operate to make the creature move, and a hashtag-worthy, dino-size photo op featuring a Pachyrhinosaurus, a dramatic-looking cousin of the Triceratops, with massive flattened growths over its nose.
Accompanying the exhibit is a free downloadable "Dinosaurs: Unextinct at the L.A. Zoo" augmented reality app providing an opportunity to interact up-close with each dinosaur by “unlocking” an animated model when pointing a digital device at a target image. Users can animate the dinosaur on their screen, making it walk and run. Included in the AR app is a dino quiz, where visitors can test their dino knowledge. After completing the quiz, visitors are rewarded with a small gift at the dino gift shop. The app also features fact sheets and a bonus AR animal: the California Condor, a species that the L.A. Zoo is helping bring back from the brink of extinction, a process that guests can learn more about at the interactive California Condor Rescue Zone indoor learning space, which is adjacent to the dinosaur exhibit and open every weekend plus weekdays throughout the summer. (Check www.lazoo.org for schedule.)
Admission to the Los Angeles Zoo is $20 for general admission (ages 13 to 61); $17 for seniors (ages 62+), and $15 for children (ages 2 to 12), and admission for Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association members is free. Admission to Dinosaurs: Unextinct at the L.A. Zoo is $5 per person in addition to regular Zoo admission; tickets are available online at lazoo.org/dinos and in person inside the Zoo at the Dinosaurs exhibit entry area. Children under age two are admitted free to the Zoo and to the Dinosaurs exhibit.
The Los Angeles Zoo is located at the junction of the Ventura (134) and Golden State (5) freeways in Griffith Park. 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Free parking is available. For tickets and additional information, contact (323) 644-6001 or visit lazoo.org/dinos #DinosAtTheLAZoo
