Exhibits based off of movies are the coolest. This one is no exception. So with another movie tie-in event happening, I went and took a quick preview as media before the doors flew wide open and I found myself surrounded by kids. I had some serious prehistoric pleasure in going here and got a lot of interesting material to talk about. It was a great exhibit for kids… I would say. Sorry, I was going to have another young guest contributor giving his feedback for this one, but he had to go to school. So I took this on my own. And boy, did I really dig and unearth so many interesting facts that I didn’t even know. Though I’m sure kids and palaeontologists know this kind of stuff already. Anyways, here’s what the event had.
Dinosaur Displays – Some of the coolest things to start off this exhibit ever, were large rubbery dinos that were life-sized. They didn’t move though, which is probably a good thing because that could’ve scared some children. That probably also would’ve made for a better cover photo. At the beginning there was several different dinosaurs and a volcano as a symbol to prove how the Earth had restarted and many dinosaurs went extinct while some survived the cataclysmic events. This part of the exhibit allowed people to know interesting facts about dinosaurs, whether they were carnivores or herbivores via colour coordinated signs and some monitors of dinosaur experts talking about certain dinosaurs. Dinos on display included velociraptors, the Tyrannosaurus Rex with the visualization of how he took over the smaller species, the Spinosaurus from Africa, Edmonton’s Edmontosaurus, the Carnataurus (some kid tried to be funny about THAT one eating people up) and many more that some would say are dinosaurs but apparently don’t count. Because all dinosaurs have forward hips like us humans and the flying/swimming creatures were not actual dinosaurs. Also, did you know Canada was a common land dinosaurs lived in many years ago? During the dino age most of BC was underwater. I kind of wished it stayed like that though, it would be nice to live an Atlantis lifestyle. Oh, and for those who have heard how birds are descendants of dinosaurs, some of these dinosaurs were decorated with early feathers and had wing insulation. Wow, I learned so much already. I also got the opportunity to talk to Carolyn the Dino trainer and ask her some quick questions about her job.
HNMAG: As a dino trainer, what are your main responsibilities?
Carolyn: Well, we have 3 baby dinosaurs. I bring them out so kids can meet them, so they can get used to meeting kids. We also have 2 raptors that are horse-sized dinosaurs. We have raptor training experience where kids can try to train the raptors to get them to do some tricks. They learn about raptors at the same time, which is one of the most interesting families of dinosaurs.
HNMAG: How do you keep things in check?
Carolyn: Well, we have fences. (laughs) I think that’s the main key, it’s hard to say who’s at a greater risk. Kids or dinosaurs (laughs)
HNMAG: What kind of challenges do you face at work?
Carolyn: Mostly kids having so much fun that they lose track of their parents, but they enjoy following their curiosity and we have all kinds of activities. After exploring the dinosaurs with their families, kids usually get to ride a dinosaur, dig for some fossils, and then play play play.
HNMAG: How many people does it take to run Jurassic Quest?
Carolyn: We hire a lot of local help, so actually the Canadian workers we’ve been having were amazing. I think our crew is 25 that moves with the dinosaurs.
HNMAG: What are the different kinds of jobs at Jurassic Quest?
Carolyn: My favourite role is at the fossil exhibit answering dinosaur questions, so that’s my favourite spot. But we have quite a few bounce house and ride operators, of course. We’ve got a souvenir shop with all kinds of dinosaur toys. One of my favourite jobs too.
Fossilized Remains – One teeny tiny section of the exhibit was the fossils and fecal matter of these big beasts. Dinosaurs skulls, centuries old filth, and bones were an interesting amount of finds to this super small edition showcased in display cases. Kids could probably study these for a long time. There’s probably lots more in museums even. I could go into further detail, but there wasn’t much to this.
Activities – All the fun stuff for the kids to do. And perhaps the adults as well. There was fossil digging which consisted of giant sandboxes filled with dinosaur bones. A great opportunity to be a palaeontologist and look for artifacts other than your own messy room. There were also arts and crafts tables, presumably that’s where paper dinosaurs and decorative models were designed. Other things included a live show hosted by Carolyn, giant dinosaur rides motorized dinos, soft-play dinosaurs for the smallest of the little ones, an inside scavenger hunt taking place all over the exhibits, a gift shop full of toys, some bouncy castles, a giant t-rex head for photo ops (that ALSO would’ve made a better cover photo), and some jurassic sports as well. Or should I say dino-sports? Seriously, they should’ve used that. I could come up with a lot more stuff and yet I’m not on any creative team for things like these. You could play jurassic football, soccer, and basketball. Not much difference from the real thing except for fabric foliage.
Yes sir, This Decorative Dinosaur Display was a Delight of a day to dwell in. I’m glad I got the opportunity to check this out and heard so many people I knew enjoyed it as well. When it comes to Jurassic Quest nobody is too young for dinosaurs.