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Author Topic: Dinosaur Adventures- A review  (Read 4109 times)

InmemoryofRomeo

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Dinosaur Adventures- A review
« on: July 11, 2014, 08:49:59 PM »

So this week my sister and I headed off to Melbourne (with Pluto) to visit the Dinosaur Adventures travelling show as well as a few other things. You can find my review below exactly as I posted on Facebook. I'll add some pictures shortly as soon as they finish uploading to my computer :)

*****
My sister and I went, so this is a review from two adults perspective. We got there nice and early, about half an hour before the main event so we were well at the front of the queue. Shortly before opening time we were ushered into a waiting room area with some wonderful metal sculptures and life sized skulls. Unfortunately the room was quickly overcrowded and we abandoned the idea of taking pictures and instead waited near the door. Once the main event opened we were in quickly but if you came late you would have had quite a wait to get in.

Fred and Barney were out doing a meet and greet so we grabbed a quick snap before going on a tour of the animatronic dinosaurs. As a dinosaur aficionado I have to say that my robotic dinosaur 'Pleo' was far more exciting. The models were great, and I didn't see too many scientific inaccuracies, but the movements were a bit sketchy, I don't think some were working properly. The T-Rex looked a bit like he was having a seizure. However the Triceratops looked far more animated so I'm guessing that it was a technical problem. It was nice to be able to touch some of the models and get so close to them. After an hour of walking around and taking photos the crowds were getting thicker and we were getting bored. There was pretty much nothing to engage adults, the information panels weren't that informative and I would have loved something showing how the dinosaurs were made, or some more fossils or pretty much anything for adults really. Some interactive screens would have been gratefully enjoyed.

The sound and lighting was impressive at first but became obnoxious after ten minutes. They needed individual lighting on the information panels as they were hard to read and indeed for some I resorted to shining my torch on them. The roars of the dinosaurs were quickly lost in the roar of the crowd.

The whole event was very, very much geared towards the eight and under crowd. Very disappointed by the lack of carnival games with a dino theme. It kind of broke the immersion, not that I would waste my money on those things anyway but it seemed an oversight. I have to say the gift shop was reasonably priced although the toys are cheap and won't last long in a child's hands. For the purposes of this review and one on the BobthePleo forum I purchased one show bag, two toys and a hand puppet. The show bag contained a dinosaur air ring toss toy, dinosaur paddle ball, dinosaur bubble blower, a colouring picture that was not a dinosaur, a crappy dinosaur keyring, a few cheap dinosaur 'farm animals' and a table tennis sort of set, all cheap and nasty. The hand puppet seemed sturdy, although still cheap, I gave mine a bit of abuse and could not get it to break. The two toys have very poor stitching and will not stand up to much rough play in the hands of a toddler. My advice would be avoid the show bags and cheap toys and instead go for the T-rex hand puppet thing, it'll last a lot longer and seemed the most durable. However it was $20. The show bag is $15 and the toys are $8.

The food stands seemed to have pretty average prices, we grabbed half a dozen donuts in the city before we headed out so we did not purchase any food. From what I saw others eating it looked pretty standard for carnival fare. $6 or thereabouts for a cup of chips. The eating area was adequate and could seat a decent number of people.

There was quite a good fossil shop for adults which was nice, I saw several things that I would have liked to take home had my budget permitted, but fortunately they have a physical store and an online one that I can visit at my leisure. There were some good quality trilobites, various poorer quality but still interesting fossils of things like ammonites, small fish and shark teeth, as well as some more spectacular but higher priced fossils of various kinds including some exceptional trilobites of the rarer varieties, large fossils and sculptures.

We managed to drag our visit out to an hour and a half but by that point even myself had had enough of them and we headed out. We were glad to find that the exit was the same as the entrance and we now had the sculptures and life sized skulls to ourselves and happily snapped away. The skull was big enough for my five foot self to climb into and of course we took the obligatory 'dinosaur biting us on the head' snaps :P

All in all we'd say it was worth the entry price, but just barely. We wouldn't go again and would struggle to recommend it to all but young dino fans. There just wasn't enough for the older crowd. I know the show is expensive to put on but there seemed to be a lack of maintenance for the star attractions (some weren't working at all) and there absolutely needed to be a discount for concessions and children since so much within the event costs additional funds.
*****
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Eagerly awaiting Vector and Blue!

InmemoryofRomeo

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Re: Dinosaur Adventures- A review
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2014, 11:23:52 PM »

Ok, you can check out the full album here: http://bobthepleo.com/forums/index.php?action=mgallery;sa=album&&id=400

But here are some highlights :)

T-rex would have had no trouble swallowing me whole :P

The impressive T-rex in the flesh, or err, rubber :P

There were little quirks of humour here and there.

And some mammal like reptiles :)

A little surprise here and there:

You could touch many of the dinos, they were made of a soft rubber, much like our Pleo's :)
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Piggy

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Re: Dinosaur Adventures- A review
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2014, 12:51:26 AM »

Great photo's ! It looks really awesome but it is a bit sad they overlooked the adult Dino fan and the information was more for children.....so Pluto was a lot more technical advanced than the dinosaurs in the museum  :dino-chase: how did the people around you react when you brought a pleo ?  Or am I wrong is Pluto the name of one of your pleo's or is he your dog? In some of your video's on youtube I saw a dog and a cat   :cat:

But a very nice review,  if we ever come to Australia we now what to expect! It is a shame the flight takes so very, very long   :o

I just looked at the photo's in your album and Pluto is a very beautiful pleo !
« Last Edit: July 12, 2014, 12:55:06 AM by Piggy »
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RedwoodsMama

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Re: Dinosaur Adventures- A review
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2014, 01:00:00 AM »

 I agree with Piggy, money seems to win in the long run and it is really sad that they did not gear this more to children and education instead of the almighty dollar...........Money seems to speak more and more these days. They could have done a great job in educating children and adults as well, but that was not the focus.  :( STill some nice photos and I am glad you got to take Pluto with you... ( it is funny cause I bought a Ugobe about three or so years ago, and the woman had named him Pluto,  ;D) I ended up custom painting him and I think he is now Coral the red with white custom pleo, but I love Pluto as a name for a Pleo!
                                                         RWM  :cat-hug: and the Pleo township of the Redwoods
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Animals are SOUL Too, Be kind to all those who live on this planet with us.

InmemoryofRomeo

  • Pleo Grand Master RB
  • ***** Posts: 6903
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  • Pleo(s): Lilo, Stitch, Pleakley, Jumba, Nani, Yuki, Angus, Pluto
  • : 2011 winner2009 winnerTomato Harvest Festivals
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Re: Dinosaur Adventures- A review
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2014, 01:55:57 AM »

Pluto is my newest Pleo :) He drew more attention than some of the dinos there lol, because he moves more. We kept a very, very close eye on him I can tell you, lest someone try and grab him. We only let a couple of very polite, gentle children hold him.

Piggy, my dog is AJ, the black cat is Mischief and the grey cat is Lucky :) It's a travelling show, so who knows, they might travel over your way eventually :)

RWM you are quite right, it was not really educational, and they were clearly far more concerned with profits than having dinosaurs that ran properly.

My review is pretty critical but having said that we did have a few good giggles as we took photos and wandered around. Especially with me climbing into the T-rex skull on the way out :P
« Last Edit: July 12, 2014, 02:02:55 AM by InmemoryofRomeo »
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Piggy

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Re: Dinosaur Adventures- A review
« Reply #5 on: July 12, 2014, 02:44:11 PM »

Pluto looks very handsome and I love the blue eye color of the ugobe pleo's,  his skin looks great so far I can see in the photo's.
Thanks now I now the name of your pets, I watched some of your video's on youtube because I am a newbie when it comes to pleo's.  And yours and from RWM where very informative, so I knew what to expect when i bought my RB  ;D And who knows maybe one day we will visit Australia than we can meet you and your pleo's in real life, and than I also have to stop by Kat and take Lot's of pleo outfits back to Holland :dino-chase:. But for now we have to keep on dreaming ....it's beyond our budget.....but if you ever get to Holland or any other member of the forum they are welcome to visit .
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Mini Me Pleo

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Re: Dinosaur Adventures- A review
« Reply #6 on: July 12, 2014, 02:55:09 PM »

its looks awsome I wanna go
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~Mini Me Pleo
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