It&#;s an epic revival of dinosaur species long extinct, but the mad scientists here at The Dinosaur Company don&#;t work with DNA. They work with urethane rubber, foam, spray paint and lots of tools, using their expert knowledge of robotics to bring these prehistoric creatures roaring back to life.
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Inside this warehouse full of animatronics dinosaurs are the same, life-like dinos you&#;ll see out in the wild locally&#;currently on display at the Dallas Zoo (now through September 30), on the Heard&#;s natural trails in McKinney (starting August 31)&#;and other venues as far as Australia. They&#;re all designed, assembled, painted and repaired here at this production facility in Allen, Texas, the headquarters for Billings Productions, Inc.
When powered on, they widen their jaws, twist their heads and snarl. Others dinos are static (non-moving). And they all vary in size: from a group of baby dinos in a nest to&#;standing among a row of T. rexes, a towering Brachiosaurus that my guide tells me would burst through the roof had they built it to its true height. Here you&#;ll unlearn much of what you thought you knew from Jurassic Park. For starters, the Velociraptor was much smaller than depicted in the movie, and the Dilophosaurus was much larger.
And you won&#;t only find dinosaurs here but also their lines of Giant Bugs (including giant ladybugs and spiders) and Primal Predators. The Titanoboa is one particularly formidable sight. Thankfully, it&#;s not animatronic.
Guided Tours Through the Animatronic Factory
In different areas of the warehouse, you&#;ll see creatures in various states of refurbishment. Some sitting off, freshly painted, others behind the curtain of the dino hospital as they are coming off exhibit. The sculpting room is top secret.
For safety reasons, access to the warehouse is only through guided tours. So, to get a glimpse of the dinos up-close and to learn how they&#;re made, you&#;ll need to sign up for a tour or come during a special event.
The Dinosaur Company offers regular half-hour tours for kids and hour-long tours. Along the way, you&#;ll get access to the touch table, a sensory experience where guests can see and touch the feathers, textures of skin (urethane rubber), foam and other items like dino eyeballs. (During sensory-friendly tours, they&#;ll turn off the bright overhead lights too.)
Dino Story Times
But if you&#;ve got a younger kid who&#;s interested in dinos and want to encourage their curiosity, the regular Dino Story Times, followed by the Kids Corral Tour, are a fun and affordable place to start. The story reading are free and held three times each month&#;from 10&#;11am on the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of the same week. Upcoming dates are August 13, 15 and 17, and September 10, 12 and 14.
You&#;ll need to register in advance and sign a safety waiver when you arrive. This is a working warehouse that can get loud during weekdays when the production team is hard at work creating and repairing the dinos, so if you have little kids or kids who thrive in a quieter environment, the best day to go is Saturdays.
Friendly staff members invite kids to sit on colored squares and listen as they read a couple books&#;new ones each month&#;about dinosaurs and insects and other creatures. Strollers are welcome, there&#;s plenty of room for kids to wiggle around, and the restrooms are nearby in case you need to quietly slip out for a diaper change.
After the readings, families are welcome to stay and enjoy lots of crafts and coloring sheets at activity stations. (We loved the dino dig with Kinetic Sand.) You&#;ll see lots of dinos and fossils on display including an animatronic Stegosaurus with exposed mechanical parts. Press and hold the buttons on the controls panels to move its head, legs and tail.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Dinosaurs Animatronics.
But through the double doors to the warehouse is where the real magic happens. For only $3, you can get an orange wristband and join this mini tour that through a portion of the warehouse with bugs, dinos and furry behemoths all on display. They tell kids to use soft touches and welcome kids to even climb on one or two of the dinosaurs, like the Pachyrhinosaurus, made with hard fiberglass and automotive paint. Just ask your guide, who is on hand to field questions and snap photos.
Special Events at The Dinosaur Company
In addition to the regular story times, The Dinosaur Company churns out an ever-changing lineup of unique events for both kids and adults, sparing no expense on entertainment. Coming up next in August: the DinoSorcery Carnival with a live magician on August 3, and Tie-Dying with Dinos on August 24. Check out their website for more events as they are announced throughout the year, which gives plenty of time for your kids to practice their dinosaur jokes.
To learn more, visit thedinosaurcompany.shop or call 469/273-.
Top photo courtesy of Billings Productions, Inc.
I would just give them both a heads up on the darkness and the sounds from youtube. I also would make sure this was not her first ride at the park so that she is not afraid of all the others that day.
I made the mistake of doing that with my daughter on the ride that is now called Stitches Great Escape only back then it was a giant ant. I could not get her to even ride the Small World or anything after that.
For more information, please visit Fiberglass Animals.