Wondering about the Jurassic Quest dinosaur show? My family went with our then 9 year old, and I’ve got all the scoop for you. Because we get a fair amount of traffic to this post, I want to be clear that this show is NOT the same as the BBC dinosaur show, Walking With Dinosaurs, where life like dinosaurs walk around. We have a review of that show (which is AMAZING) here.
Disclaimer-This post was also written shortly after we went in 2014, so you should expect ticket prices and some attractions to be different.
Update-This show is also NOT the same as the Jurassic Tour, which is currently going around. In my opinion, they do look similar, but the owner of Jurassic Quest is Really Clear that it is not. I can’t speak to Jurassic Tour, but you may want to look at Yelp reviews for that one, as a lot of them are not good. I do think some of the tips I have here would probably work for both events, but I’m just guessing and can only personally speak to my experience at Jurassic Quest. Back to that now-
If you’re trying to decide whether the Jurassic Quest show is worth it, I hope this review helps! My short answer is, “Yes,” if you have a younger dinosaur lover and you plan your day to avoid the biggest crowds. At least on our visit, I thought most attractions would not hold the interest of older kids. You also want to make sure that you time it carefully so you aren’t just standing in line. Again, all my opinions only, but hopefully the photos and our review will help you decide for yourself. You may also want to read through the many comments left on this post one the years.
Tickets: This info. is from their site related to the Puyallup event December 28th-29th. Yours may be different.
- Hours: Sat: 9am – 8pm; Sun, 9am – 7pm
- Location: Matress Firm ShowPlex – Enter at Blue Gate
- Admission:
Kids (2-12) – $24 / VIP Kids (2-12): $36
Adults (13-64) – $24
Seniors 65 & older – $22
Kids 2 and under are FREE - Website: www.jurassicquest.com
Regular Ticket:
Includes The Dinosaur Exhibit, The Baby Dinosaur Show, The Walking Dinosaur Show, The Dino Tour, Dino Cinema, Science Station, and Crafts & Coloring Station!
Activity Tickets must be purchased at the Tickets For Activities booth inside the event in order for them to do the Dinosaur Rides, Inflatables, and VIP activities. Activity Tickets are $5 each and each ticket counts for one turn on one ride or activity.
VIP Ticket: Get Unlimited Rides & Activities!
Includes The Dinosaur Exhibit, The Baby Dinosaur Show, The Walking Dinosaur Show, The Dino Tour, Dinosaur Rides, Dino Bounce Houses, Bungee Pull, Fossil Dig, Jurassic Jeeps, Dino Scooters (for ages 3 & under), Excavation Station (One Turn Per VIP Ticket), Dino Cinema, Crafts & Coloring Station, Science Station, and more!
The only activities NOT included in the VIP ticket are Face Painting and Green Screen Photography, which require Activity Tickets that are purchased at the Tickets For Activities booth inside the event.
Bottom line? SFM recommends you get the VIP ticket for the kids if you go.
When to go: We took Jurassic guy Dan’s advice and went later in the day. When we arrived around 3:30, we were able to walk right up to the exhibits and the dinosaur dig, but there was a pretty good sized line to ride on the dinosaurs and jump. By the time we watched the video and did the dig, it had cleared out considerably, and by 5PM, Henry was able to walk right up to everything. By 6PM the crowd was so light that the gal at the bounce house just let them play as long as they wanted! Dan confirmed that it had been very crowded earlier in the day, which is typical. I think you’ll have a much better experience if you go when the crowds are smaller.
Bottom line? Go during the last three hours of the event.
What to do: We all really enjoyed looking at the dinosaur exhibit. They were well done, and Henry thought it was awesome that their eyes and feet really moved. There are also two areas with dinosaur rides-note that this is mostly about, “Hey, I’m on a dinosaur.” The motion is very slow and limited. Tip: The two in the back had smaller lines than the two in front, although there is a lot of light coming in from the windows, which made it hard to get good pics. Henry also loved the dinosaur dig, which is basically a sandbox with, “Dinosaur,” bones. As silly as this sounds, the kids I saw could have hung out here all day-bring a book! There also several large inflatables, a craft station, a DVD to watch (dinosaur on dinosaur violence), face painting, and a green screen for photos. Oh, and yes, there is a gift shop, though it’s not hard to bypass.
Bottom line? Plenty for young kids to do, so go if you have the flexibility to arrive later in the event and stay for several hours. I would not take kids over 9, and if you take kids younger than 5 be aware that there are some restrictions as to what bouncers they can use, and they must be 3’6″ to do the dinosaur rides. I would try to skip the face painting.
All in all, my family had a great time, and Henry is referring to it as his, “Best day ever.” I really can’t emphasize enough, though, how important it is to time your visit and allow for a good chunk of time, given the ticket pricing. We were there from around 3:30-7PM, and the crowds were small enough that Henry was able to do his favorite things over and over. It also felt like a full day of entertainment by the time we left. I think if you go when it is busier and you have limited time, it will be much harder to feel like you got your money’s worth.
Since this was post was first published, folks from around the country have live comments about their experiences, and they’ve been a real mix! Do take a minute to read them. I hope this post helped you if you’ve been trying to decide whether to attend this event.
Found this post via Google? Welcome! I write just about South Sound family events, and I have new ideas here daily plus Thousands of posts featuring family friendly places to go and things to do around Tacoma, WA, and the rest of the area.
If you live anywhere close, I hope you’ll be back!
Disclosure: My family was provided with tickets to facilitate this review. I was not otherwise compensated, and the opinions and pics are my own.
Hi my daughter who is 11 really wants to go. Wondering why you mentioned not talking kids over 9? Are there ride restrictions? Thank you for your review!
Hi, Maribel,
This is an old post. I haven’t heard of this one returning. Have you? There were ride restrictions, but I think I suggested not taking those over 9, because it was an event I thought appealed much more to younger children.
For little people is nice…that’s about it…I seen better effect in “Jurasic Park” @ Universal Studio Fl. Everything is as expensive as Disney World, but at least Disney’s food is fresher n not a hack…
It’s definitely not a Disney style production in my opinion. Thanks for stopping by!
Drove 200 plus miles to get there, would only go in the future if it were in my home town. Not enough concession stands, only 4 for about 1500+ poeple. Drove over three hours to get there and not worth it. Thank god it was in Monterey by the beach. Had more fun at the beach with 8 year old daughter who actually likes dinosaurs and could name almost all of them.
I would agree with you.
I’m never taking my kids back there again. Worst fun day ever. Over priced and overrated. This is a fact and not an opinion. Adults have to pay for what, watch my kids be bored. My 3 year old new they were robots. The most that anyone should have to pay for this crap is 5 dollars for a family of 10.
Thanks for your review, Mike! It hasn’t been in our area for a while, but I tired to be very clear about the pros/cons and what to expect. I know there aren’t many reviews of it online. I hope your next adventure is a better one!
Way too much money. Lines are very long.Not enough concession stands. They kept running out of snow cone ice and cottoncandy. The coke machines were even out of order. After standing in line for 45 minute for one of the bounce house slides he got to slide 2 times. Ridiculous !!!! Do not waste ur money!
Thanks for your review, Christy!
I totally agree! It was such a let down!
Went and loved it. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. I do think 20.00 is expensive, but it was fun and informative. I will definitely go again when they return.
I am thinking that going after the crowds disperse is a great idea. The venue is probaby in charge of vendors for the most part. There are pros and cons to ANY event you go to but if the KIDS enjoy it that is the main point.
Thanks, Audrey! We tried to lay out the pros and cons from our experience. This event hasn’t been back to our area for some time, but we enjoy hearing from others who have gone to it around the country. Thanks for stopping by.
We just went to a Jurassic Quest today. It was def a short lived fun. We arrived early to avoid the crowds. We got in line around 2:30pm, gates opened at 3pm & shortly after we got in line the lines became extremely long quick. We were able to walk around the “robotic” dinosaurs without being bombarded which was nice. We were only there about an hour or so. Left at 430pm. It was nice, but extremely over priced for the poor set up they had. We rod on a dinosaur, we’ll my 12 year old daughter did, just to do it. My four year old was a bit scared and I noticed a lot of kids were scared also as the graphic make up of some of the scenes are not for the young ones. This event is really geared towards 6 to 9 year olds in my opinion. We made a clay sculpting thing that was cool, but didn’t show bands or need a ticket for it and cut construction paper up and made our own craft at one of the tables. It was fun overall, but not worth the money. Although, being a photographer it was perfect for lots of great shots!
What a poorly run event. It’s like it was the first they have ever done this. When tents are packed so you can barely move and lines are two hour waits to participate in events you paid for it points to an over sale of tickets purely for profit and not for customer satisfaction. It was a disappointing experience for the kids. I understand they move town to town so they don’t care if people are unhappy, but what a rip off. They should be ashamed to promote an amazing event that is anything but. Only dishonest people take consumers’ money knowing the experience will be anything but enjoyable.
Sounds like it was a real bummer at your location. Thanks for stopping by. We don’t have any relationship with this event, but I’ve left this post up over the years so parents have a place to leave honest reviews. Hope it helps others decide if this is a, “Do,” or, “Skip,” event when it comes to their area. Thanks again and hope your next adventure is a better one.
Was a waste of money for what you actually got to see and do. The lines were horrendous. What we saw at the event did not meet the expectations set by the website. We stopped at Cabelas on the way home and the kids enjoyed the aquarium and stuffed animals better. Just my two cents, don’t waste your money.
Thanks for stopping by, Bernie. Sorry it was a bad time for you. Hope your next outing is a better one!
How’s the military discount work: My dad’s a veteran he’s not going but gonna stay at hotel instead. Im puchasing all our tickets as a military family . Do we need to bring his card or can we just show pic of card. Or does he have to be present or buy tickets under military kids /adults and just walk to gate show them our ticket? Or do we have to purchase reg tickets? (If I already purchased the military VIP kids ,adults I have copy pic of military card on phone and he’s not going and I have the printed tickets can I still get in? ) Or do I just show printed tickets that is it? There’s no info about this stuff on your site’s . I just don’t want to travel get there and family can’t get through gate. Need info please
Hi, Deanna,
I wrote a review of this show several years ago, but I’m not affiliated with it at all, so I can’t answer any of those questions.
I hope you find out!
Several years ago my family attended a Dino show at “Oaks”. There weren’t many Dino’s but they were operated by buttons,they were great. Last month we went to Franklin Institute for theirs; it was good. Last Sunday we went to Jurassic Quest at Oaks. There were a ton of Dino’s, all moving and most roaring, it was boring. The walking Dino should have been in a dark area, so you couldn’t see the operators black pants. My great grand asked if the Dino had ate and then pooped the man out. The other attractions were pretty nice, but some lines were very long. The ticket prices were high. $35. for everything for kids 2-12, $30. for 13-64 limited activities and $25 for age 65 & up. There was nothing for adults to do but look at the Dino’s with everybody else, and watch their children and buy tickets for face painting, and a green picture; snacks, and high priced souvenirs most that you could get at the dollar store.
Thanks for reviewing, we are in our 70’s and it is in our town for the weekend. I’ve decided we don’t need to spend $47.
You’re welcome! I think it’s definitely designed for young children.
Be sure your kids are wearing socks (which are required on inflatables) otherwise the VIP ticket is basically worthless. Even if you go out to the car to grab them, there is no reentry to the event. Other than that, the lines were very long and the other activities were limited to driving a power wheel jeep in a circle, riding a animatronic dinosaur once around a small area and a fossil dig. My daughter left disappointed. We had way more fun at the Discover the Dinosaurs event!
At the current event in Wisconsin, you can go to your car. You just have to get your hand stamped before you leave so you can re-enter.
I took my 4 yr old grandson an 14 yr old granddaughter we went today Sept 17 . It was amazing the people were some of the nicest people ever. It was perfect for every age . We had the best time from the displays arts an crafts . It was a life experience for my 4 yr old who loves dinosaurs. Thank you all for making this a very enjoyable day
Our site isn’t affiliated with this show, but I’m so glad to hear you had a good time!
Worst experience ever. Don’t even think you’ll have a tiny chance to have fun. Very long line for a very ridiculous playgrounds for a very short time. Got the VIP unlimited tickets but still had to pay 10$ for face painting and for other little activities. Balloon is for 15 dollars. Paid more than 150 for 2 kids and 2 adults for nothing. The place is very crowded and dirty. Wasted my time and money. Save your money and time and don’t even think about coming there.
☺I took my 2 😃granddaughters we arrived @ 3:30 & stayed until the doors closed @ 8:00. They had a 💣! they said “you’re the best EVER! Granma😃
VIP Per Child 👍 $34
VIP Per Adult 😏 $20
Hope 2C Jurassic Q again (Reno, Nv)
I attended Jurassic quest over the weekend
It was a total let down. I dont recommend it to anyone of any age. Not happy at all.