A few weeks ago we previewed a new albeit temporary touring attraction. We saw Jurassic Encounters in Southgate, North London, Before it moves on to Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow.
If you are looking for a family trip during the holidays then this will tick most of the boxes as it is not too pricey and can be toured in just over the hour. Dinosaurs always capture the imagination and this bunch (there are a lot – around 50) do look lifelike with the resulting ooh’s and aah’s.
I am not familiar with the non London venues on the tour but was impressed by the choice of mature woodland for most of the exhibits. They are under a canopy of branches and it makes it intruiging to find out what creature is emitting the calls that you hear as you work your way around the track, because there isn’t always a clear line of sight. You can imagine some of these bursting out of the bushes at you. The trees also allow for a sense of scale, none more so in the case of the Brachiasour? who seemed to be reaching up for the uppermost branches. They are animatronic in that the heads and tails move, but not by much. That’s a minor niggle and you do get a lot of Dino’s for your money. I had heard rumours that some of the exhibits were in bad shape but couldn’t see anything amiss on our visit.
The exhibits do have a plate wIth names and details but too often these were set back from the ropes so were not unable to be read, indeed we witnessed staff moving the ropes further out from the exhibits.
This is aimed at the younger members of the family and most of the little ones that we passed seem pretty knowledgeable regarding names etc and all seemed really into it.
Outside before you pay there is a truly massive T-Rex, a climb on dino for photo shoots and a number of side shows and vending outlets, though many families were content to picnic under the trees once inside on fallen trunks or outside on the grass. The toilet facilities could have been better and we ended up in the park cafe on the other side of the lake!
