Travel Back in Time with Dinosauria at the Jacksonville Zoo

By Candy Keane | Geek Mamas on March 6, 2020 • ( Leave a comment )

Dinosaurs roam the earth once again at Dinosauria, presented by Sonny’s BBQ, on display until July 5th at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. The exhibit features more than 20 life-size prehistoric animals that move and roar as you make your way through a self-guided paleontological journey into the past. Dinosauria also spills out to the rest of the zoo with the T-Rex Grill takeover and special showing of The Lost World at the 4D theater.

A Journey Into the Past at Dinosauria

Armed with our digital field guide, we made our way through the sparkling Time Tunnel and straight into the Permian epoch, where we followed the path to a large sail-finned dinosaur known as an Edaphosaurus. Its head and tail moved as it emitted dino roars! Each dinosaur features unique movements and sounds, and with the tropical Florida backdrop, it makes it feel as if you have just stepped into a real-life Jurassic Park.

We continued on our adventure, moving through the Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Pleistocene epochs as we explored the different animals, plants and even dino poop! There were many new dinosaurs I’ve never heard of, plus popular ones like the T-rex and Triceratops. This is actually Dinosauria’s 5th appearance at the Jacksonville Zoo, but it is the the first appearance for the Ice Age creatures like the big Woolly Mammoth and Smilodon. (also known as the saber-toothed tiger)

Each dinosaur features lifelike movements and sounds thanks to the research and development by the paleontologists at Dino Don, Inc. The exhibit itself was created by the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens staff, and designed so the audience will leave with a better understanding of where these dinosaurs lived, what they ate, how big they really were and even what kind of plants were around them. And you get a chance to get up close and personal with each one!

Fun Activities at Base Camp

After your field exploration is complete, you head to base cape for fun activities like fossil digging and making a digital dinosaur. There are a few areas with sand boxes to dig for dinosaur fossils.

I thought the digital dinosaur activity was really cool. You color a dinosaur and write your name on the paper, then lay it down to be scanned on the screen. I noticed you get a brighter color dinosaur if you use the markers instead of the crayons. My dino didn’t have much color (because I used crayons) but it was still pretty neat.

The Dinosauria Details

Admission to Dinosauria is an add-on to a regular zoo ticket, at $5 for the general public and $4 for zoo members. You can get tickets online at: https://www.jacksonvillezoo.org/dinosauria

There’s also a Frequent Explorer Card option good for 10 visits for $25 for general public and $20 for members.