By Mark Hodson, 101 Holidays editor
I took my children last night to the press preview of Dinosaurs Unleashed, a new exhibition on London’s Oxford Street. This is made up of 24 animatronic dinosaurs – some of them huge – and together they are said to make up the largest dinosaur exhibition in the UK.
Some of the exhibits are inside a temporary building while others are set outside – rather bizarrely – against a backdrop of shops and office buildings. The exhibition opens to the public today and will run only until April 30, 2010. Then this plot of land will be handed over to builders for yet more shops.
So is it any good? Scary monsters or super creeps?
Well, the dinosaurs themselves are mightily impressive and there are all the usual favourites, including a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Diplodocus, a Triceratops and a Stegosaurus. And they move.
But I was underwhelmed by the experience. The dinosaurs make no sound, apart from the whirring of electric motors, and their movements are rather predictable. There is also no narrative structure to the exhibition and no sense of anticipation. You walk in and there are the dinosaurs. The children present enjoyed it, but they didn’t seem to be scared or amazed.
Compare that with the Natural History Museum where the raised walkway leading to the animatronic T. Rex creates a build-up of excitement – and informs along the way. I was disappointed not to see any name plates on the Oxford Street dinosaurs (I relied on my five-year-old daughter to tell me some of the names).
The exhibition is short. Once you’ve seen all 24 dinosaurs, that’s it, apart from the inevitable shop and cafe. That would all be fine – and I’d be happy to recommend it if you were in the area – but ticket prices are high: £15.50 for adults and £11 for children, available through Ticketmaster. Too much, in my opinion. The Natural History Museum is free.
>> Find a great discount on your next holiday. Or search our homepage for holiday ideas.
Like this? Email a link or share it with your friends
Overall we were disappointed with the attraction The models have limited animation and are bland, the site is small, its a relatively small block in Oxford Street The interactive attractions were not working on the day we visited
we paid over £30 for one adult and one child I would say save your money and go to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, its cheaper and in my opinion a better exhibition
We went to Dinosaurs Unleashed on Saturday and were very disappointed. Most of the interactive games were not working, the Jurassic Aquarium was akin to a screen saver and I am sure that the high ticket prices are to pay for the hundreds of staff milling around! I went on the website to contact someone to let them know how we felt (ripped off) but it was just an automated reply. Interesting to see that the exhibition is closed already over the next 2 days for an update …………… not recommended as a day out. The kids and we were underwhelmed!
I was taken along by a friend desperate to see this…. I said I bet its rubber dinos that do a poor “roar” and sometimes move a tail. The Science Museum has more and its free…. I was right. They had interactive screens, only 10, which were not enough for the amount of children there and they either didn’t work properly because they don’t or because they were so full of sticky fingerprints they weren’t responding properly. The aquarium was, I agree like a screen saver, I hoped to at least see dinos eating dinos! Having said that I spent more time looking at that than anything else. Agree with the other comments. Waste of money and fighting the Oxford Street crowds. Glad it wasn’t me that paid!
We went to Dinosaurs Unleashed on Friday 19th Feb and were very disappointed. Paid £44.00 for Family Ticket. Most of the interactive games were not working and only 10, which were not enough for the amount of children there.
The Jurassic Aquarium was a screen saver,
Do not recommended as a day out. Waste of money. Should have gone to The Science Museum, Avoid this place. Feel ripped off
what a rip off. paid over £50 for my partner my 2 kids and my mother and could not believe how rubbish this place was. even the kids of 11 and 6 was so disapointed. barely in there for 20 minutes and left in disgust. like others have said you are better of going to the history museum and the science museum, at least they are free and there is so much more to do.
I took my family on Mar 7th and we all really enjoyed it. The dinosaurs are life-like and full size with a good range from the smallest to the largest. There were plenty of games for the children after the dinosaur park and the atmosphere was very electric.