Field Station Dinosaurs is practically a dream come true if you happen to be a dinosaur loving kid, or kid at heart. The 5-year old munchkin lives and breathes dinosaurs every day, and knows far more about dinosaurs than I will ever know, so I knew it was only a question of time before we found ourselves at Field Station Dinosaurs at One Dinosaur Way (don't you love the address?) in Secaucus, New Jersey.
If you're coming from Manhattan and don't have a car, it's actually not hard at all to get there by public transit. Just take any NJ Transit train from Penn Station and get off at the first station, Secaucus, which takes 10 minutes or so. Then follow the directions on the Web site and walk about 10 minutes from the Secaucus Station to Field Station Dinosaurs.
Of course, yield to dinosaurs:
We soon reached the entrance:
The Dinosaurs
Soon after making our way in, we heard a sound, and the munchkin jumped a little when he heard (then saw) this:
More placid looking were the giant Apatosaurus dinosaurs. Did you know there's actually no such thing as a Brontosaurus? What was initially named a Brontosaurus was later discovered to be the same animal as the previously discovered Apatosaurus.
A little ways on was Ankylosaurus, instantly recognizable with its deadly tail club:
There was an adult Triceratops and also a juvenile Triceratops:
Here's Baryonyx:
And Stegosaurus:
One of the most unusual dinosaurs, at least for me, was the Pachycephalosaurus, with its crown of spikes. Apparently the skull was up to 10 inches thick and likely used in battle, to ram opponents.
The prize for the most unusual sound and head goes to Parasaurolophus, with its long crest that was used to make trombone-like sounds to communicate with the rest of the herd.
Of course, no dinosaur park would be complete without the tyrant king, Tyrannosaurus Rex:
There were also a number of other dinosaurs, but you'll just have to see them for yourself!
Activities
I didn't know quite what to expect for our visit beyond knowing there would be a number of animatronic dinosaurs in the park. I was pleasantly surprised that there were a number of differerent activities throughout the day. Here are the ones we tried, and my take on them:
1. Fossil Dig Site
The fossil dig site is a big sandy area, where kids can pick up some small shovels and dusters and work on dusting off “fossils.” I'd expected them to be buried individually, but in fact there were several large pieces that weren't very buried that kids could further uncover and dust off. While obviously not very authentic, my son and the other young kids seemed to enjoy it. I wouldn't worry about missing this if you run out of time, but it can be a nice break if your kid wants to have some sand time for awhile.
2. Dino Whodunit
This was held in the outdoor Outback Steakhouse Amphitheater, and the host was a very energetic and friendly Australian gal. The “Whodunit” part was figuring out whether several portraits were of a paleontologist or New Jersey governor, followed by a song about these paleontologists. The highlight by far was at the end, when a great T-Rex puppet lumbered on stage–to me, this was even better than many of the animatronic dinosaurs, and my son got a chance to volunteer to come up and “train” the dinosaur. He got a huge kick out of the dinosaur attempting to eat his hat! The one thing my husband didn't care for was that the amplification was too loud. I would recommend bringing earplugs with you just in case, or asking the folks there to turn down the amplified sound to less painful levels.
3. T-REX GAMES
For the T-Rex Games, everyone was divided into teams, identified by a plastic colored lei: orange, blue and white. There were several stations, such as a ball toss, beanbag toss, and identifying different dinosaurs. While I shouldn't be, I was still amazed at just how many dinosaurs kids know by sight. The games are best suited for kids 5 and up.
4. Baby Hadrosaurus Feeding Time
In addition to the enormous T-Rex puppet, the other puppets are cute baby Hadrosaurs that are carried around in a sling. You can see them as part of the Dino Whodunit or similar events in the Outback Steakhouse Amphitheater. And if you either are a Season Pass Holder or have the Commander's Pass, you can go to the scheduled event at the Commander's Tent for “Feeding Time.” This is mostly a photo op, but it was funny to see even older boys of 10 or 11 or so come up to “feed” a bottle to the baby Hadrosaurs-cute! Of course, the munchkin was enthralled and wanted to take one home with him:
5. Dinosaurs Alive! 3D Film
One of the issues these days, in a post-Jurassic Park world with incredible CGI, is that the animatronic dinosaurs can seem a bit quaint, and the sound quality also isn't what you might expect. This is probably more an issue for adults, because all the kids still seemed to love the dinosaur models, and after all kids do tend to have a much better imagination than adults.
That said, the 3D Dinosaurs Alive! film, while a few years old, is a good addition to the Field Station Dinosaurs experience. Again, we found the sound was turned up too loud, but apart from that enjoyed it. Here's a trailer:
The Verdict: This was a very worthwhile family expedition since it took us just minutes to get there from NYC, and my son loves dinosaurs. Naturally, only go if someone in your family is crazy about dinosaurs, since that's the entire focus of the park. I'd recommend it for kids age 3-8, although we certainly saw families with toddlers (who interestingly weren't at all afraid of the dinosaurs with big teeth–they were trying to feed them) and also families with older kids and even a few couples without kids. Keep your expectations in check in terms of the realism of the models, as the movement and sound quality is a bit limited. But kids will still likely be awestruck by the scale of these towering models, and the activities are well planned. We easily spent 3 hours here, helped by the fact it was a beautiful day. Not surprisingly, given the cost of putting together the park and dinosaurs, ticket prices aren't cheap: even bought in advance figure on $23 per adult and $20.50 per child 3-12.
Just don't be surprised if your kids come home a little wilder after their dinosaur adventure:
If you've visited Field Station Dinosaurs, what was your experience?
Field Station: Dinosaurs
Hours: Open Weekends 10am-6pm; Open daily 10am-6pm June 27th-Labor Day
Tickets:
Advance Purchase Explorer's Pass (includes Dinosaurs Alive! 3D Movie): $23 for Adults, $20.50 for Kids 3-12
Disclosure: My family and I were guests of Field Station Dinosaurs, however the views expressed in this post are my own.
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