Extreme Dinosaurs review: Hands on enjoyment for kids

4 years old is a hot age for children and dinosaurs.  They know dinosaur songs, the names of more big ones than I remember and seemingly can’t get enough of them.  Extreme Dinosaurs is a new exhibit at Atlantic Station in Atlanta that has 17 audioanimatronic dinos that snarl, move and do things that will make children’s eyes open wide.

The quality of the dinosaurs is good and on par with other realistic traveling dinosaur shows that you’ve seen.  One benefit of this show is that it’s being presented in a facility with a lower ceiling.  That way the smaller dinosaurs look more natural and in their element.  When we saw a dinosaur exhibit in an auditorium the creatures looked out of place with the block walls that housed the boat show the previous weekend.

This smaller, more enclosed area also worked well with the lights in that they played off the dinos better.  It created more of an effect, as opposed to the light being drowned out by too much space.

There were three stations where you can control parts of the dinosaurs, moving their head, tails, neck, eyes or chest.  It was simple for our 4 year old to do, all he had to do was to wait for the blue light under the button to turn off and he could move another part of the creature.

If you’ve been to Tellus it’s possible that your child’s favorite part was the dinosaur dig.  Extreme Dinosaurs has two dig type areas, but they aren’t as fun as the one at Tellus.  The two dig areas here have a big skeleton in each one and are fun for your children to do, as long as you haven’t seen them elsewhere.

Both of our children loved Extreme Dinosaurs.  Our 2 and 4 year old were not scared during the self guided tour.  They both wanted to hold my hand as we entered, but quickly ran forward and started exploring on their own.

At the end of the dinosaurs is a gift shop.  Shocking, I know.  They’ve got various dino dolls, books, puppet s and more.   The prices there are all fair and what you’d expect, except for the dinos that you’d put in a tube.  You can create your own tube for $12, which is $3 more than in the store.  That’s not a good deal unless you want a tube solely made up of one dinosaur.

If you plan on going to Extreme Dinosaurs you should buy your tickets online.  They’re cheaper if you buy them online.  J   Tickets are $16 for adults and $11 for children 3-11 years old.  If you walk up and buy them they’re $18 and $13 respectively.  They also have price breaks if you purchase combo tickets to Extreme Dinosaurs and BODIES….The Exhibition.  However, our kids are a bit too young to enjoy BODIES.