After a year of being ill thanks to Hyperemesis Gravidarum, Adam and I finally started our adventures together again. What better place to go to than London – Adam’s favourite place. We left Willow with Dad-Dad at home and drove down to London with friends to experience Dinosaurs In The Wild.
Situated on North Greenwich Peninsula, Dinosaurs In The Wild is not like anything we have experienced before. We were able to enter a time machine and travel back 67 million years ago to the Late Cretaceous period where we saw living dinosaurs. We visited TimeBase67, a scientific research station built by Chronotex Enterprises, and got to see Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops to name just a couple of dinosaurs.
Your experience starts following giant dinosaur footprints on the ground from the North Greenwich Underground Station. The departure lounge is based in a huge tent with toilets, a small cafe and an area to leave your bags and coats for free. You are not able to take anything back in time other than water and your camera.
We waited in the large seating area for our allocated time slot before being greeted by the Chronotex staff. The children had their photograph taken in front of the green screen but there is no pressure to buy the photograph – in fact we never actually saw our finished photograph at the end of the tour.
After watching a short safety briefing on the potential dangers of prehistoric travel and receiving a pair of 3D glasses, our group was split into two and we entered a time machine.
The five of us had the time machine to ourselves. The journey through time was very smooth and took no time at all. Our tour guide turned our time machine into a rugged land vehicle which took us to TimeBase 67. On the way we spotted a number of dinosaurs through the window and even drove underneath one!
The rest of the tour saw us visit different departments of TimeBase 67. I do not want to give too much away but our highlights included seeing the heart of a 7 year old Alamosaurus (an adult heart would be four times bigger), holding dinosaur teeth and touching freshly collected dinosaur poo.
We got to see a Pachycephalosaurus being dissected in the Autopsy lab…
and in the Hatchery we saw three incubators including a tiny Triceratops squirming inside its shell and meeting a Dakotaraptor hatchling.
We were given enough time to look around each section of TimeBase; this meant we were never bored.
We then had the opportunity to visit the Lookout at the top of the base were we had panoramic views of all the dinosaurs around the base. We found ourselves going between the four windows in order to see the different dinosaurs reacting to their environment. The dinosaur action then got a little bit too close which saw us running to the escape pods and evacuating through the tunnel under the lake before entering an emergency time machine to bring us back to 2018.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the unique dinosaur experience. The tour itself lasted for 90 minutes. The children in our group were aged 6 and 9 and were all completely immersed by the tour. Even Adam, who usually spots inaccuracies and is hard to convince was captivated by the experience.
Every Chronotex employee we met throughout the tour made the experience believable. They were all very good during their “performance”. You truly feel like you have just traveled back in time. It is hard to get across how realistic the experience was.
Dinosaurs In The Wild is definitely designed with older children in mind. It requires them to be involved with the experience rather than simply looking at dinosaurs in front of them. The website recommends for children to be above 5 years old.
There are also plenty of activities to do close by to make a full day of adventures. We came over to the Greenwich Peninsula via the Emirates Cable Car. We used our Oyster Cards and paid separately for the children – less than £2 per child for a single journey. Adam and I had been on the cable cars before but it was a brilliant way to start the day.
We also visited the 02 – spending time exploring the Noodle Playground before visiting the Sky Studios.
Sky Studios is a free experience which is open daily. We had the place practically to ourselves which meant the children were able to do the activities over and over again. When you enter the Sky Sudios you are given a card with a QR code. After each activity you scan the QR code and then you are able to download the photos or videos for free at home.
The childrens favourite activity were the interactive green screen pods. They were able to have their photographs taken with different Sky characters. They spent ages striking different poses and selecting different programmes.
The children also got to read the news headlines in the Sky News studio. They experienced the auto-cue and large camera. Again we were able to watch their recordings back at home.
We then got the underground back to Westfield Stratford to attend the Monthly Mini Model Build event at the Lego store. This is a free event between 4-6pm where the children can build a model in store and then take it home. The children all made a snail which became a lovely souvenir of the day.
It certainly was an action packed day and a great way for Adam and I to return to our adventures. Dinosaurs In The Wild is only on until the end of the month so be sure to book now to avoid missing this amazing unique experience
Disclaimer: We were given tickets to visit Dinosaurs In The Wild to review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
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