Dinosaur Adventure easy as a drive-by at DuPage Fairgrounds
In a time of social distancing and also boredom, dinosaurs are coming to the rescue.
Dinosaur Adventure DriveThru is ongoing at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 27-30 and Sept. 3-7. Guests can view more than 80 life-size dinosaurs from the comfort of their own vehicles, said Sanjay Syal, president and CEO of Pinnacle Production Group, a trade show company based in Minneosta.
His company has brought Dinosaur Adventure shows to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont in the past and was familiar with the area. They recently opened its first drive-thru dinosaur experience in Minnesota.
“We knew that people were looking for something to do. We decided to experiment and do this Dinosaur Adventure Drive-Thru,” he said. “We built an entire show as a drive-thru exhibit and on top of that, we built an entire audio tour that goes along with it. It’s about a 35-minute drive, about a mile and a half to two-mile route.”
The audio tour has some sing-along songs as well as information designed to appeal to and educate children, he said.
The display includes a 40foot T-Rex, a baby velociraptor, 30-foot tall Brontosaurus and many more, he said.
“We also have some entertainment. We have people that walk around with little baby T-Rex puppets in their hands and wave at the cars going by,” he said.
Tickets are limited and are sold on a per day, per time-period basis with the option to purchase an Ultimate Adventure toy bag for $29. Tickets are sold online only. The cost is $49-$59 per car up to seven people, or $69 to come anytime.
Guests can even get a free photo taken during their adventure — they’re given a bar code to download their photos later.
“We have all different types of dinosaurs and the majority of them do move, they blink, they roar,” he said. “We also have lighting so once it starts getting dark, you’ll start seeing lights come on and each of the scenes are lit so it looks pretty cool. If you have more brave kids maybe you could bring them at night time when the lights are on.”
The dinosaurs originally were built for zoos so they’re waterproof. The insides are metal and the outsides are covered with foam and silicone, he said.
“They’re all handmade, they’re very detail-oriented and each of them has different actions based on the type of dinosaur it is,” he said. “We even have some pterodactyls that are birds that sit on rocks and wave.”
Although he hopes to have the shows back indoors, he thinks this is a solution that has turned out better than expected.
“Everyone is going to enjoy the event, particularly the kids.” Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.