Jurassic Quest: Tiptoe through the monsters

A herd of prehistoric reptiles is headed to downtown Los Angeles this month, and this time there’s no hiding from these massive creatures in the safety and comfort of your vehicle. Jurassic Quest, which made several stops in Southern California as a drive-thru attraction during the earlier months of the COVID-19 pandemic, has transitioned to a more immersive, walkthru format.

“We’ve all had that time in our lives when we loved dinosaurs, and it’s a great time to see it through your kids’ eyes and reconnect with that love of dinosaurs we all had,” said park ranger Marty Hoffman.

Yes, Hoffman is an actual park ranger with Jurassic Quest, the touring dinosaur attraction that’s coming to the Los Angeles Convention Center from Wednesday through Dec. 31 before heading to the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa from Jan. 14-16, the Del Mar Fairgrounds from Jan. 2022 and Fairplex Pomona from Jan. 27-29.

The show includes displays of about 70 hulking, animatronic dinosaurs from the Cretaceous, Jurassic

JURASSIC QUEST

When:

Where:

Tickets:

Also:

and Triassic periods, which date back as much as 250 million years.

Due to the pandemic, the trip through the ancient world of dinosaurs was reimagined as a drive-thru experience in 2020 and 2021, in which families casually cruised by these creatures in their vehicles.

This year will be different.

“Now that we’re back indoors, we’re having a lot more fun,” Hoffman said. “The drive-thru was one thing, but there’s nothing like experiencing it inside.”

The convention center will be transformed into a Jurassic-era environment where people can get up close to these reptiles, most of which would have undoubtedly swallowed them up as a snack millions of years ago.

“The lighting on the dinosaurs is a little more intense,” Hoffman explained. “There’s a lot more scenery and the backdrops behind it to immerse you more in the experience.”

Those who are brave enough can walk right up to the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex; the Spinosaurus, which is longer and heavier than a T. rex and is the largest known carnivorous dinosaur; and the gigantic Apatosaurus, whose neck measures 40 feet in length. There will also be baby dinosaurs and sea creatures, too.

“And they’re all going to be life-sized,” Hoffman added.

Since Jurassic Quest is back as a walk-thru, it will include touches that didn’t make sense for a drive-thru, including a bounce house, kid rides on tiny wheeled dinosaurs, a fossil exhibit and an excavation site where aspiring paleontologists can dig up ancient bones.