Dinosaur World Review

Last weekend we ventured out to "Dinosaur World".

We had never been before as it is a little bit of a drive from our home in Orlando. It took us about an hour and a half to drive there.

My 2 and a half year old son is very big into Dinosaurs, plus I had a 50% off admission coupon, so I was interested to check it out and see if it was worth the drive.

Here is the basic info for Dinosaur World:

Address: 5145 Harvey Tew Rd Plant City, FL (It is located right off of Interstate 4)
FREE parking!
Hours are every day from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. (Nov-January is 9-5)
Admission is $12.75 per adult. $9.75 for ages 3-12. $10.75 for seniors over 60 and children under the age of 3 are FREE.

My verdict: DINOSAUR WORLD IS AWESOME!!!

We got there around 10 in the morning to try to miss some of the heat and possible crowd. The entire park is shaded quite well as it is somewhat set up like a nature walk.
This park isn't your average theme park. There are no rides. You basically walk around trails and get to see over 150 life size dinosaur models. Each dinosaur you see has a plaque which tells the species of dinosaur and give some information about them.
They also have the "Boneyard" which is basically a big sandbox with dinosaur "bones" buried underneath. My son had a great time digging in the sand with shovels and dusting the bones off with a paint brush. (Paint brush and shovels were provided on site).
There also is the fossil dig. The fossil dig only occurs at specific times. Kids get to sift through sand to search for real fossils to take home.


The section that I was least impressed with was the play ground. There wasn't much to it at all and there was very little shade. BUT I saw a sign that said that they are in the process of re-doing it so hopefully it will be new and improved soon.
They also are in the process of building a dinosaur museum.
And of course there is the gift shop where your children will beg you for numerous dinosaur items!
They also host birthday parties.

Three special items of notice:

You might want some extra quarters as they have a machine to get fish food out of to feed the fish in the pond. (I only had one quarter so Austin was not happy)

Pets are allowed in the park as long as they are leashed!!!

There is ZERO food service!!! (There are some vending machines through out the park).
This was not a problem for us as we packed our lunch and ate at one of the numerous picnic tables in the park. You also are allowed to bring in outside food from establishments such as Subway, McDonalds, etc.

Overall, we had a great time. My son loved walking by himself and looking at all the dinosaurs. It wasn't very crowded so I didn't have to worry about loosing him. There were no rides that he had to grumpily wait in line for and Mommy was perfectly pleased to not spend lots of money on admission and food.
AND it only took a few hours to see/do everything so it didn't completely exhaust us and it didn't interfere with naps.

If you are looking for a laid back park experience for minimal cost and don't mind a little bit of a drive..I would highly recommend Dinosaur World!