A local museum is bringing the distant past to life in a new exhibit.
The Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney has unveiled the return of its life-size animatronic dinosaur exhibit called Dinosaurs Live! This exhibit will be available for museum visitors until February 19.
Visitors paying the general admission fee of $12 for adults and $9 for children can get free entry to the exhibit, which takes them along a half-mile nature trail loop. A total of 10 life-size animatronics of different dinosaur species will be there to greet them, including a 46-foot tall Tyrannosaurus Rex, Megalosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Rugops, and more.
Dinosaurs Live! has been running as a seasonal offering for nearly two decades.
“During the 18th Annual Dinosaurs Live! Life-size Animatronic Dinosaurs exhibit, these animatronic dinosaurs will move and roar and are showcased in a natural environment, providing an experience sure to captivate visitors,” read a press release. “This exhibit will also offer interesting facts about both herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs.”
This year’s exhibit also features a number of photo ops, stationary exhibits, and an outdoor fossil dig.
It is also worth noting that the Heard Museum is also offering a “calmer” form of the exhibit known as Dinosaurs Quiet. This experience is similar but cuts out the roars and movements from the animatronics. Dinosaurs Quiet Days will be held on the second Saturday of each month of the exhibit from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
The 289-acre Heard Museum has been operating since 1967 to educate the 100,000 visitors who walk through its doors annually not only on creatures of the past but also on ways to conserve those of the present, as well as their habitats.
Of course, the draw of dinosaurs cannot be understated in the metroplex, where several animatronic shows featuring the prehistoric giants were held this summer, as previously covered in The Dallas Express. For instance, Fair Park hosted the touring show Jurassic Quest, and the Dallas Zoo ran the Destination: Dinosaurs exhibit to great acclaim.
