Dino & Dragon Stroll brings prehistoric creatures to Greater Columbus Convention Center
As families approached Exhibit Hall D at the Greater Columbus Convention Center Saturday morning, an ominous soundtrack playing in the background made them feel as if they were walking onto the set of Jurassic Park.
"I see a triceratops!" one little boy shouted as he ran towards an inflatable cartoon dinosaur toward the exhibit hall doors. But just beyond the entrance, a prehistoric adventure awaited them.
The concrete exhibit hall looked more like the Mesozoic era thanks to more than a dozen life-like animatronic dinosaurs.
A massive T-Rex, velociraptor and stegosaurus, soaring more the 25 feet tall and spanning 60 feet long, loomed over guests as they wandered through the exhibit. The darkened hall was illuminated by rainbow-colored lights shining up at the dinosaurs, and many of the creatures were held behind gates (for guests' safety, of course.)
The exhibit was all part of the Dino & Dragon Stroll, which was in Columbus this weekend at the convention center.
The Dino & Dragon Stroll bills itself as the only event in North America that lets guests get up close and personal with realistic, life-size dinosaurs and dragons. These fantastical creatures are brought to life using animatronic and sound technology, said tour manager Brian Gallentine.
Gallentine said there are two Dino & Dragon Stroll exhibits touring the country right now, one on each of the coasts. This is the first time the exhibit has visited Columbus.
Dinosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods featured heads, necks and wings that moved, eyes that blinked, mouths that opened and closed, as well as breathing movements and roars that made the figures seem life-like.
Many of the exhibit's visitors were decked out in dinosaur-printed shirts and pants, dinosaur Christmas sweaters and totting around stuffed dinosaurs.
Two-year-old Wesley Reed cocked his head in his stroller looking up at the peculiar creatures.
Reed loved dinosaurs. His bedroom is full of them at home and he shouted "Dinos! Dinos!" from his car seat on his way Downtown. But seeing his favorite creatures in person?
"He's taking it all in," said Reed's mom, Natasha Frink, of Dublin.
Reed and Frink were joined by her mother, Karen Frink, who was in town for Thanksgiving from Fort Ashby, West Virginia. Karen tried to show Reed how friendly the dinosaurs were by petting one on the snout.
Karen said this is one of the first times she's been able to spend extended time with her grandson in a while. "I told my daughter, 'If you have an extra ticket, then grandma is coming!" she said.
Amanda Quigley and her 4-year-old daughter McKinley woke up early Saturday morning and drove two hours from Mason in southwestern Ohio for the Dino & Dragon Stroll. They met up with Amanda's mother-in-law, Debbie, who drove in from Dayton. They missed out on tickets when the exhibit was in Cincinnati, so they decided to make the trip to Columbus.
McKinley posed next to a pterodactyl (her mom's favorite dinosaur) and showed off her gold-sequined T-Rex skull shirt while Amanda snapped some pictures.
"She's all about princesses and dinosaurs," Amanda Quigley said.
Lisa and Justin McKenzie brought their kids, 3-year-old Bentley and 7-month-old Ava, to the stroll. The Grove City family all wore dinosaur-themed outfits for the day: mom and dad wore "Mommysaurus" and "Daddysaurus" T-shirts, and the siblings wore coordinating "Big Bro Dino" and "Little Sis Dino" outfits.
Lisa McKenzie said the family had visited a similar event at the convention center a couple of years ago, but they enjoyed the Dino & Dragon Stroll more because you could get closer to the creatures at this one.
Bentley is the family's biggest dinosaur lover. He doesn't have a favorite though.
"He thinks they're all T-Rexes," Justin McKenzie said.
If you missed out on seeing life-dinosaurs this year, don't worry. Gallentine said the tour has booked 45 cities so far for next year, including another stop in Columbus.
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@sheridan120
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dino & Dragon Stroll gets kids up close with prehistoric creatures
