Those big and scary dinosaurs may be extinct, but they’re certainly not forgotten about.
In this family-friendly event, life-size animatronic dinosaurs will come to life at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum from Feb. 17 to 18 as part of the Jurassic Quest tour.
The event will feature an expanded herd of life-like moving and roaring dinosaurs, including a Spinosaurus and a T-Rex; themed rides and attractions; dinosaur shows; science and art activities, including a giant fossil dig; a display of real fossils; a play area; photo opportunities; “Raptor Run” races and a “Rope-a-Raptor” experience where kids will get to lasso stray dinosaurs to get them back into their pens.
“We always try to make the show entertaining but also very educational,” said Marty Hoffman, a dinosaur expert with Jurassic Quest. “For instance, we have our fossil experience area where you can see a real cast of dinosaur fossils and someone is there to teach you about it. We also have a Dino-411 line [which allows attendees to send in their questions through text].”
Dinosaur Trainers accompany the dinosaur animatronics and educate guests, as well as help to set up the show when they’re on the road.
“When I was touring with the show, I could help set up the fossil experience,” Hoffman explained. “I would help with the positioning of the dinosaurs, making sure they get into the right scenes.”
Hoffman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and spent most of his life studying dinosaurs, which he explained are not truly extinct.
“Every bird you see is technically a dinosaur; they’re a therapod,” Hoffman explained. “If you eat a chicken nugget that’s in the shape of a dinosaur, there is dinosaur meat on the inside. On Thanksgiving, we eat really dry dinosaurs.”
Since April 2016, Hoffman has been teaching and entertaining people of all ages about dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures with Jurassic Quest.
He joined in at a time when Jurassic Quest was expanding from one show to two shows. Jurassic Quest, in 2013, was a family show that started in the Houston area.
“It started out with one show with about three semi-trucks worth of stuff,” Hoffman said. “Now it’s touring the United States and into Canada.”
Today, the shows have 15 trucks filled with props and machines to bring the Jurassic period alive.
Even people who know a lot about dinosaurs, Hoffman explained, tend to learn more about them at Jurassic Quest shows.
“Paleontology is such a growing field that what you knew a year ago, some of that information has changed now because we got new discoveries and have done new research on maybe old fossils that we have to learn new things about those animals,” Hoffman said. “I always consider dinosaurs a gateway science because if your kid is learning about dinosaurs, all of a sudden they’re learning about geology, they’re learning about biology, they’re even learning about astronomy, all these different sciences, just because they think dinosaurs are cool.”
In addition to studying dinosaurs, Hoffman meets with paleontologists and has studied fossils in labs.
“When I was in grade school, in second grade there was a teacher that was in the room next to mine, and for one six-week period, she would have her room decorated in dinosaur stuff,” Hoffman explained. “Now this was back in the ‘70s, and I would always sneak over into her room to talk about dinosaurs and see dinosaur stuff. Now, in sixth grade, she had me come back and do a presentation about dinosaurs to her second-grade class. So, I’ve been doing this for a long time.”
To this day, Hoffman said, he feels as if he’s living his “best, 8-year-old life.”
“There’s still that childhood part of you that just thought dinosaurs are cool,” Hoffman said. “I still have that. Some people lose that, but I just never did.”
Tickets for Jurassic Quest range from $32.50 to $52.05. Purchase tickets and learn more at www.jurassicquest.com.
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