dinosaur journey museum

This museum hasn't really changed in several years. I wish there was more for the adults/ teens to look at or read the exhibits are geared toward kids which is wonderful and the kids loved it, but I was bored out of my mind (give some more reading opportunity for adults while the kids are repeatedly get sprayed with water). My main complaint and reason that I scored it so low was the staff was rude. We got there and I had purchased the groupon. We were greeted by a lady and she said "oh great a family price it will be $24.50". I smiled and said "I have a groupon" her whole demeanor changed and said "ok the movie is through there". I was confused because she didn't scan my phone or anything, but the kids were super excited to get started. As we walked away she said "give me your phone so I can mark it as redeemed". Then we went through the museum and the kids had a great time but the heat made the room unbearable. We convinced the kids to look through the gift shop then we could leave. The kids picked out their things to take home then we waited to check out 3 employees walked by as were standing in line behind a young girl seeking change. Finally after 10 minutes I asked for help. We were rushed through checkout. Needless to say employees really ruined the experience for us. We won't be back.

I enjoyed this a lot. The exhibits were very lifelike and some even moved and made noises. The information on the displays was educational and well presented. There were several activities for children such a digging for dinosaur bones. Also it was possible to look at an real work area where the bones that have been found were being cleaned and studied.

Great way to spend a few hours.Lots to look at & very hands on. Every kid in the place was smiling...& so were the adults!

Very interesting and educational. Something for every age. The exhibits are self guided and the children will certainly home in on the animated displays.

Interactive, good for children 3-12. Hard to get grandsons out of here when they were 5-7 years old.

I loved the combination of animatronic dinosaurs with the real dinosaur bones, fossils, & photos. It's a good mix allowing something for the kids & something for the adults. The video was a little scary for our 4 year old but it was well done & educational - worth the 20 minutes. The water table & dinosaur dig in the rubber gravel pit were a hit. There's also a large collection of books. It is not a huge place so you can easily get through before the kids wear out but big enough to be worth going.

The Dinosaur Journey Museum is a family-friendly and youth-oriented series of displays. Kids enjoy the shaking ground of earthquakes and moving robotic dinosaurs. The Musum includes lots of more adult oriented displays, including working museum curators and archeological technicians. There are books, videos, models, and souvenirs located in a large gift shop and museum store. I felt the admission and items in the museum store were quite costly .... and that hurt our family budget for this trip....definitely a for-profit commercialized museum facility.....but, hey, we were there, only 150 million years late! But wait...there's even more "dinosaur stuff" nearby:While overall, the Dinosaur Journey Museum is a nice blend of interactive displays, anametronics, and dinosaur digging information, there is also another simpler attraction nearby. Located a little ways away from town, towards the cliffs and canyons, is the world-famous "Dinosaur Hill", just outside of Fruita, CO, and that site is just down the road. That is where paleontologists first unearthed the first complete skeleton of the fossilized bones of two large dinosaurs in the early 1900's. You can still visit and walk through this actual outdoor "Dinosaur Hill" discovery site, just a little ways up the hill and across the street away from this commercial Museum.....and that outdoor area is free. Just drive south towards the Colorado National Monument for about one half mile, cross over the street, and park inside the fence, and the well marked self-guided trails will take you around and through the actual "Dinosaur Hill." I wish we had known that before we saw the road side sign for the "Dinosaur Journey Museum."....but, now, you do!Furthermore, we enjoyed the National Park Service's Dinosaur National Monument in Vernal, Utah, a whole lot more, although admittedly this Dinosaur Journey Museum had more of the kid-friendly features and interactive type displays. I would recommend this attraction for families with pre-teens and young children (or grandchildren like us) ... most older teens get bored rather quickly, unless they are really into paleontology (the study of prehistoric plants and animals). Just enjoy and have fun!

Lots of displays and interactive stations for kids. My Fav was the earthquake centre, although it seemed out of place in this museum. Lots if info and history to go through, kids really enjoyed it. They have a huge shop with dinosaur souvenirs.

This review is more from my husband and daughter who participated in a Dinosaur dig. They liked the interactive aspect of the museum and a great place to "fire up the imagination". Great balance of hypothesis and practical application. Could see Palentologists working on finds in the museum. The dig was good. They enjoyed it, my daughter is 12 and it was a perfect time for her. Husband said some younger kids got bored after awhile so maybe half day better for them. There was nothing like my daughter finding a 150 million year old dinosaur tooth. It was a great experience for my daughter to talk to Palentologists and find out what to study in order to become one. My husband who is very cynical when it comes to paying for experiences said it was worth it to him!

My son is really into dinosaurs so we stop at a lot of museums like this. But I really enjoyed this one. The moving dinosaurs are a lot of fun, as was the earthquake simulator. There was also a lot of interesting information on the history of paleontology in the Grand Junction area and the state. If you're near Fruita, Grand Junction, or the Colo National Monument, this is well worth a stop.

We were in the area for mountain biking. We decided to go here in the heat of the day. Four adults were $24.50. Overall an interesting place. The film was full of information. Some of the things they have are amazing for such a small town. I don't know if I would need to go back but it was great for the time we were there. They do have some amazing things for kids and adults. Worth a stop if in the area.

What a wonderful place to experience. The staff is so helpful and the Museum itself is amazing. There is so much information and the exhibits are so detailed. Great place to take kids!

Visited this site with 2 adults, no kids. It is a very small museum that doesn't take too long to go through. They show a video throughout the day at particular times that lasts about 15 minutes. With the video and time in the gift shop, our trip was about one hour or so. The museum is cute (robotic dinosaurs!) and reasonably priced considering it is so small. Definitely worth a quick visit. Customer service at the reception desk and gift shop was great.

My mom and I visited the dinosaur museum today. We just happened to enter as the movie was starting. We found the movie to be interesting, informative and a great introduction to the museum. The museum has incredible dinosaur fossils and highlights the local areas where they have been found. There are interactive areas for the kids and some of the exhibits become animated with just a press of a button. There is also a view of their dinosaur laboratory. The gift shop had everything dinosaur and is definitely worth a visit.I highly recommend visiting the Dinosaur Museum. This is a lovely small museum.

We took out 2 granddaughters on one of the daylong dig expeditions sponsored by the museum. While the museum itself is sort of lacking, the dig itself was great. The took us to a site that has been excavated for many years and where they are still finding significant fossils. The 2 members of the museum stuff told us how to look for bones without destroying them and let us loose on the face where the digging was going on. While we did not personally find any bones although one of our group found a small one, we all had a great time. My grandkids got the opportunity to experience what a working paleontologist does on a daily basis which was exciting for them.The museum supplied as much liquids as we wanted to drink as well as an excellent assortment of meats, cheeses, vegetables, and breads to make lunches.There were 2 special high-points the day. First of all, a crew of museum volunteers were working on excavating a femur bone that might be the largest bone of its type ever discovered. The lady who initially found the tip of the bone was working that day and she was very interesting. During the day that we were there, digging at the end of the large femur showed the beginning of yet another bone inside the hill.The second high point was that my granddaughters got the opportunity to help wrap another bone with plaster of paris saturated burlap and we also got the see this smaller bone removed from the ground.When we returned to the museum after the dig, we all had the opportunity to tour the museum ;lab so see what happens to the bones after they are removed from the ground.While I can't in all honesty highly recommend the museum itself although the kids did enjoy the museum, I can highly recommend the dinosaur dig.