A day at the land of the Dinosaurs in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Life sized dinosaurs in one great theme park, you won’t wanna miss!
Dinosaur lovers unite! Whether you’re a huge dinosaur geek or have children who adore dinosaurs, Scottsdale’s Pangaea located at: 9500 East Vía de Ventura c100, Scottsdale, AZ 85256. Phone: (480) 362-3466, caters to all your needs. In my case, I used to collect rubber-made dinosaur figurines as a child. Now, as the father of an only son, it was important for me to find things to connect with him. But since I had gotten rid of my playthings a long time ago, I settled for the next best thing. An amusement park filled with life-sized dinosaurs!
- To A Land Before Time!
I picked up Dylan from his mother’s place around 10. He rushed to sit in the front seat of the car, giddy with excitement. I asked him if he knew where we were going today. He exclaimed, “Jurassic Park!” At that moment, I went from smiling to gritting my teeth and thought to myself, “Oh, boy! I hope he’s not expecting real dinosaurs.” After a 30-minute car ride, we arrived at the venue. As we entered through the entrance, a group of people in archaeologist outfits approached us. One of them stepped forward and asked us if we would like a guided tour. We agreed.
Josh, our tour guide knew about dinosaurs as much as anyone I had ever met. As we closely followed him, he guided us through different periods of the era of dinosaurs. The dramatically lit dinosaur exhibits were lifelike enough to fool Dylan. The dinosaurs became a little more real when it came to the animatronics. They had dinosaur models walking around the place, and kids were allowed to touch them and interact with them.
- Do It For The Children
The trip ends sooner for people with a general ticket. Of course, this was not the case for us. I had bought an all-access pass in advance for the full experience and let me tell you, and the price was well worth it. From rides on dinosaurs to an unlimited obstacle course, this experience was really memorable. Although all of the activities were fun-filled, the one we spent the most time at was a skeletal dinosaur-shaped bouncy castle. As expected, you’re not allowed to climb it with shoes on. Thankfully, Dylan was wearing socks inside his shoes, so we faced no problems. If you forget to bring socks, you can easily buy one at the gift shop for a dollar.
After jumping up and down the bouncy castle for an hour, I took him for lunch at Pangaea’s Grill. The menu had a variety of dinosaur-themed food items. Since we had heard that the Grill was known for its pizza, we decided on a 7-inch pepperoni and a normal-sized mushroom pizza. Our waitress, Jennifer, was kind and patient and the food was brought to us within no time. Overall, the Grill was a perfect end to our trip as it upheld the dinosaur theme.
By the end of our visit to Pangaea’s, one thing was clear, I didn’t wanna go home. Although my son did not resemble me physically, we did have a lot in common and love for dinosaurs was definitely one of them. On our way out, my son said he was hungry again, so a nice worker had mentioned that we should stop at Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament for dinner before heading home.