Dinos Alive

Overview

There you are just standing around minding your own business, going about your day as usual, when you see a tyrannosaurus rex towering over you. Given that the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchise doesn't depict reality, that's the kind of incident that requires either fossils or a bit of creative magic to make happen in the year 2024. Dinos Alive opts for the latter, thanks to animatronic dinosaur replicas that are life-sized, and also move — as Australians can see for themselves.

Welcome to... your next date with prehistoric creatures after watching Prehistoric Planet and soaking in every other excuse to scope out the earth's always-fascinating ancient inhabitants. This one is debuting locally in Melbourne, running from Wednesday, January 3, 2024.

At Dinos Alive, you'll peer up at not only a T-rex, but also stegosaurus, ankylosaurus, gorgosaurus, velociraptors and other critters that roamed the planet all those millions of years back. (No, everyone's dad's favourite, aka doyouthinkhesaurus, isn't there.) The exhibition's creatures are designed to look as realistic as possible, with more than 80 specimens covered. Because this is an all-ages affair — kids love dinosaurs, and adults never grow out of loving dinosaurs — there's also an educational side if you're keen to up your dino knowledge.

As the latest season of the David Attenborough-hosted Prehistoric Planet devoted some time to, the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous eras weren't just about giants on land. Accordingly, Dinos Alive also features a virtual aquarium to showcase the creatures that dwelled under the sea.

Virtual reality helps make parts of the exhibition as lifelike as possible, as part of an experience that'll take attendees between 60–75 minutes to wander through.

Updated January 8, 2024.