the mommy avenger

Have you been to Thanksgiving Point’s Dinosaur Island yet? If you haven’t, you must plan a trip with your kiddos to go and discover them in our own backyard!

Running now through August 26th, this special exhibition is not to be missed! We were invited to explore the gardens today and we are so excited to share our experience with you!

Dinosaur Island at Thanksgiving Point’s Ashton Gardens was such a unique experience. Walking through the 50 acres of perfectly manicured gardens is such a treat, but being able to experience 32 life-sized robotic dinosaurs was so exciting! Right when we walked into the gate we were greeted by the cutest little baby raptor and baby triceratops. The kids loved being able to pet the tiny dinosaurs as they moved and blinked, they were so life-like!

After checking in at the front desk and making sure to buy our fish food for the koi fish we would encounter later in the tour, we were ready to start our adventure. 

To start the tour, a massive Tyrannosaurs welcomed us with a big roar! We continued down the beautiful garden walkways encountering all the dinosaurs.

One of the exhibits showed a cage with broken fencing where the Utah Raptors had apparently “escaped” so the rest of the time we were on were on the lookout for the freely roaming raptors, who we heard were very photogenic. Every dinosaur that you would find throughout the gardens had a name chart and facts to learn all about that specific dinosaur. It was cool to learn all about whether they were herbivores or carnivores, what time period they lived in, and how big there were. An amazing dinosaur to see is the Brachiosaurus. This dinosaur towers over the gardens at over 40 feet tall! One of our favorite stops was to see the Deinosuchis, which is a prehistoric crocodile that was 35 feet long! This dinosaur was right next to the water and it was the perfect spot to take a break and feed the koi fish we had purchased the food for earlier. It was a hot summer day but there are so many shady areas to rest and also water bottle refilling stations all thoughout the garden.

Just beyond the picture koi pond, there was a fun kids area where they can play Jurassic ski-ball  and discover paleontologist tents. We also had the pleasure of running into one of the “Dino Faculty” members who let us chose dinosaurs cards to take home with us! 

Nearing the end of the tour is the waterfall and amphitheater area were they have interactive fossils digging, and a cute photo-op of a Gigantosaurus chasing after one of the golf carts.  This is another good area to break and get food or a drink at the concession building. After this there were a few more dinosaurs on our walk over the waterfall and also a gift shop with fun dinosaur themed keepsakes. We truly enjoyed our day out at Dinosaur Island. Such a good day to be outside in the beautiful Ashton Gardens, learn new things, and get to experience life-sized dinosaurs that were the best I have seen!

We absolutely loved our time at Thanksgiving Point’s Dinosaur Island and know you will, too! To learn more about it and to get your own tickets visit them online. Be sure to use code MOMDINO20 for 20% off your admission! Summer is quickly disappearing and you won’t want to miss the opportunity to see these dinosaurs in such a gorgeous setting before they do, as well!

^{*we were invited to facilitate a feature, all opinions are our own*}