There is nothing I love more than little rinky-dink, homemade, old-fashioned roadside attractions! Which is why I was thrilled when the whole family wanted to go to
Dinosaur Land in Virginia this past weekend. I had never been before, but I've seen brochures and read about it since I was little and I've always wanted to go. If you put anything behind a wall, and then charge an admission to see it - I'm there! And if I know what's behind the wall is tacky, I'm even more there!
Dinosaur Land was built in 1968, and I assume much hasn't changed since then. You enter the park from a door in the park's gift shop. From there, you travel through a small cave which lets you out in a forest of happy trees similar to the old Apple Pie Tree at McDonald's. Once you make your way through the trees you enter another cave and then you come face to face with a giant shark. Don't worry, you can get inside the shark and have your picture snapped looking out through the shark's toothy grin. From there you go under a giant octopus and then you get to the dinosaurs. There must be at least 30 of the giants spread out along a path that winds through a small wooded area. There's no rides. There's no shows. There's not even anything mechanical. The closest thing to an interactive attraction is a huge figure of King Kong that you can climb up to via a ramp and have your picture taken in Kong's hand. Heck, they used to charge $22 bucks to do that at Universal Studios! It's included with your admission to Dinosaur Land provided you bring a camera. In a world of Twitter, iPods, three episodes of Dancing with the Stars a week, and million dollar theme parks; Dinosaur Land is a nice reminder of the way things used to be. All five of us had a blast! Here's some pics:
Here's Mom and the kids with a baby Triceratops. Isn't he cute?
Always a dork: Here's me reenacting the opening of
The Flintstones where Fred slides down the back of his Bronto-crane.
We all like taking stupid pictures!
There is nothing I love more than little rinky-dink, homemade, old-fashioned roadside attractions! Which is why I was thrilled when the whole family wanted to go to Dinosaur Land in Virginia this past weekend. I had never been before, but I've seen brochures and read about it since I was little and I've always wanted to go. If you put anything behind a wall, and then charge an admission to see it - I'm there! And if I know what's behind the wall is tacky, I'm even more there!
Dinosaur Land was built in 1968, and I assume much hasn't changed since then. You enter the park from a door in the park's gift shop. From there, you travel through a small cave which lets you out in a forest of happy trees similar to the old Apple Pie Tree at McDonald's. Once you make your way through the trees you enter another cave and then you come face to face with a giant shark. Don't worry, you can get inside the shark and have your picture snapped looking out through the shark's toothy grin. From there you go under a giant octopus and then you get to the dinosaurs. There must be at least 30 of the giants spread out along a path that winds through a small wooded area. There's no rides. There's no shows. There's not even anything mechanical. The closest thing to an interactive attraction is a huge figure of King Kong that you can climb up to via a ramp and have your picture taken in Kong's hand. Heck, they used to charge $22 bucks to do that at Universal Studios! It's included with your admission to Dinosaur Land provided you bring a camera. In a world of Twitter, iPods, three episodes of Dancing with the Stars a week, and million dollar theme parks; Dinosaur Land is a nice reminder of the way things used to be. All five of us had a blast! Here's some pics:
Here's Mom and the kids with a baby Triceratops. Isn't he cute?
Always a dork: Here's me reenacting the opening of The Flintstones where Fred slides down the back of his Bronto-crane.
We all like taking stupid pictures!
No comments:
Post a Comment