Dino LIVE @ Dubai Festival City : The Good & The Bad

khaleef is a dinosaur freak now, including little kazim who likes to carry a miniature t-rex all around, and kahfi too.

so we definitely wanted to take khaleef to the ‘dino LIVE’ exhibition in dubai festival city for him to go back in time and find out what the dinosaur really look like LIVE since the dino exhibits here are said to be life-size – even the biggest dinosaur of all – the bracchiosaurus!

 

 

fun facts on ‘dino LIVE’ at dubai festival city

1. according to sources on the net, ‘dino live’ is the world’s largest dinosaur exhibition
2. the exhibition consists of more than 30 life-sized animated dinosaurs – up to 20m in length and 6m in height
3. these animatronic dinos emit actual dinosaur sounds, and also move their heads and jaws, and swish their tails
4. ext to each dinosaur, there is a 42-inch screen which displays relevant information about this dinosaur
5. there’s an educational movie and a 3D cinema, where children of all ages can learn and experience what it was like to live among the dinosaurs
6. the exhibition is divided into a ‘Dinosaur zone’, a ‘Fossil Zone’, ‘Educational Zone’ and a ‘3D cinema’.

 

 

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my excited little paleontologists!

 

 

while i find the excitement of my boys in seeing the dinosaurs very rewarding, i must give my opinion on what I DON’T LIKE about dino LIVE :

1. while the dinosaurs ARE life-sized, the setting and display of all the exhibits are amaturish. mr. khairul even went as far as saying it’s like a high-school project. why? the dinosaurs are all placed one after another in boxy enclosure, and in a haphazard manner without knowing which dino or era comes first. motorshow pun lagi lawa cara diorang display kereta! haha
2. they should’ve put a one-way path that started accordingly (like in ikea, where we would be ‘inclined’ to cover each ‘room’ as we walk since we’re following a one-way path that doesn’t have a criss-cross to another section) to make it easier to navigate through
3. they should have archways to tell us that we’re leaving a certain era like ‘triassic’, and about to enter another era ‘jurassic’, which will make it easier for kids to know which group of dinos live in the same era; or at least color coded the display panel or names so that it’s immediately recognizable
4. the TV that supposed to display information about the dinosaur is TOO HIGH UP which makes it difficult for young kids to read, thus they’re discouraged to learn more about the dino they’re seeing
5. other than the tv, the NAME of the dinosaur should be displayed boldly in front of the dinosaur
6. there’s no pamphlet with information given to visitors to enhance their experience in dino LIVE
7. entrance fee is 50dhs which include popcorn – but it’s salty popcorn without caramel. aku nak yang caramel! kedekut lah!
8. the so-called ‘educational movie’ IS educational, but i’m sorry to say that the movie they show seemed as old as the dinosaurs themselves! it’s like an old documentary taken from the 1970’s! hello? with 50dhs that we pay, can you give the kids the latest documentary on dinos from highly-acclaimed sourse like nat geo?
9. the gift-shop is a joke. should have more dino LIVE merchandise – enough to make it a lot cooler that it already is to the kids. no dino LIVE t-shirts. no books. not even a freaking fridge magnets

 

mr. khairul with the samseng of dinosaurs – the mighty t-rex

 

the biggest of them all – the bracchiosaurus with khaleef

 

now to be fair, there are a few things that I DO LIKE about dino LIVE :

1. khaleef and kahfi were screaming excitedly as they move to each dinosaur, which is more than enough to make mr. khairul feel less of a fool to spend 50dhs each this hihi it was a joy watching khaleef identfying each dino without even looking at the TV (sebab tv pun tinggi sangat kan, tak nampak!)
2. the life-sized dinosaurs are a real sight – standing majestic over us, especially the t-rex and the biggest of ‘em all the brachiosaurus – and being a highly imaginative person, i was transported back in time where i wandered among these giant lizards to a time before time – it was amazing
3. to see how small we are compared to a dinosaur – standing side by side like in the pictures above – mr. khairul with t-rex, and little khaleef with the gigantic leaf-eating brachiosaurus
4. for really young ones like kazim, seeing these dinos emitting growls and roars, while movie its head or swishing its tail is enough to make their eyes wide in wonderment and awe – kazim was very scared and cautious at first, tagging along close behing his ateh (my sis-in-law) but soon became very curious and interested later on
5. while the setting of the whole dino LIVE could be improved, i kind off like the individual setting of the dino – with the trees, rocks and stones and the plants – looks quite nice
6. also, when we went, we were THE ONLY ONES THERE! so we felt like VIP – konon-konon the dino LIVE is purposely closed just for us haha i don’t worry about kazim getting lost in the crowd. khaleef and kahfi roamed freely running around to see the dinosaurs!

 

kazim! don’t be scared, they’re fake! hihi

 

dino bones pun ade!

 

so – if you have better ways to spend 50dhs in this dubai summer sale, go ahead. you’re not losing anything! however, if your kid absolutely LOVE dinosaurs, and you have more than 50dhs to burn, this might be a memorable ‘trip’ for your kid during this school holiday.

your call!

the dino LIVE show is running now at dubai festival city, the top floor near the cinema.