More days of dinos: Dino Safari adds Raleigh dates through March 7

Demand for Dino Safari, opening this week at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, has been so high that organizers announced on Thursday they would add dates.

Posted 2:09 p.m. Feb 18, 2021 — Updated 9:41 p.m. Feb 18, 2021

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

, Go Ask Mom editor

RALEIGH, N.C. — Demand for Dino Safari, opening this week at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, has been so high that organizers announced on Thursday they would add dates.

The event, originally scheduled to close Feb. 28, now runs Feb. 18 through March 7.

Dino Safari is a COVID-safe, drive-thru adventure featuring more than 40 life-size, animatronic dinosaurs.

Tickets, which cost $49.95 per vehicle, are on sale in half-hour blocks for the following dates and times:

Mondays – Wednesdays, 3pm – 8pm (last ticket sold at 7:30pm)
Thursdays & Fridays, 11am – 9pm (last ticket sold at 8:30pm)
Saturdays & Sundays, 9am – 9pm (last ticket sold at 8:30pm)

While visitors drive through Dino Safari, they can listen to an audio tour, which is offered in both English and Spanish, that plays through your smartphone. The tour guides visitors through a fictional Pangea National Park as they come across different scenes and dinosaurs. Visitors also will get a "survival pack" with a passport to Pangea that includes a scavenger hunt and other surprises.

The experience aims to be both fun and educational. Imagine Exhibitions produced the event with help from paleontologist Gregory Erickson, who received his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley and conducted post-doctoral research at Stanford University and Brown University before joining the faculty at Florida State University in Tallahassee, according to the event's website. Dinosaurs on view include the Triceratops, Parasaurolophus, Microraptor and the T-Rex, among others.

"He is an expert in his field and an awesome guy to work with," Dino Safari producer Tom Zaller told Go Ask Mom earlier this week. "For the drive thru, we wanted to make it both experiential and educational so we developed a narrative driven story that takes visitors on a journey through Pangea National Park."

If you go, Zaller shared these tips: "Have fun! Take your time, watch the intro video before entering the park and then sit back and listen to the audio tour while taking a magical trip through Pangea National Park!"

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