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Just when you were starting to feel a bit fossilised this summer (it’s this dry heat), the sound of gigantic T-Rex-sized feet thundering in the distance, slowly heading over to ExCel London, has definitely livened things up. That’s right, August 25 sees the launch of ‘Jurassic World: The Exhibition’, a new immersive experience.
As you might imagine, any space that’s going to house hordes of life-size velociraptors, brachiosauruses and their scaly mates roaming around as though they own the place – and let’s be honest who’s going to argue with them – needs to be BIG, and it is: there’s 20,000 square feet of dinosaur-dodging site to navigate and plenty to do if dino parks are your vibe.
The exhibition coincides with the cinema release of the sixth (and last in the Jeff Goldblum-serving storyline) film in the blockbuster franchise: Jurassic World: Dominion but there’s plenty from earlier films to get up close and personal with, too. For starters, visitors will walk through the famous ‘Jurassic World’ gates… look how well that worked out eh? Alongside that, you’ll be able to have an up-close look at a velociraptor, crick your neck standing under a towering brachiosaurus and encounter the famous tyrannosaurus rex just to ramp up the fear factor. Whether the toilets are dino-proof was unconfirmed at time of going to press.
As light relief from the fearsome fire lizards, there’s also the chance to interact with new baby dinosaurs, including the rather cute ‘Bumpy’ from the animated series ‘Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous’. Fans also get an exclusive opportunity when playing Jurassic World Alive – the AR mobile game. Any players who visit the exhibition and open the game on their devices can locate an exclusive ‘Jurassic World: The Exhibition’ incubator as an in-game reward. Players with AR-enabled devices can then snap a picture or take a video of a dinosaur using the game’s AR feature and post it to their social media channels using the #JurassicWorldAlive hashtag.
So hop on the Elizabeth line down to Custom House. Just don’t blame us when the baby dinos eat some of your party. Don’t you people watch films?
‘Jurassic World: The Exhibition’, ExCeL London, One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, E16 1XL. From Aug 25, tickets from £13. For details and booking head here.
Can’t wait until August to do some cool activities? Try BST Open House, eight days of great things to do with free entry.
Or celebrate the 10th anniversary of the London Olympics at Queen Elizabeth Park.