field station: dinosaurs

Make sure to not believe all the hype on the advertising... no free parking, and all things are well above normal entertainment price levels. Nothing is one price... food is too expensive to buy, and do not think about leaving and coming back. Seen many of the same kind of displays in other situations, with more knowledgeable staff.

My six year old son really enjoyed the place, he was excited to see all the different dinosaurs and fun activities they had in the park. Would definitely go back to the park soon.

Very close to NYC, in NJ, this place is a must visit if you have kid who loves Dinosaurs! We had kept this visit to Dino Park (code named DP) as a surprise for our 9 year old and the SMILE on his face when we reached there was priceless! He really enjoyed here and ran around from one dino exhibit to another and simply loved the show they did that included songs and a person dressed up as a Trax making very real sounds!The 30 odd life sized exhibits making sounds and little movements are kept amongst grasses and rocks making them look quite real. Its a great effort and worth a visit for kids.

Dinosaur station is an attraction about 20 mins from NYC in Seacaus, NJ. It's definitely a must for dinosaur loving kids and therefore gears to younger kids. Our 11 year olds liked it but didn't love it. The dinosaurs look pretty real for the most part which the highlight of a visit here.

What to do on a Saturday with a 7 & 4 yr old in tow. Go to Secaucus,NJ & travel back in time 90 million years. Field station dinosaurs exceded by wildest expectations. Children just don't enter, they are credentialed in with a "passport" type document that they can have stamped at multiple learning venues & after 6 stamps, they are given the title "Super Palientologist". The shows were very informative & appropriate for school aged children. The food at the concession stand was overpriced & very limited in its variety, bring a picnic lunch. Expect to do a lot of walking in sandy dirt, no sandals as you can get a lot of small gravel in your shoes. The staff running the shoes & exhibits were very friendly, knowledgeable & encouraging. We spent about 5 hrs in this park & my grandchildren were disappointed when we had to leave as the park was closing. The gift shop had a lot to be desired. I usually pick up a tee shirt for each child but the shirts offered were boring at best. The merchandise was cheap & not as educational as I would expect from a place like this. Finally, buy tickets on line a day before you go as you get a discount. Bathroom facilities have a lot to be desired as there is no running water, but they were clean. I would definitely bring my grandchildren again to this venue.

I have been to Field Station Dinosaurs twice with my children. Let me give you some pointers:1. Buy your tickets ahead of time for a discount - the park is small and depending on the age of your kids and their level of interest in dinosaurs - you can be done in 2 - 3 hours.2. The parking lot is a dirt/gravel area - you pay $10 to park. Don't try to skip the payment, they ask for your paid voucher as you leave the parking lot.3. This is a full walking, hands on experience - no rides, trams, anything. So be prepared to walk the entire time.4. The dinosaurs are GREAT! Some are enough to scare the younger kids. 5. Take the picture on the way in - it's in front of a green screen and they super impose a dinosaur attacking you. It's a great souvenir!6. The 3D movie is an extra $5 per person - and it leaves A LOT to be desired. It's a 20 minute factual documentary that you'd see on the Discovery channel - great for people who want to learn, not so great for little boys who just want to see dinosaurs. The boys only liked the part where one of the dinosaurs pooped on screen :-)7. Food - bring your own food and drink. If you plan to eat at the park - you will be HIGHLY disappointed. The choices at the little concession stand are: hot pretzel, nachos, hot dog, bag of chips. The food is precooked.....somewhere, not at the concession stand. You have to ask for salt on your pretzel. The food is luke warm at best. And the service is TERRIBLE! Slow isn't even the word. The girl behind the counter moves very slow and displays a very uninterested attitude. This park is missing a BIG business opportunity to feed it's visitors and make good money.8. Employees - the people who work at the park overall are very friendly, engage your kids and are very knowledgeable.9. The park is not very sophisticated - like when you watch the shows, you sit on boulders or folding fabric stools. The bathrooms are all porta pottys. The map they give you is a poor photocopy map - not a nice bright printed map like you get at other parks. Just little details let you know that this place is not functioning at it's full potential.10. Your GPS will tell you that you have arrived right around a bridge and fancy apartment building. Keep going straight all the way to the back of the apartment building and the entrance to the park will be on your right. You'd think after 3 years - they would install a sign where they know that GPS systems tell you "You are here"11. Gift shop - of course you exit through the gift shop. The picture you took in the beginning will be available for $20 for one picture - which is a total rip off, but the picture is such a great momento, you have to buy it. Most of the stuff in the gift shop can be bought from Toys R Us or Walmart for half the price. So good luck is the only advice I can give you.12. Passport books - all the kids get a passport book and collect stamps everytime they see a show, color a picture, dig for fossils, etc. You are supposed to collect 6 to get certified. We were there for 2 and a half hours and only found 4 places to get stamps. Kids were disappointed that they didn't get certified, but I didn't know where else to take them. I also don't know what they would have gotten if they got all the stamps. We just kept the books with their 4 stamps as a souvenir.

Sure, it was raining the day we visited Field Station: Dinosaurs. Umbrellas and plastic ponchos cured that aliment and onto the path to visit different the "life size" dinosaurs from our past in a great new environment in New Jersey.Our 9 year old dinosaur lover thought it was a great setup of all kinds of different dinosaurs from different eras, and the animatronics were top notch for the awesome size of these exhibits. Plus the fact that they are outside in all kinds of weather adds to the attraction as the creatures are in forests and rocks to try to simulate their surroundings when they were really alive.Fun for all ages, especially the kids. Lots of great education given out at shows throughout the day.

This is a fun and interesting place to bring your children and grandchildren. The dinosaur exhibits are nice but the concession stands and bathroom facilities are terrible. As with most attractions you have to exit through the gift shop. You have a couple of options here - get blindfolds for the kid, move quickly or have a big wallet. Every aspect of this place comes at a high price. Although it was fun the overall cost of this attraction detracts from the experience.

This park was a great treat for my boyfriend and I. We had a good time and I enjoyed every minute of it. However, I'm trying to write my review based on the experience it would be for a family. It seemed very over priced if you want to go there with a group of children. It didn't take us long to get through the entire park so I was thinking it would be a huge hit to the wallet if you had an entire family. With that being said, I saw kids having a blast! Most acted like they thought the dinosaurs were real. Watching their reactions was priceless. If you can afford this trip.....do it! Very easy to get to from the Secaucus train station. It's a visit I won't soon forget.

My husband and I drove to this attraction... 5 children and 2 parents on a Saturday afternoon. We arrived to be charged a Secaucus environmental fee of $10 for parking. It was explained to me that it was because we didn't use mass transit. We spent over $100 for tickets for 7. We drove a car with every single seat in the car being occupied. Five of us clothed in clithes purchased from second hand shops. To take mass transit feom central Jersey to this location with 5 children ages 2-12 and back with a double stroller etc... would have been a ridiculous decision. So we were penalized for not traveling to this location the method that was preferred by the City of Secaucus. The attraction was a nice afternoon.. the staff very friendly even the last two hours of the day. My children enjoyed music, seeing dunosaurs and a fossil dig. When we left we were prompted to give our receipt for the aforementioned penalty leaving me frustrated all over again. Penalizing large families who filled up every vehicle in a seat and who worked nearly a whole day to afford a family afternoon seems not very family friendly. Great attraction but it seems they want you to take mass transit or be fined.

I was first here 2 years ago and this was my second time back. The park was very empty which was nice. I'm not sure if it was empty because the theme has run it's course or because it was opening day of the NFL season. Either way my 4 year old really liked the dinosaurs, although a bit scared at first. What I was really impressed with were the shows, which my 7 year old couldn't get enough of. The people who put on the shows do a really good job. And they keep them short (15 minutes or so) as to not lose the kids attention. I was glad to go back for that because I skipped the shows my first time though. My advice though is to BEWARE of the prices. Regular admission for a family of 4 is $90 + tax, which I feel is too high for this park given the 3 or so hours you'll spend here. Luckily there are several websites to get discounted tickets. I got mine from Doubletake and spent only $50. You can also bring your own food and drinks which help offset costs as well. If I could make a suggestion to the people who run Field Station Dinosaur, it would be to upgrade the dinosaur sounds. They are made so life like and sound so cartoonish. Plus the speakers have seen better days. All in all though I think it's a worth while trip for the young ones or your older dinosaur lovers. Just do yourself a favor and don't pay full price.

This is a must visit park if you have kids who love dinosaurs,the place is small and takes less than an hour to walk it through, but they have activities and interaction tents for small kids, the exhibits are amazing, life size dinosaurs, and the animatronics are cool, a few didn't work, but the ones that did made it worth it, place needs some up keep, if you pay full price that means you don't know how to shop around, i'll share a secret, go to GOLDSTAR.COM and purchase sale tickets $14pp not the full $25 at the gate or the $20 online from their website. oh and one price you cannot escape is the $10 parking fee, I think its ridiculous but their is nowhere to park around there.good luck and bring an open mind, if your going during a hot day BRING WATER, prices in there are steep.

Just visited for the first time last week. It is expensive especially is you have a larger family but if I remember correctly it was much more expensive last year after it first opened which is why we did not go sooner. If you buy your tickets online in advance, you can save a few bucks... Also look for promos/coupons to save a few more. The park itself is appropriate for kids between 6 - 10 years old. Younger ones could get scared, older ones will be bored.Overall, it is a good idea and the dinosaurs look good but it needs something else. There are a couple makeshift food stands serving the basics at ridiculous prices so definitely bring your lunch and drinks from home. The restrooms are port-a-john's and a trailer. It is all outdoor walking on dirt pathways so dress appropriately (e.g. Sneakers, hat, sunscreen, bug spray). We had a nice day but it did get hot at one point. The amount of time you spend there is entirely up to you. You could probably see all of dinosaurs in 45min if you rushed but I recommend taking your time a spending a few hours to make the most of it. There are a number of shows and activities but it is challenging to create your own schedule for the day b/c the pamphlet they provide lists all of the activities by show instead of by time. Also, we got there shortly after the park opened at 10AM and notice that many of the shows did not start until afternoon. The 3D movie was good. We sat in the front but it would be better if the room/tent was darker and the screen was bigger and if the glasses were clean.One suggestion I have is to provide more thorough info at each dinosaur station so it is more educational like at the zoo.All of the staff was very friendly and accommodating.Overall, the kids had a good time and we brought our lunch and did not buy any souvenirs to control the cost.They offer season passes for like $65 each but I can't see coming here more than once per year.

We stop to take a look at this attraction. From the outside it looked good, attractive, and intriguing. But if you want to know how it is on the inside, you will have to pay $25 each, with $2 off for the kid. Parking is an additional $10. You go look if you want.

My cousins loved this! They participated in group activities, found tiny fossils in sand, schooled my on my dinosaur pronunciation and went crazy in the gift shop. They have a nice area to picnic and everyone who works there is so polite and patient. It was a great day!