In case you haven’t heard, the The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has a new exhibit called Dinosaur Island. The Zoo brought a little Jurrassic and Cretaceous periods alive for visitors in the form of animatronics – and lots of them! The scaly beasts move, make sounds, and are very worth the time and money to see. Dinosaur Island is just passed Australia and dinos have taken over the path to the boat ride and the ride itself. There is a separate admission to enter Dinosaur Island because the boat ride is part of your journey back in time.
I had asked if anyone had been on my facebook page, and some of my followers shared very helpful suggestions. The most popular comment was get there early – and they weren’t kidding. We arrived at the Zoo around 10:30a on a weekday and made Dino Island our first stop. We barely had a wait to get a ticket or ride the boat. So, go early or make Dinosaur Island your first stop. Wait time could be up to an hour or longer.
They also suggested a wristband that allowed kids to ride all day for one price. We did that, too. The wristband was $10/child and included
the boat ride, carousel (which they rode all afternoon), pony rides at the petting zoo, train ride, and some of the rides at Jungle Jack’s Landing. Totally worth the price if you plan to stay for the day. If you only want to visit Dinosaur Island the cost is $2/person. Children have to be a certain height to ride alone, otherwise an adult needs to be with them and babies (I would say 2 and under) need to be on laps.
My friend and I joked that we took the kids to the Zoo and didn’t see any animals, just rode the rides! With that being said, if you are visiting from out of town be ready to spend the entire day at the Zoo or even two days. There are so many attractions and exhibits it would be easy to break it up into two days. Locals, my suggestion is to get a membership. Seriously pays for itself after 2.5 visits and parking is included.
More suggestions:
- The dinosaurs may scare your kids, so be prepared to tell them they are fake. The boat ride was full of anticipation, and our 7 year olds were a little freaked out wondering what was coming up.
For them, it was more like a haunted house ride than a “fun – look at the dino!” ride. The T-rex at the end had one of them almost in tears. Just be prepared…we didn’t expect them to be fearful. - Since my kids are older now and don’t need a stroller, I brought my wagon. My thought was to use it to carry lunch bags, but it turned out to be a taxi. The day was hot and the kids tired easily and didn’t want to walk. Think about how you are going to get them around or take breaks so they can rest little legs.
- On hot days in the summer bring plenty of water with ice in it. $2.75 for a bottle of water is a little steep for me.
- If you get the wristband be sure to get in a pony ride at the petting zoo. The ride is typically $4, but fee is included with the wristband and kids can ride more than once.
