[cwgator]

Anyone wanna bet these will end up at Carowinds for 2013? LOL

http://www.courier-tribune.com/sections/news/local/dinosaurs-are-coming-nc-zoo.html


BIG GUY — The most well-known of dinosaurs, T-Rex, pictured above at the St. Louis Zoo, will be among the N.C. Zoo’s Dinosaurs special exhibit opening on March 31 and continuing through October. There will be a nest, too. Billings Productions of Texas is providing the state-of-the art exhibit. (Billings Productions photo)

ASHEBORO — Dinosaurs are coming to Asheboro!

Fifteen life-sized, animatronic prehistoric creatures will start their visit to the N.C. Zoo on Saturday, March 31, and remain through October.

Each dinosaur is built on a steel frame and covered with textured, intricately painted rubber skin. State-of-the-art electronics make them seem real, with movements which include grasping hands, menacing claws and gnashing teeth.

Members of the N.C. Zoological Park Council had an opportunity Wednesday to see a video about a similar exhibit at the Houston Zoo.

“This is a really, really big project,” Don Queen, zoo administrative officer, told council members about the dinosaur exhibit, which has involved all zoo divisions in its preparation.

A group of students was also asked for input on which dinosaurs to include. Dinosaur species in the exhibit will be Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Compsognathus, Dilophosaurus, Dimetrodon, Euoplocephalus, Stegosaurus, Therizinosaurus, Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus.

“T-Rex will be the biggest challenge,” Queen said about installing the 7,000-pound, 42-foot-long creature in the exhibit. The Braschiosaurus will be as tall as T-Rex is long.

The mechanical creatures will be located between the Aviary and African Pavilion in the zoo’s Africa region. A pathway through the woods will take visitors close to the 11 different species, some of them having nests or young dinosaurs.

There will also be educational videos about dinosaurs — along with a message about the need to save modern species threatened by extinction — and zoo visitors will be able to take part in archaeological digs.

Zoo officials are bringing the dinosaurs to the park as way to offset the absence of polar bears while their habitat is being renovated and expanded — a two-year project — and while the nearby kidZone is being revitalized.

Queen said other zoos hosting the dinosaur exhibit have experienced “rather substantial increases in attendance.” He expects, conservatively, the exhibit alone to bring in an additional $300,000 revenue along with increased attendance.

The new exhibit will cost more for zoo visitors, $4, in addition to regular zoo admission, but it can be reduced with the purchase of a combination ticket. Admission is $12 for adults and $8 for children ages 2-12. A combo ticket costs $6 more and gives a zoo visitor four tickets to use in any combination for the dinosaur exhibit, the Acacia Station Giraffe Deck, Endangered Species Carousel and this year’s Dino 4-D Theatre attraction, which focuses on T-Rex.

He said a recent three-day indoor dinosaur exhibit at the Greensboro Coliseum exceeded an anticipated crowd of 8,000 by 7,000. Adults paid $12 and children $10, plus parking, to see it, resulting in more than $160,000 in revenue. He said comparing the zoo’s upcoming exhibit to the one at the coliseum was “apples to oranges.”

The dinosaurs will be provided by Billings Productions, a Texas company which specializes in life-size animatronic dinosaur exhibits for zoos, theme parks and other attractions across the country. The creatures will arrive on trucks in mid-March, giving zoo officials about two weeks to prepare for the opening.

Time Warner Cable will be the exhibit’s signature sponsor and will help the zoo in marketing it statewide.

Council members were provided with a two-page information sheet about how the new exhibit will be marketed, including a partnership with the Randolph County Tourism Development Authority, Heart of North Carolina. All types of media outlets will also be tapped. A “reveal” campaign will be conducted by Adams Outdoor on its Charlotte area billboards; Coca-Cola will also be involved.

[carowinds4ever]

Please drop those off at the smithsonian.
I remember the first time I went to ioa at the jurrasic park area and waited like 45 min in a line to see a robotic triceratops with a lady acting like it was sick. In the park map it made it read like it was a ride, so dissapointed. It was also back in the 90's.

[Picklesthedrummer]

If we waste space and money with the dinosaurs, I am going to scream.

[Edwardo]

It's not a waste of space or money if it's profitable, and obviously this attraction is pretty popular or they wouldn't be popping up everywhere, including Zoos.

Scream all you want, just not in my ear.

[Picklesthedrummer]

Scream all you want, just not in my ear.

I will keep that in mind. I ment by a waste of money and space for me because I would like the park to use the resources for something I would enjoy and use every time I go to the park.

[Edwardo]

You do realize that-

You're not going to like everything they add.

In order for them to put in stuff you like, they need to put in stuff to make money.

So then how's that a waste?

[Picklesthedrummer]

I do see your point. It's adding what would benefits the one who goes to Carowinds maybe once a year. If it brings bigger coasters in the future, im all for it after realizing that. Now the question is if they put it in where would they put it?