Our Day at Field Station: Dinosaurs in New Jersey

We spent the day at Field Station: Dinosaurs in New Jersey today.

Check out our day!

Overall Impression:

What we liked: Field Station: Dinosaurs was amazing. The dinosaurs are to scale and mostly look real. Most of the dinosaurs moved eerily well and were incredible to see. There were bulletin boards next to every dinosaur with facts.

My reluctant reader (my 7.5 year old) enjoyed learning facts. The park is extremely well thought out and the staff was great. They all seemed to put in 110% effort and there was a lot programming and activities. There was almost too much stuff to do and time we were there, we couldn’t do everything. We recommend checking out the “Lookout”, but if you have a stroller, it may be a little tough pushing it up the hill. Also, if you have young kids, skip the games in the Yurt.

Younger kids (between the ages of 2 and 4 may not understand that it’s not real). The ideal age is probably 5 – 12. My 5 daughter and 7.5 year old son were really into it, my 2 1/2 year old was a little frightened at some points.

What we didn’t like: While we enjoyed one of the live shows, which featured a T-Rex, the illusion was ruined when you could clearly see the person’s pant legs under the realistic costume. While my 2 1/2 and 5 year olds didn’t notice it, my 7. 5 year old did and asked us why there was a person in the T-Rex . It was too bad it wasn’t a better costume – because with the actions, the T-Rex body costume, and the sound effects; the T-Rex looked pretty realistic.

This may not be the best place to hit on a sweltering hot day — it’s mostly outside in the sun (although they did have several tents, Coleman is a sponsor).

Tips:

Look up the directions before you go, don’t rely on your GPS. Google Maps was convinced that the address for 1 Dinosaur Way in Secaucus was really 1 Seacacus Road, which is wrong. Yahoo Maps was correct. Field Station Dinosaurs is right by the train station in Secaucus.

We recommend buying your tickets BEFORE you go, you’ll save some money. And if possible, take the train to Seacacus and walk to Field Station: Dinosaurs (it’s a minute’s walk from the station).

While there is food offered (and it seems like there are many, many places to get a snack), we recommend hitting a local establishment on the way back home. We ate at Legends Diner, which was just down the road, and were very pleased.

Admission (This doesn’t include the $10 Parking Fee)

COMMANDER’S PASS

Includes access to the air-conditioned Commander’s Tent with special programming and 3D movie Dinosaurs Alive!
Commander’s Pass – Adults $40.00

Commander’s Pass Children – $35.00
Commander’s Pass Children – under 2 are Free
Commander’s Pass Seniors (65+) – $35.00

EXPLORER’S PASS

Includes 3D movie Dinosaurs Alive!

Explorer’s Pass Adults – $28.00
Explorer’s Pass Children (3-12) – $23.00
Explorer’s Pass Children under 2 are Free
Explorer’s Pass Seniors (65+)

$23.00
DAY PASS

Day Pass Adults – $25.00
Day Pass Children (3-12) – $20.00
Day Pass Children under 2 are free
Day Pass Seniors (65+) -$20.00

Ticket prices do not include 7% sales tax

OPEN WEEKENDS
10a – 6p

Summer Hours begin
June 27