Dinner & Dinosaurs

This week we managed to have a few mini-adventures and I want to share them all with you eventually. Now I want to share our adventure from today, Dinosaurs-The Exhibition, in Panama City Beach. 

We made plans to meet some friends and asked my brother’s family and my mom (Nana) to join too. We headed over to Gulf Coast Burger Co (about an hour drive from our house). Oh Lord Jesus today was an odd day where Jax did not want to nap in the car and he decided to scream his head off the entire way. All I can say is Thank Goodness for Nanas since she saw how frazzled we were and scooped him up for a few minutes once we got there. 

The Gulf Coast Burgers menu has steps. 1.  Protein 2. Bun  3. Cheese 4. Sauces 5. Additions 6. Toppers. We’ve been wanting to try this place, but I’ve been watching my carbs so I ordered the angus, bunless, cheddar, garlic aioli, tomato and bacon with the tomato salad for a side. It was really yummy! Matt got the angus, cheddar, bacon aioli with lettuce, tomato, bacon and a jalapeño popper topper! 

Nana and my brother got the pork skins for a side. They looked so good too. They have awesome looking milkshakes here called Cat 5 shakes. We opted out but I’m sure they are a perfect summer treat. You have to get a photo in the big beach chair out front before you go. 

From there we headed about 10 minutes over to Pier Park. The dinosaur exhibit is fairly new and we’ve heard good things about it. We were worried Jax would be a little too young for it, but he is super into dinosaurs right now so we went for it. (He resumed screaming in the car and actually fell asleep the minute we pulled up).

We let him nap on Matt while we got our tickets. Adult tickets are $17.95, Kids $9.95 Family Pack (2 adults, 2 kids) is $49.95. Don’t forget to mention if you’re local or military since you get a discount! Jax was free since he was under 2 also. 

We followed our friends and fam into the start of the exhibit where there are some dinosaur eggs hatching. We were scared to wake Jax up and when we tried he laid his head back down. I decided I better enjoy this since he may sleep through it. 

Next is the first room full of animatronic dinosaurs. (Our friends have teenage boys who enjoyed the exhibit and got the learning component too.)

Matt got the first dino moving and put Jax right up to him. The look on Jax’s face was priceless. He looked amazed! From then on he was wide eyed and gasping at all of them! Our nephew was pretty impressed with them too! 

We made our way to the next room with fossils and sandpits to brush and discover fossils! Everyone got in on the action here too. 

There is also a dark movie room here to watch a 40 minute film, but that’s a big negative with our toddlers in tow. There’s a little area with small picnic style tables for the young ones to color dinosaur pictures. Jax tried to eat the little fuzz balls you’re suppose to glue on the picture. 

This area has a cool green screen where you can stand for family pictures with dinosaurs! They take your photo and you have the option to purchase at the end. We got a couple of ours printed out for a souvenir. (By the way, I strategically chose this kimono to match the Jurassic era. Love my $10 items from Fashion Ten Online.)

This is where you can ride a dinosaur ‘through Pier Park and on the beach’ too. There are stairs for the littles to get up on the saddle and buckle in. Matt got Jax strapped in and the dinosaur started small movements in front of the green screen. 

We are suckers so we bought the picture/video package for $40. You get it on a usb drive. You can get the digital photos for an additional $5 if you want. 

After this is the last animatronics room. There are 6 dinosaurs in here I think. They are big and the boys loved them! Jax kept putting his hands over his mouth in awe. 

You wrap back around to purchase your photos/videos and there is a souvenir area too. The best Nana ever got both boys a pack of dinosaur toys. Jax talked to his most of the way home and finally took a nap with them. 

I would say this place is absolutely a must do with the little ones. If it can wake Jax up from a cranky mood, hold his attention and make him a pleasant child, it gets my approval! This exhibit is slated to be in Pier Park for the next 2-3 years I think. If you get a chance, check it out!