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Field Station: Dinosaurs put the roar in dinosaur

The theme park 75 minutes north of Philadelphia has animatronic dinos and lots of activities for families.

Miron Gusso helps a guest fight off a dinosaur at Field Station: Dinosaurs. The North Jersey attraction features animatronic dinosaurs that interact with visitors, as the little tyke above learned during his encounter with a robotic Dryptosaurus.
Miron Gusso helps a guest fight off a dinosaur at Field Station: Dinosaurs. The North Jersey attraction features animatronic dinosaurs that interact with visitors, as the little tyke above learned during his encounter with a robotic Dryptosaurus.Read more

ALIVE WITH THE roars of dinosaurs, Field Station: Dinosaurs in Secaucus, N.J., is no museum piece. It's an invitation for visitors to get their hands dirty while cleaning up any myths they might have about the prehistoric horror show that ruled Earth millions of years ago.

There are 32 animatronic ambassadors of the past scattered throughout the 20-acre park, which is 75 miles from Philadelphia. In charge of it all is Guy Gsell, founding director of Discovery Times Square in Manhattan and a man who didn't need carbon-dating to confirm the timeless appeal of dinosaurs.

Life-size replicas of Triceratops, T. rex and other prehistoric critters roar, flex limbs and turn heads, often in response to onlookers' actions. Scary, for sure, but there's a strong educational component, too, in this park located on a spot where dinosaurs really did roam.

There's a 23-minute 3-D movie, "Dinosaurs Alive!," interactive workshops featuring paleontologists from the New Jersey State Museum - and Philly dinosaur artists Tess Kissinger and Bob Walters - and learning games like Raptor Feud and Mesozoic Concentration.

The park's seasonal activity for the fall, "Dinosaurs After Dark," is a flashlight-illuminated tour with true tales of ghostly activities from the park grounds' more recent history (there was formerly a mental hospital here), a campfire and marshmallows. There's a great view of the sparkling Manhattan skyline, too.

During a recent daytime visit, people approached the dinos like fans seeking their Hollywood idols. Gsell has created something fun that also educates its visitors along the way. And it doesn't hurt when a parent can show off a bit in the knowledge department, as we heard here:

"Gee, Mom, I know they're robots, but these dinos look so real."

"Don't be silly. They're not real. If they had gotten the real ones, they'd have charged twice as much for a ticket."

- Michael Elkin