Life finds a way — and of all places, to the Great White North! Dinosaurs might not have shared a planet with us, but that doesn’t stop audiences from their growing fascination with these prehistoric creatures thanks to Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. While the multi-movie franchise kickstarted by Steven Spielberg has been cemented in the pop culture zeitgeist since first premiering in theaters 30 years ago, fans of those films now get a chance for the first time in Canada to walk among the fearsome titans. In what is one of the most absorbing, life-like dinosaur exhibits today, Collider got a firsthand preview of the limited engagement event for Jurassic World: The Exhibition opening in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga on April 28. Touring the facilities last week with other members of the press, the immersive, micro-theme park from Universal Studios can be noted as a fun-filled adventure for families and fans of the franchise looking for some summer excitement.
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Inspired by one of the biggest blockbusters in movie history raking in more than $6 billion at the worldwide box office, guests of Jurassic World: The Exhibition can expect a micro-theme park experience thanks to the interactive exhibit immersing audiences of all ages in the magic of Isla Nublar. Situated on the grounds of a 20,000-square-foot venue located outside Canada’s second-largest shopping mall, Square One, Jurassic World: The Exhibition uses cutting-edge technology and prehistoric-themed environments to give guests a feeling they’re right inside the parks.

Image via Universal Studios & Amblin Entertainment, Inc.

Accented by a cozy rainforest-type setting with lush vegetation, trees, and jungle sounds of birds and dinosaurs, the brachiosaurus is the first creature we see, who is incredibly adorable and ties really well into the magnetism of what these movies mean to fans. The animatronics are very impressive with each looking so similar to the dinosaurs featured in the films, which says a lot about the type of production the Universal Live Entertainment Group put into these traveling exhibits, that have been featured in Dallas, London, San Diego, Paris, and more. Walking under the brachiosaurus is rather cool and gives guests a good glimpse into what you can expect from the adventure as there are also telescopic binoculars that let you look for dinosaurs in the fields behind her.

Once we make it past the long-necked dinosaur, fans really get to be a part of Jurassic World with its more immersive stations, including a glimpse of “Stiggy” also known as the stygimoloch, hiding out in a livestock crate. But it’s the Hammond Creation Labs where visitors interact with the science behind Jurassic World, including how the dinosaurs were brought back to life. With a trophy wall of sorts showcasing all the DNA from mosquitos trapped in amber, guests can get up close and see whereabouts these sequences have come from, which plays to a nice lesson in dinosaur history. With the exhibit providing a strong focus on STEM learning through science, information, and technology, Jurassic World and its trainers offer a lot of info for guests on the types of species with the exhibit acting almost like a museum with lore blending from fact and fiction.

There is also plenty to read aside from looking at just the dinosaurs and interactive games that allow guests to learn while they have fun. Additionally, the lab lets guests play with the different kinds of dinosaur poop from the herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores to learn what they ate and how they digested it. It’s a moment that will have you feeling like Laura Dern’s Dr. Ellie Sattler where she goes through the fecal matter of a sick triceratops in the 1993 classic. Moreover, once you’re done getting your hands dirty, you can also learn what’s happening inside the eggs currently in incubation and see newly hatched parasaurolophuses napping.

Image via Universal Studios & Amblin Entertainment, Inc.

But to amp up the fun, guests can also interact with some of the dinosaurs in baby form, and they are truly all adorable. From a baby stygimoloch to a baby parasaurolophus, the exhibit’s greatest strength is in how beautiful the fully animatronic dinosaurs are. While in conversation with Collider, Michael Silver, the President of Global Business Development at Universal Parks & Resorts revealed the dinosaurs are made by the same company that actually makes their dinosaurs for the Universal theme parks across the world. “They’re the same quality level, the same fully mobile, full degrees of freedom,” Silver told Collider, adding how the exhibit creators also worked very closely with Amblin Entertainment, including Spielberg and Colin Trevorrow of the Jurassic World films. “We’ve stayed very faithful to all the style guides, the colors, even the sounds that they made in the films. We’ve tried to be as faithful to the films, which is really based on most current scientific knowledge.”

With such close attention to detail, guests can see how each dinosaur’s mouth opens, and its eyes move, which provides an experience that not only feels real but that the magic of Jurassic World is a living, breathing thing. After Hammond Labs, guests get a theatrical experience with a live show featuring Blue, the velociraptor trained originally in the films by Owen (Chris Pratt). While you can’t get too close to this one and see Blue’s appearance up close, the live production is without animatronics and features an actor in costume. It’s this part that feels a bit out of place with the exhibit, but it will no doubt be exciting for fans to watch it come together as the actors are very committed to the scene.

Progressing through the exhibit and a brief sandbox station where you can dig for bones and meet Bumpy from the Netflix Dreamworks series, Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, audiences will get their first glimpse of one of the park’s most terrifying dinosaurs – the indominus rex, the highly aggressive and intelligent dinosaur said to swallow a human in a single gulp. This show is a fun one that has guests observing more than anything and watching in terror as the massive carnivore rips through its meal. It’s like SeaWorld in the ‘80s but without the headline-making killer whales.

Image via Universal Studios & Amblin Entertainment, Inc.

The thrill of this exhibition is in how it sets the ambiance for each dinosaur, making sure you feel exactly what the characters from the film did upon each and every confrontation. With the indominus rex, there’s a fear no doubt felt by being in the dark and just hearing the rumblings of the dinosaur while trainers are shouting among each other and the spotlights hit the creature. This feeling is handled once again in one of the more theatrical showcases at the end of the tour before being dropped most conveniently into the gift shop.

While the indominus rex is on its own and far from other apex predators, after watching them dig through their latest meal, audiences will make their way down Gyrosphere Valley. While the gyrosphere is out of commission for the show’s sake, audiences will still get a chance to sit in the famed pod and take pictures as handlers around the area show off their dinosaurs, including a baby pteranodon and a massive ankylosaurus that looks to scale from the real-life measurements of the prehistoric creature. Swinging its tail back and forth generating enough for a breeze, the dinosaur, again, is beautifully constructed and astoundingly realistic.

As this area is the last stop before the final showcase, the universe that Jurassic World: The Exhibition has created is thrilling and fun, and really plays effectively to the nostalgia these movies bring fans. It’s no secret how the franchise itself is a goldmine for this kind of fan interaction, and it makes sense to pull from this IP for more opportunities. With the exhibit featuring a stellar collection of animatronics, including four very interactive baby dinosaurs, this is a show that has the potential to go beyond just a limited engagement and expand its grounds for a more thrilling experience with its life-sized dinosaurs each and every time.

Image via Universal Studios & Amblin Entertainment, Inc.

Finally, heading into the tour’s grand finale, audiences appear to be in for a casual stroll through the aisles holding in two alpha predators — the T-Rex and the carnotaurus, but little do they know a lot of scary, pulse-raising events are about to take place, leading to the Jurassic World trainers panicking over a possible fight. With the trainers yelling over one another and giving visitors the joy of sheer fright, it’s the back and forth of roars and aggressive stares between the two dinosaurs that makes this all the more thrilling and dumps you right in the center of movie magic. Just by being in the midst of these two and their drama, you can count your blessings they don’t exist in the real world because, frankly, we would be dead.

Filled with richly themed prehistoric environments and carefully curated details from the films with the dinosaurs that we’ve come to admire, the exhibition is one you have to check out. The exhibition also contains two dinosaurs the other traveling exhibits do not have, making their appearance exclusive to Canada. Witnessing what these creatures could have been like is enchanting and a very real one-of-a-kind experience we will never encounter again. It’s an indescribable feeling that’s both exciting and fun and takes you back to being a kid again if you’re a grown-up immersing yourself in the exhibition.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition, produced by NEON, a global leader in immersive and epic experiences and presented collaboratively with Universal Live Entertainment, opens Friday in Mississauga and is set to run until June. For more information, head to the official website.