What to Expect at Dinosaurs After Dark at Field Station: Dinosaurs in Leonia, NJ

The Halloween-themed show premiered for the 2018 season this Sept. 22.

By Anja Webb November 30, 2020

Once you’re settled in a Field Station: Dinosaur, the show starts with an interesting premise: There’s a baby T. rex loose in the fields and your kids have to sleuth it out. With footprints, missing dinos, and a distraught wrangler, the mystery unfolds while your little ones as the lead detectives. Where did that T. rex go? Who will find it? Who will fall victim to it? It’s a story that’s spooky enough for the season, but just right for the youngest of your bunch to be surprised, but not terrified. There are some jump scares, but nothing to give your kids nightmares.

While your searching for the T. rex you can take an educational tour of the animatronic dinosaurs and marvel at their size and sounds. Afterward, enjoy a T. rex self-defense workshop, in which you employ the same defense methods as prehistoric prey, including using a tail to fend of inflatable dinosaurs, and see a musical performance that had me genuinely impressed (I studied theater for eight years, and found the show to be cute, well done, and full of great energy). There was even an adorable dinosaur puppet that kids can pet afterward. Most of the staff has a background in musical theater performance, be that through studying acting in college or touring with children’s performance groups. Once the musical number concludes, families can sit around a campfire and nosh on s’mores and hot cocoa, and take photos with the very same T. rex that was on the loose earlier.