'Interactive dinosaur experience': Jurassic Quest at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds

Angelaydet Rocha, The Stockton Record
Updated ·4 min read

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to meet a dinosaur, this weekend is your chance.

Jurassic Quest, will be in Stockton Friday through Sunday at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds. Stockton is one of the only three scheduled tour stops left in California this year.

Jurassic Quest will be in San Jose starting Friday, May 17 and in Pleasanton starting Friday, May 31.

"Jurassic Quest is the No. 1 interactive dinosaur experience in North America. We have over 160 million years worth of dinosaurs for people to enjoy," said Marty Hoffman, a dinosaur expert with Jurassic Quest. "We even have a 50-foot-long spinosaurus, something you definitely want to see in person."

An Albertosarus is one of many dinosaur replicas on display for the Jurassic Quest event at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton. The event runs 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Mar. 22, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 23, and 9 a.m to 7 p.m. Sunday, mar. 24.
An Albertosarus is one of many dinosaur replicas on display for the Jurassic Quest event at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton. The event runs 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Mar. 22, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 23, and 9 a.m to 7 p.m. Sunday, mar. 24.

One of the key reasons why Stockton was chosen as one of the stops for the tour was because it is near major cities, said Hoffman, who also goes by "Park Ranger Marty."

Hoffman who has been working at Jurassic Quest for almost eight years said this is the type of event that you will remember for a lifetime.

"There are just moments in your life ... that will stay with you for the rest of your life and you will remember forever," Hoffman said. "Jurassic Quest is one of those potential events that you will always have as a memory."

What to expect at Jurassic Quest

Jurassic Quest began in late 2013, according to Hoffman.

"It started off a family show. A guy named Dan Arnold and his family started it," Hoffman said. "It started off with one show with three semi-trucks worth of stuff traveling around and now it has grown to three shows traveling not only mainland United States, but also up into Canada."

He added that each show now has 12 to 15 trucks. It takes about two hours to complete the whole tour of Jurassic Quest.

"The event is geared toward the 3 to 10 (years old) crowd primarily, but dinosaur lovers of any age are going to enjoy it," Hoffman said.

Attendees can expect "animatronic dinosaurs that move and make dinosaur sounds," he said. There's also a raptor training show where the audience can learn how to train a utahraptor, the "largest in the Dromaeosaurid family."

Three baby dinos, with distinct personalities, are on display and you can meet them at Jurassic Quest. The baby dinos include "Cammie" the camarasaurus, "Trixie" the triceratops and "Tyson" the T-rex.

"Trixie the triceratops, she is definitely our sweetest, most timid dinosaur," Hoffman said. "If you're a nervous kid, Trixie is the one to start off with."

The tallest dinosaur at Jurassic Quest is the apatosaurus which is 20 feet tall, Hoffman said.

Crews assemble a life-sized Spinosaurus for the Jurassic Quest event at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton. The event runs 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Mar. 22, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 23, and 9 a.m to 7 p.m. Sunday, mar. 24.
Crews assemble a life-sized Spinosaurus for the Jurassic Quest event at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton. The event runs 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Mar. 22, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 23, and 9 a.m to 7 p.m. Sunday, mar. 24.

"We have a fossil experience, where you can learn all about different dinosaurs," Hoffman said. "We have cast of real fossils, and then actual real fossils as well mixed-in together so you can learn different things about dinosaurs."

Other types of dinosaurs people can expect to see are the Tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops, spinosaurus, stegosaurus and allosaurus. There will also be other dinosaurs people have not heard of, Hoffman said.

"We actually work with paleontologist before we have the dinosaurs made. Trying to get them as up to date as possible," Hoffman said. "In paleontology, they say wait until Thursday because things change so quickly. A great example of that is spinosaurus. Some of our spinosaurus are pretty up to date and then we have one that's a little out of date at this point."

For those who purchase a kids' standard admission ticket, they will need to purchase additional activity tickets, $6 each, for each activity. However, a child's unlimited ticket covers all the activities, except green screen photos and face painting, Hoffman said.

"It's educational, so it's nice to get your kids to learn something while they're having a good time," Hoffman said.

Jurassic Quest opens to the public at noon on Friday, March 22 in Stockton.

The event hours are as follows: 12-8 p.m. Friday, March 22, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, March 23 and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday. March 24.

For more information on this event, you can visit their website at jurassicquest.com.

Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Jurassic Quest Stockton