Families and thrill-seekers are stepping straight into the Mesozoic Era this summer without ever leaving the Boston area. 🦖
Tucked inside CambridgeSide, a sprawling waterfront shopping destination just minutes from downtown, a massive 30,000-square-foot dinosaur exhibition has completely taken over.
Dino Safari: A Walk-Thru Adventure is dropping locals into a lush, prehistoric jungle, and it’s not the kind of thing you’d expect to find next to a food court.
13 August 2026 11:00 + more dates
The event blends real paleontology with mind-blowing interactive tech, making it the ultimate indoor escape for anyone looking to beat the heat and experience something totally out of the ordinary this summer.
Here’s what’s actually waiting inside once you step through the gates.
A 30,000-square-foot Jurassic jungle in Cambridge
This is not your average museum display, let’s be clear.
The exhibit was built by Imagine, the same studio behind Jurassic World: The Exhibition and Titanic: The Exhibition, working directly with Dr. Gregory M. Erickson, one of just 150 full-time professional dinosaur paleontologists on the planet.
That partnership shows in the details, since the exhibit lets you get up close with over 50 scientifically accurate, life-sized animatronic dinosaurs whose smooth movements and booming roars blur the line between educational exhibit and full-blown theme park spectacle.
As you wander through the greenery, you will come face-to-face with legendary giants like the fearsome T. rex of North America and the massive Spinosaurus from Africa.
The exhibit recreates natural prehistoric habitats across seven zones, tracking exactly how these creatures evolved and spread across ancient Pangea.
Hands-on fossil digs, VR excursions, and digital drawing
The animatronics alone would carry this exhibit, but the interactive elements are what actually make it a multi-sensory experience.
Visitors can get their hands dirty at an interactive fossil dig, piecing together real prehistoric remains, while a passport scavenger hunt sends kids on a quest through the primeval landscape gallery by gallery.
For those craving a deeper plunge into the past:
- A virtual reality adventure offers a dizzying, headset-first perspective on dinosaur life
- The Draw Alive digital game lets you color a creature on paper and watch it come alive on a massive screen using scanning technology
- A height check against a full-size T. rex settles once and for all just how small you really are
Epic America 250 savings for the whole family
Dino Safari is celebrating America’s 250th anniversary in a fitting way.
Right now, families can snag weekday children’s tickets for exactly $17.76, a savings detail that makes this massive indoor attraction one of the most budget-friendly options on the city’s summer itinerary.
Between the jaw-dropping animatronics, the immersive tech, and a location that puts the whole thing steps from the Charles River, this is one Cambridge adventure that’s easy to put off and genuinely shouldn’t be.
The exhibit is running as a limited engagement, expected to wrap by early September.
The details
- Location: CambridgeSide, 100 Cambridgeside Place, Cambridge, MA
- Hours: Thursday and Friday, 11 am to 8 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm (last entry one hour before close)
- Duration: 30 to 60 minutes
- Tickets: Grab your tickets for Dino Safari here, including the special $17.76 weekday kids deal
