Dinosaur Breakout - A ROARsome Family Day Out At Drayton Manor Resort!
Dinosaur Breakout returned to Drayton Manor this weekend for the February Half Term.
During this event, the park is taken over by Dinosaurs for a prehistoric interaction like no other. You can meet your favourite dinosaurs, experience a range of themed shows, visit the zoo, and take a ride on a selection of rides which are available during the event.
The team went down on Saturday to see all this Dinosaur filled event had to offer! I experienced this event for the first time in 2023 and had a great time so was really excited to get back down to the park and see what had changed and see if the dinosaurs remembered us.
Who Will You Meet?
During the day, Dinosaurs can be found around the park in select locations for meet and greets. These are all available to see on the event schedule however you can usually find them quite easily from the queue (and giant dinosaur).
The Dinosaurs available to meet this year are:
- T-Rex
- Triceratops
- Raptor
- Ankylosaurus (New for 2024)
- Dilophosaurus (New for 2024
- Dinosaur Babies
The dinosaurs make multiple appearances during the day but I would advise getting there just before the meet and greets start to reduce your wait time as some of them can generate quite the queue.
This year it seems to be a bit better organized with queues being more controlled. Last year we did notice a few dinosaurs had no real queue which meant for a bit of a free for all of excited children.
The queues allow everyone to have their very own interaction. Speaking of interactions, these dinosaurs are incredibly sociable and interactive, they are incredible lifelike creatures which are guaranteed to be memorable for all ages.
But this isn’t just about the dinosaurs… The dinosaurs are supervised by incredibly talented and enthusiastic Dino Rangers who keep the dinosaurs at bay & ensure you have an enjoyable and safe encounter.
We absolutely loved the energy that these Rangers brought to the event – they are quick witted and great with the public.
The Rangers really help tie together the meet & greet experience and ensure you get that perfect dino photo.
Dino Shows & LIVE Entertainment.
Returning for 2024 is the Raptor Training Show in the theatre (4D Cinema), which is led by the wonderful Vicky, a Velociraptor trainer who is going to introduce guests to Loki, one of the parks trained raptors to show what they have been taught.
Unfortunately, things don’t go to plan when Loki is unavailable and its down to Echo to complete the show – the naughtiest and most dangerous of the raptors!
This show is brilliant for all ages. Its fun, engaging and has a lot of funny moments. Vicky and Echo are a wonderful duo who work really well together and put on a great show.
This show also has an element of audience participation so be prepared to dance like a Dino and become a trainee Raptor trainer with Vicky’s help.
After the show, there is the opportunity to have a closer encounter with Echo in the form of a meet and greet on the stage.
Be warned, Echo may be on their best behaviour, but still keep your wits about you! This show runs multiple times a day and we would recommend that you put it in your calendar during the day!
Rory is back for Dinosaur Breakout with two different kinds of shows which take place on the main stage (near Accelerator).
The first show is Rory’s Dino Show, a seriously fun dinosaur themed show where Rory and the Dino Ranger introduce you to some baby dinosaurs.
This show is great fun with jokes and plenty of party dances to get your little dinosaurs stomping their feet.
You can find this show twice a day and afterwards there is the chance to meet Rory, the Ranger, and a baby dinosaur.
Between shows, Rory can be found exploring the park with his Dino Ranger friend for casual meet and greets – this makes for some wonderful interactions.
At the end of the day, Rory returns for Rory’s Dino Disco, an all-new show which brings the dinosaurs out for a big dino dance off!
This show replaces the Dinosaur Parade from last year and in my opinion, it’s a much better show to end the day.
With all new songs and appearances from all your favourite dinosaurs, it’s a brilliant way to finish your visit to Dinosaur Breakout.
One thing we learnt from this show, was that dinosaurs have some seriously cool dance moves! The Dino Disco show is exciting for all ages and practically turns the entire area into a giant disco with the dinosaurs dancing amongst the crowd.
It’s the most immersive show in my opinion and proved popular with all guests.
Over in Thomas Land, the balcony show has also received a Dinosaur makeover.
Join Rusty, Dusty and Sir Topham Hatt as they show you a Dinosaur fossil. This show is entertaining and has some dinosaur themed songs which are great fun (and like all the other songs, going to get stuck in your head).
After this show, the trio are available for a meet and greet and are absoloutely delightful to meet.
Which Rides & Attractions Are Open?
During the event, there is a limited ride offering. Guests can experience The Bounty, Jolly Buccaneer, The Carousel and Thomas Land Rides.
Accelerator does seem to be on the event map, however during our visit this was unavailable (Though was testing all day to tease us!) – We hope Accelerator joins the lineup soon but it’s uncertain at this moment.
On the day, Troublesome Trucks was also unavailable with the ride train not on the track – Winter Maintenance may have overrun on this so it should be open soon.
Despite there being no thrill rides open, we actually didn’t mind this as we (personally) didn’t do any rides all day due to the excitement of chasing the dinosaurs around the park & experiencing the event shows.
We found you could easily fill your day with the shows and dinosaurs (as well as lunch & a visit to the zoo).
Is Dinosaur Breakout Worth A Visit?
Overall, Dinosaur Breakout is a brilliant returning event for 2024 – whilst not ride heavy, its an immersive and interactive experience for all the family to enjoy at their own pace.
This event is suitable for anyone who loves dinosaurs regardless of age. There is so much to see and do around the park and it’s a wonderful first visit for 2024.
If I was to add anything to this event, it would be an activity trail around the Dino Trail as this side of the park could have some potential during the event of the same theme.
An activity trail rewarding those who complete it with a small reward like other events at the park would be the only thing I would add to make this event better.
We visited with the rest of the TPI team who also enjoyed the experience thoroughly and agreed that it was a peaceful way to experience the park without needing to rush around to get on all the rides.
The event wasn’t crazy busy and was a really relaxing day out for us all.
Dinosaur Breakout is running until the 20th of February with tickets available to book now:
https://www.draytonmanor.co.uk/events/dinosaur-breakout
You can also check out our vlog covering our visit now over on our official channel now via the below link! Will you be checking out Dinosaur Breakout this February half term?
– Elise.