“Amazing,” shouted Partyn Mckee, as she looked at one of the 50 large moving Dino animatronics at the Jurassic Empire exhibit in Victorville at the San Bernardino Fairgrounds on February 15. Partyn and her father Greg decided to join the early morning crowd to look at the fifty large moving Dino animatronics that the Jurassic Empire puts together. From Camarasaurus to the Tyrannosaurus Rex to the Velociraptor, the detailed dinosaurs brought excited children of all ages with their parents and grandparents.

Greg Mckee was happy to bring his 8-year-old daughter to the exhibit as she bounced up and down in joy looking at all the dinosaurs. Partyn explained that the Albertosaurs was her favorite dinosaur as the animatronic moved its head back and forth.

The atmosphere was exciting, cool and educational with facts on the dinosaurs below each of them. The exhibit took you along a path like a maze jungle with each dinosaur either roaring up to the heavens or swishing their tails back and forth. When you got to the middle of the maze, two T-Rexes were facing down each other. Children and parents took pictures, read the plate cards and screamed when the dinosaurs moved or roared.

“The event has been going on for 4 years and we travel to different states and cities,” stated Lucciano Barocio, who has worked for the company from the very beginning. He sported a black Jurassic Empire shirt and a wide smile as he spoke about the event and how long it took for him and his team to set up.
The Jurassic Empire exhibit had a play area, where children got to ride dinosaurs, dig up fossils, have a VR experience with dinosaurs and play in a dinosaur bounce house, plus many more activities. The play area was full of children running around and trying to ride the dinosaurs. Parents took pictures and laughed at their children’s faces as the dinosaurs moved.

“I’ll bring my own kids,” said employee Davon Wackins. Wackins started working at the event the first day and stated it was a good turn out for the morning. All the employees were very nice and welcoming and informative.
Jurassic Empire will be having events all year, but the next California event will be in Lancaster at the A.V Fairgrounds and Event Center on February 22 and 23 of this year.

The exhibit took a while to look through, but as you take your time reading about each dinosaur and taking pictures with the children and family members, the event will make a long and excellent memory for everyone, never to go extinct.
We have local Jurassic Park expert Dr. Stuart Sumida in our biology department. Please get to know him too!
www.stuartsumida.com/
Dr. Stuart Sumida, Professor of Biology at CSUSB, is a paleontologist specializing in fossil animals of both North America and Europe from long before the age of dinosaurs. [Dr.] Sumida / He has published over 70 professional articles, and is an anatomical consultant to the animation and visual effects industries, having consulted on over 70 motion pictures and video games from Lion King to Zootopia to Life of Pi.
Our alumni in Bay area will get to hear from him:
A VIP event located at the prestigious Walt Disney Family Museum!
This special cocktail reception will give you exclusive access to this famous establishment, and feature a lecture by one of CSUSB’s most notable faculty.
“The Importance of Science at CSUSB to the Magic of Animation and Computerized Visual Effects”
Saturday, March 7
5:30 p.m.