By Charly SHELTON

Pomona’s Fairplex roared to life last weekend – quite literally – as Jurassic Quest and Brick Fest Live shared the sprawling event halls for a three-day family takeover of prehistoric proportions. Between the animatronic dinosaurs, the bounce houses and the occasional plastic brick underfoot, it was equal parts chaos and delight – which is to say, a perfect weekend for kids.

I brought my two sons – 5 years old and 1 and a half – to see what was offered. From the moment we walked in, we were greeted by a towering Giganotosauraus, bellowing loud enough to rattle the strollers. The entire dinosaur exhibit had been dressed up for Halloween with a T. rex wearing a chicken hat and a Coelophysis decked out in a hot dog cape. It was absurd and adorable all at once – and loud. Very loud.

For the kids, though, the noise only added to the adventure. The dinosaurs roared and snapped their jaws, delighting some and terrifying others. My youngest clutched my shoulder hard every time the Baryonyx opened its mouth then promptly declared “T. Reeeeeex!” with the enthusiasm of a child discovering a new favorite word. That alone made the whole trip worthwhile – a proud paleontology dad moment if ever there was one.

Behind the main dinosaur hall was the excavation station where kids could dig for “fossils” in bins of sand, and a small craft corner for coloring and creating their own prehistoric masterpieces. But as any parent could predict, the real draw was the play area – a sea of bounce houses, inflatable slides and rideable dinosaurs. That’s where we spent most of our time as the boys bounced themselves into exhaustion and I silently calculated how many gallons of hand sanitizer we’d need afterward.

Sharing the fairgrounds was Brick Fest Live, which sounded like it would be a LEGO lover’s dream. In practice, it felt more like a bonus attraction tacked onto the main event. There were some impressive life-sized builds – a Minotaur, a globe, a few recognizable pop-culture icons – but the displays were sparse. A large LEGO mosaic of a dinosaur anchored one corner next to a building zone where my older son happily spent the better part of an hour creating his own tiny masterpieces.

Oddly, some of the best parts of Brick Fest were hidden – a couple of small building tables and a LEGO drag race track tucked away in the exit hallway, which we only found on our way out. Still, for a LEGO-obsessed kid it was heaven. And for a toddler who just discovered dinosaurs, it was like meeting his new best friends.

Not everything was picture-perfect – a few of the dinosaur animatronics looked a little worse for wear and some of the “educational” signs had some factual inaccuracies – but it didn’t matter. The kids weren’t there for paleontological accuracy; they were there for spectacle, sound and the sheer joy of running wild among roaring dinosaurs.

By the end of the day, we left with two tired, happy boys – one proudly clutching a new dinosaur hat, the other with a Brick Guy action figure. For all of its noise and chaos, Jurassic Quest and Brick Fest Live delivered exactly what they promised: a few hours of family fun, some wide-eyed wonder and just enough dinosaur magic to make a kid fall in love with science – or at least with T-Rex. 

Last weekend’s event has come and gone, but Jurassic Quest is happening in the SoCal area again soon, including pop-ups in Ventura and Del Mar in January. Check its website for more dates and info at JurassicQuest.com.

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