Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be invited to the UK Preview Night for Jurassic World: The Exhibition – which has arrived at the ExCel Centre in London this August. The Exhibition has been doing the rounds since its inception back after the release of Jurassic World, but it has never come to the UK until now.
In this article we’ll take a look at all the Exhibition has to offer to Jurassic fans, so you can plan a dino-sized day out in London this Autumn! Be warned that we will talk about the full walk-through experience – so only read on if you don’t mind spoilers for the experience itself!
The first thing to note with the Exhibition is that it lets you get up-close-and-personal with different dinosaurs from the Jurassic World franchise. There is a good assortment of animals present throughout the Exhibition – with everything from the towering long-neck of the Brachiosaurus, to the more intimidating presence of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. I was really impressed by the quality of the animatronics present within the Exhibition space, which made me feel as if I was visiting one of the Universal Studios resorts. I have to say that the way the designers of the exhibition incorporate light and shadow is second to none – using areas which are less lit to really help to bring home the immersion of the Exhibition. There is an encounter towards the end of the exhibit with the Indominus Rex which makes particularly great use of the shadows in the space – helping to capture the eerie feel which comes from when we first see this Hybrid in the films.
The Exhibition also goes to great lengths to ground you within the world and the lore of Isla Nublar – with all of the staff wearing either InGen Security or Scientist uniforms, and with everyone well versed on their knowledge of the animals present throughout the exhibit. When it comes to any ‘live’ experience like this, the actors really can make or break the immersion, and the people we encountered during our walkthrough were incredibly passionate and enthusiastic – helping to sell this as a real visit to Jurassic World. I also want to shout out a couple of the members of the crew who took the time to chat to us and indulge how excited we were – with one actor even coming back to find out how we found the experience at the end. It was awesome seeing the people involved in the experience just as excited to be a part of it as we were.
No immersion is complete without world building and I was also really impressed by the different locations we got to visit during our time at the Exhibition. I’s clear that a lot of attention has been paid to the architectural style of the franchise, and that is reflected in environments which feel pulled straight from the screen. I was particularly impressed with both the Hammond Creation Lab and also the Raptor Arena where you encounter Blue – as both of these felt like they had clearly pulled a lot of inspiration from the environments seen on the screen. This really is an immersive experience where you can allow yourself to be surrounded by the franchise for a couple of hours – and for me, it felt really special to get a theme-park level experience right here in the heart of London.
I am so impressed by the variety, the attention-to-detail, and the sheer enthusiasm which has gone into bringing Jurassic World The Exhibition to life. As I say – I have wanted to experience this since 2018, and four years later, I was not disappointed by what the final experience had to offer. If you are looking for a fun, dino-fueled day out in London, then I cannot recommend the Exhibition enough.
Huge thanks to the people working behind the scenes on this project for being willing to invite a bunch of us down for a fan preview. We had an awesome time and are so grateful hat we got the chance to experience the Exhibition together. 2022 has been a year filled with memorable moments and highlights, but this definitely tops them as a very special day out for all of us.
To learn more about Jurassic World The Exhibition and to book a ticket for it’s London phase, visit: https://jurassicworldexhibition.com/uk/.
Written by: Tom Jurassic