Review of Clacton Pier’s new Jurassic Pier experience

The dino walk-through experience is the latest addition to Clacton Pier and opened its doors to dinosaur hunters at the end of last month.

The landmark’s owners say the £500,000 project has really caught the imagination and that they had been getting inquiries about it for months.

They even booked children’s TV personality Andy Day to perform the opening ceremony, while he also ran four sessions of his fantastic family show, Andy's Dino Raps, over the opening weekend – which were totally sold out.

A close encounter with a T-Rex at Jurassic Pier (Image: Submitted)

I visited the attraction to see if it lived up to the hype – and was thoroughly impressed with what has been delivered.

Visitors are greeted by a towering T-rex at the entrance to Jurassic Pier, which sets the tone for the quality of the attraction.

Staff in dino safari gear get you into the spirit of the prehistoric adventure before you get up close and personal with the giant animatronic dinosaurs.

The individually commissioned dinosaurs, which have come from Asia, are remarkable.

The herd includes an eight-metre-long Tyrannosaurus-Rex, four metre Dilophosaurus and Velociraptor, a Bambiraptor, and a Pterosaur.

The interactive dino walk-through experience leads into an impressive 4D cinema, which includes motion seating, audio-visual sound and lighting systems, 3D glasses and water squirters.

I won’t give the game away, but the cinema experience is thrilling – and of a quality that you would expect from a top theme park attraction.

A caged velociraptor at Jurassic Pier (Image: Submitted)

While the walk-through experience is relatively short – the pier is constrained in how much space is available in what was the former Seaquarium site – at a cost of just £7.50, it is a wonderful addition to Clacton Pier, which has seen major upgrades in recent years.

The pier’s directors are proud of this new attraction – and rightly so. It will appeal to dinosaur fans of all ages, but perhaps not very young children.

If you’re looking for something for your family to get their teeth into during a daytrip to Clacton, then this attraction really is dino-mite.