Desert Detours: World’s Biggest Dinosaurs

HiDesertStar: Desert Detours: World’s Biggest Dinosaurs

Story and photos by Cpl. M. C. Nerl

Combat Correspondent

Warning: If you have not seen Jurassic Park in a while, do not visit this place until you obtain a DVD copy of the film. I am not advertising for it, this place is just full of “awesome,” and will compel you to run out and rent or buy the movie.

With that said, this week’s edition of Desert Detours has taken us back in time, not only to my own childhood, but also to the olden days of taking a road trip across country with the family, not to mention the pre-historic era of the dinosaurs.

The World’s Biggest Dinosaurs are located in “scenic” Cabazon, Calif., and were featured in “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.” This is what truly drew me to the attraction.

Mr. Rex, a 65-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Dinny, a 45-foot-tall Apatosaurus are the product of a former Knott’s Berry Farm sculptor, by the name of Claude Bell. The later addition of the robotic dinosaur exhibit only added to the place’s coolness.

Although Bell passed away, and ownership of the dinosaurs has changed hands, they are still bringing joy to people of all ages, and trust me - even at the ripe old age of 22, I enjoyed the hell out of them.

The exhibit has an awesome retro feel to it, and reeks of 1970s America and Jimmy Carter. The restaurant next door does too, but we will get to that later.

Throughout the entire course of exhibits, it was hard to miss certain religious connotations and facts contradicting evolution and some scientific theories - so, if you’re a serious evolutionist, be warned.

The robotic dinosaurs are awesome, and always on the move. In addition to that, the gift shop has stuff you totally know you wanted to have when you were 10 or 12 or 22.

The outside portion of the robotic exhibit is pretty neat too, even though the grand tour ends not going out, but “up” Mr. Rex, a dinosaur sculpture. Truth is, the stairway really leads up the side, but it makes for a good picture from certain angles.

The inside of Mr. Rex is quite fun. His walls are lined with cave paintings, fun interesting facts and smaller models of other dinosaurs. The view at the top is especially cool. It’s probably how it looked inside Godzilla’s mouth in that awful remake back in like, 2000, (seriously you know he would have crushed that cab in his mouth. There is NO WAY those people would have survived).

Dinny is open seven days a week, while Mr. Rex and the other exhibits are only open on weekends.

The military-friendly owners of the site were kind enough to offer a discounted price of $5 to access the super-cool, pre-historic world on weekends.

The 24-hour Wheel Inn Restaurant next door is a whole different monster - one delicious monster.

The Rex and Dino burgers come in multiple stacks of properly-cooked, delicious meat patties at a pretty good price, considering how much food you get.

Don’t worry though, unless you’re near or over your height and weight limit. If you are, you may have to go on a dino-sized run after eating all those calories and carbs.

Overall, if you don’t mind the underlying conflict between the theories of creation and evolution, the dinos area is a great roadside attraction to check out on your way to San Diego. It’s also a good afternoon pit stop on your way back to the Combat Center after a long weekend.

The World’s Largest Dinosaurs get 3 out of 5 palm trees. They’d probably get four if they sold beer.

Editor’s Note: “Desert Detours” is a weekly series exploring opportunities for Marines and sailors from a firsthand perspective. All material included therein is the opinion of the writer and does not imply an endorsement by the U.S. Marine Corps or the Department of Defense.