Fossil World Discovery Center

Reviews

• ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
  Really nice place. Loved the dinosaurs but a little small. But great for kids
  By Nicole Huntley, February 15, 2017
• ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
  The staff was very friendly and helpful. The adults in our group enjoyed "mining for minerals" more than the kids I think!
  By Chris Letawsky, December 19, 2016
• ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
  Very expensive to get in and then they have two activities , sneakily which are an extra cost . Fossil dig and mining in the sandy water. I found this an awful practice . I felt upset that parents bring their children to drumheller and are being charged outrageous prices . Very uninclusive, bet the staff love making kids cry because their parents can't afford the extras. 0n a positive note the t rex was out of this world . It was so real it was almost creepy .
  By Charlene White, November 07, 2016
• ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
  A bit pricey for how small it is, but I can see how the animatronic dinosaurs are driving the price up, and my kids loved them. We weren't in there very long, we did the gemstone search. We were a bit put off at the very start that for my husband and I to help our young kids search for the gems to fill their vials, we had to pay an extra $2 each. They upgraded the size of 2 out of the 3 vials we got, which I didn't notice until we were in. In the future, please never change 2 out of 3 kids vials - either offer to upgrade all or don't bother - kids fight over stuff like this. A warning to any parents worried about chemicals on sensitive skin: the water in the gem digging containers understandably contains either chlorine or bleach. I'm sure this is a great thing for public safety and cleanliness, but there is no signs alerting people to this and a few in our clan with sensitive skin came home with a rash that we could only attribute to this. (Only on the hands/wrists, we didn't use any new soaps or lotions, etc.) Anyway, young children may become quite bored with the gems and give up easily so I'd recommend paying the extra for the privilege of assisting your kids find the gems they've paid to find or you'll have paid $7 (+$2) for a small plastic vial with a few rocks in it. We definitely loved the gift shop, though. It definitely has a much better selection than the RTM. I didn't feel very welcomed by the employees by the time we were done selecting our purchases, though. We had 3 young kids with us, each with money gifted by grandparents to purchase souvenirs on our trip. We were trying to look at the overwhelming amount of fossils and cool things in the store and it took my kids awhile to decide what to buy. On top of that, I was selecting 2 larger gift items for family members and also was there to pick out what I wanted for myself. My husband was trying to usher my children to stay together and cause as little commotion as possible while we were there, and we are very grateful that the woman behind the side counter was so lovely to them as they chose items and changed their minds. Keep in mind the store is packed with amazing finds and even my kids couldn't decide what to bring home. I walked around the entire store probably 4-5 times trying to help my kids find things then selecting each of the 3 larger items I was buying, and again, the woman behind the side counter was amazing and even showed me her favourite piece - an Agate Slice that looked like the ocean. It was a perfect choice for one of the gifts I needed, and I'd already selected an item for the first, which she wrapped up as I looked for what I wanted to buy. As I was finally deciding between two or three pieces, I was approached by not only the young gentleman who was at the main till when we entered, but also a woman who I assume is the owner. I explained exactly what I was doing to each, and after I finally brought up my items to pay, the lady I suspect is the owner came over and was flustered in her rude interrogation of the woman who had helped me while she was trying to choose a display stand for the agate. As an afterthought, I realized the owner may have suspected we were trying to steal items in that we were pretty distracting and I went back and forth a few times, but solely due to the last part of the experience, I don't think we would return. The main attraction pieces were fun to see once but I don't think we'd go back anyway, and how well we were treated while spending $400 in the store just didn't sit well with me.
  By Blaine McCrea, October 05, 2016
• ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
  Warning to other future buyers. This store has questionable fossils for sale. I was told this was a 100% real Mosasaurus jaw fossil only to find out later that it is a fake most likely from Morocco. I was also overcharged 5$ for a piece of coprolite that I didn't notice until I got home (5 hour drive). I'm hoping I'll be able to return the fake Mosasaurus jaw next time I'm in town. I'm questioning what else is fake in this store so do some research before buying.
  By Matthew Hall, August 22, 2016

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About Fossil World Discovery Center in Drumheller