World's Largest Dinosaur — Attraction in Alberta

Overall: World's Largest Dinosaur = World's Largest Disappointment.

Drumheller. World's Largest Dinosaur. How could someone screw this up? Apparently quite easily.

You start your visit by encountering a gentle reach into your pocket for parking. While it's a small amount, it helps reinforce that the town likes to reward tourists with extra fees rather than basic servicess. And yes, even if you want to use just the visitor information centre which shares the gift shop, you'll still pay for parking. All around the dinosaur and the streets immediately around it are either paid parking of residential parking only. You can park a couple of blocks away for free however.

You enter the dinosaur through a gift shop where you have to first buy tickets to enter (no food or drink allowed in the dinosaur). The price of the ticket includes a bit of exercise as you get to walk up 100 or so stairs and a view of Drumheller as you peer out the dinosaur. Nothing more. That's it. The attraction really drops the ball on being an attraction because you find yourself in and out within 10 minutes, focused on going up, looking out and then going back down. Nothing really grabs your attention. After all, you can't see yourself in the dinosaur so there needs to be something that leaves you feeling satisfied.

You would expect there to be a camera outside the dinosaur to take your picture while in the mouth. You would expect there to be something interesting to do within the dinosaur. You would expect many things, but expect to be...

There's a little souvenir store by the T-rex's feet, which is where you buy the tickets to climb. There's also an awesome fossil/ice cream store right across the road, as well as a spray park and a walking path featuring plenty of smaller dino statues.

My 8-year-old niece really got a kick out of the giant T-rex, of course. It's a lot of stairs to the top (over 100, as she made sure to count them on the way back down), but there is a spot to rest with a bench and recording playing at about the halfway point. The top of the head does sway a little, so if you're nervous about heights, maybe just stand back on the solid metal steps and let the little ones venture out into the mouth. You are still able to enjoy the view from the metal platform, and pics of the kids look better from...

No trip to Drumheller is complete without stopping by the World’s Largest Dinosaur—and it definitely lives up to its name! My wife and I visited last summer, and even though it’s a bit of a classic tourist attraction, it was honestly a lot of fun.

Standing at 86 feet tall, this giant T-Rex is impossible to miss and makes for a great photo op. But the real highlight is climbing the stairs inside to reach the viewing platform in its mouth. The view from up there is fantastic—you get a great panoramic look over Drumheller and the surrounding badlands. It’s a fun way to take in the scenery and appreciate the dinosaur theme the town is so proud of.

It’s a quick stop, but totally worth it. Fun, quirky, and iconic—definitely one of those “you have to do it at least once”...