Dinosaur Museum — Attraction in Rapid City

This place was an overpriced tourist trap. We drove up and the parking lot was mostly empty, which we should've taken as a sign. Since my kid really wanted to go here, we proceeded anyways. We walked in and the whole front hallway is stacked high with boxes of merchandise, completely blocking all the bathrooms. We get to to the desk person and she informs us the mini golf is closed so they gave us $3 off per ticket. The building seemed really dumpy inside, there was foam insulation stuff on the walls and the floor boards were uneven and creaky. Some of the dinosaurs were just heads. Some of the lights were burned out so it seemed extra dark in some areas. We did the mirror maze and it seemed dingy and dirty. I felt like it was pretty easy to navigate since the mirrors weren't that clean and there was at least one cracked mirror with a huge caution sticker on it. We watched a little of the movie they had playing ridiculously loud and it had a warning that it might not be suitable for children, which makes no sense since that is a good chunk of the crowd this museum caters to. It had dinosaurs eating each other every 5 minutes which even i found not that enjoyable to watch. I've watched a lot of dinosaur documentaries on dinosaurs with my kid and all of them did not have this level of constant food chain going on. Their gift shop seemed like the only thing they cared about with tons of money they just have sunk into branding on cups, stickers, shirts, etc when they should put some back into the museum part. All of those prices seemed pretty inflated too compared to other tourist places we have stopped by. Reading some other reviews trying to figure out why this place was rated so well and saw people also got admission to the toy museum, which they told us was closed.

Check out the museum of geology (small, but free!) or the mammoth site if you're looking for a good place to go. Since we got through this dinosaur museum in like 20 minutes we went next door to the reptile gardens and had a much better time. Save yourself the money and go...

I was so excited to visit a dinosaur museum because this was my first time going to one. The museum itself had some cool dinosaurs and dinosaur related things but overall was pretty disappointing. Very lackluster, not much variety. The owner randomly mentioned the floor was ADA compliant, but someone in a wheel chair or on crutches would definitely struggle. The floor was sketchy..... Taking about sketchy the guy at the desk who runs this museum reminds me of that main actor from the movie Creep. Apparently they've said they are adding on and fixing the museum throughout the past few years but from pictures, nothing has changed. The most entertaining part was the mirror maze and mini golf (though it was very unkept) not the actual museum. The dinosaurs themselves are cool but most are broken, many cracked and some entirely missing fingers & spines. Others don't even look accurate. They had a dinosaur movie playing in the little theater tent that were free movies from YouTube it was very random and didn't make sense. Gift shop was nothing fancy but ah it's alright. I wouldn't go again unless they improve A LOT but they probably never will because it just seems like a scam. I wouldn't recommend people going here unless you are a building inspector or work for the IRS. Yes, they accused us of commiting tax fraud (long story) in a very DEFENSIVE and PROJECTING way. Overall we still would have found it fun as it was an odd experience to have together but the owners comments after the fact kind...

Before going to the reptile Garden, I visited this roadside attraction, and let me say, this museum is the most insulting museum I have ever seen. Both outside and inside, these horribly outdated replicas take the place of actual fossils and skeletons, which there are only 2 of. A hadrosaur leg fossil, and a smilodon skull, which I'm not even sure was real. The museum is tiny and filled with nothing to do, leaving kids bored out of their mind and adults feeling ripped off. The $8 admission for kids and $11 admission for adults leaves a family of 3 out of $30, for a 15 minute tour. To make the museum look more filled, the added a glass maze and a put put course, which was beat up and needed repairs badly. The glass mirror maze was full of smudges and even a few cracks, defiantly not safe for kids. Finally, they show an outdated movie in a small room for bored customers, which un-surprisingly enough, despite being outdated, has more valuable information that anything else in the museum. I'm positive this establishment was created for pure wealth and cared about nothing to do with paleontology. Instead, use your valuable money to the Reptile Gardens next to this mockery of a museum, as they have informative and entertaining exhibits and shows for all to enjoy. Or better yet, go to the Black Hills paleontological institute and view a real museum, with real fossils, real skeletons, and real value. Don't bother with this shack. It's not...