Rrowr: Dinos Rule the LA Zoo

Animatronic beasties will illustrate times gone by (way, way gone by) for visitors.

If you had rounded up your crew some 65 million years ago, and made sure everyone had sunblock on and their best-loved snacks and juices in tow, what would you have seen if you visited your local zoo?

Oh, probably a few Carnotauruses hanging out near the entrance. Maybe a nursery section full of hatching Triceratops eggs. And possibly a Tyrannosaurus Rex, noshing upon her midday meal over by the picnic area.

Zoos weren't around millions of years ago -- nor were we, of course -- but we can find something of that fantastical experience at the Los Angeles Zoo beginning on Friday, April 15. 

That's the day when "Dinosaurs: Unextinct at the LA Zoo" makes its rrowr-worthy debut.

The Griffith Park destination has not created a "Jurassic Park"-type scenario where the dinos are alive, let it be known. It's a nifty concept, on paper, but one that didn't work out quite so well in the films.

Rather, the 17 new/old beasties are animatronic, "brought to life with electronic 'brains,'" which should give visitors a view into what life was like eons ago.

Are they life-sized? You bet -- these aren't your tabletop, toy-play dinosaurs.

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Is there a Fossil Dig section, lending light as to how modern-day science pieces together clues of how these massive creatures once roamed and ruled all they surveyed? There is, which is way cool, as the kids say. (Surely "way cool" will never go out of style in kid-ese?)

Is there a Stegosaurus robot that guests can control? Indeed. Wasn't this on your birthday wish list as a kid? A Stegosaurus robot? Because a Stegosaurus robot is way cool.

Look for a kitted-out app to enhance your visit. And the zoo says the snapping of a #SelfieSaurus or two is absolutely permitted, if you dare.

Tickets to the experience are five bucks, in addition to your zoo entrance fee.

We may never be able to visit a zoo that was built 65 million years ago, but we can visit the LA Zoo of today, which will be the home to 27 real-esque dinosaurs through Oct. 31, 2016.

Don't be scared of that Halloween-y date; dinosaurs are way cool, even if T. Rex's toothsome grin is very, very big. See for yourself, starting on April 15.

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