I have never had such a quick rude interaction with a company. I was googling fossils for purchase having bought a number online before and actually been to a number of fields and dug up fossils myself came across. This guy seemed an amazing deal price was killer and I thought maybe it just didn't have a lot of fossils and it was a lot of reconstruction. Nowhere on that piece or any of the other pieces if you go through their website, does it say replica the only way you find the word replicas if you go to their website the very first time and go as if you're going to try to book an event and then it says Shop our replicas. I was asking a very simple question when I found out it was a replica. I wasn't rude. I said, cancel my order and they jumped down my throat. It was the rudest thing I've ever experienced and I hope no one ever has to deal with them after reading this. read more

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***edit*** Since the owner replied and said I waited to call back for 4 days I thought I'd post "evidence" of that not being true. I called and spoke to her Monday, June 21st. She did not tell me to go online to book. She did say I had to have a $750 minimum since she'd be coming to San Diego, and I was ok paying the extra. Again, no mention to go online to do this while talking. I can't go back to Tuesday the 22nd on my phone to screenshot my log. But I've posted the 2 calls I made to her Wednesday and the call I made on Thursday. I left messages asking for a call back and that we'd spoken. Let's be clear, they were not booked. I've been looking for a Dino encounter type of company for my sons 4th birthday party. After speaking with several companies who were unavailable, this was the only one who was available. I believe her name is Carrie (maybe jeri?) who owns it. When I originally spoke with her before other companies, the first thing I thought was, she doesn't sound very charismatic nor entertaining. When I learned she was one of the "presenters" is when I searched for another company. Unfortunately no one else was available for my date so I called back. I spoke with her Monday about booking and she confirmed availability but said she was in the car and would call me back later to finish booking. Ok, great. She didn't call me back. I called her back Tuesday afternoon and left a message. Same thing Wednesday, I called a few times to follow up and pay. No response. Today, Thursday, I called and got a hold of her. She apparently has booked someone in my spot since we spoke. I am sooo angry. When we hung up Monday, I would have paid if she'd told me how instead said she was driving and we'd handle later. So I assumed we had our spot. When I reminded her of this, she told me I needed to understand she speaks to a lot of people every day and she had car troubles which she had to fix and handle. Quite frankly, I do understand things happen BUT how do you confirm someone else when you already told someone else they had that spot. Im furious but it may be for the best as I can not imagine her type of personality entertaining a bunch of 4 year olds. Terrible way to run your business. Look for a different company!!! I do NOT recommend. If you follow my reviews, I do NOT typically give out 1 star reviews and I'm very fair. But this review deserves it as they completely left me hanging for a party! read more

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Terrible customer service. They apparently are doing great and don't need any new business. Which is fine, but I am honestly shocked at the lack of professionalism. On the website it states to email to INQUIRE aka ask questions. All I wanted to know was pricing. At the time i must have not had service, as my mistake I didn't scroll far enough to see prices. She replied with what is my location, I told her. Then she asked for when. I just simply wanted a price point/packages. As I do not have a date yet. When I asked again she said we are unavailable... I never gave a date or time, so how are they unavailable? So again I asked to please have prices, packages or options. She informed me then that they do not "bother" with birthday party's unless it fits in route of their travels and if I don't give a date or location they are not interested. I was simply reaching out to get the ball rolling and ask about prices. I do not have a date yet. In all my years of party planning I have never felt disrespected like this. My advice is to use other Dino company's. Why bother with someone so rude. read more

Not impressed pay 15 bucks for my son ride dinosaur all it did was open its mouth twice and it was over I expect little more then that and crew was rude .. this was all at the Weber county fair read more

I will never recommend this to anyone. The service was so horrible. Won't know if the food was good because we ate it cold after we hot home from such a disappointing visit. read more

This is the most UNPROFESSIONAL company I have ever encountered. Their response time is UNBELIEVABLE, After weeks of trying to get in contact with Dinosaur Party Rental, I gave it one more try and sent them another inquiry, Mariza was quick to reply back this time, but once i provide my address they literally are ghosting me. Why is it so hard to reply and just say you don't want my money. You as a business should know how time consuming it is to plan an event. This company's lack of organization is OBVIOUS. read more

i had the displeasure of seeing a dino encounters booth at the evergreen state fair in washington. The owners daughter and husband were riding her little dinos all around the building at a relatively fast speed so it looked fun. I bought my daughter a ride. It turns out the rides you buy are run at a fraction of the speed we saw her daughter and husband riding around, and they only allow the other kids to ride in this small area which is not what it looked like. The ride was also only 2 minutes, which was not written anywhere on her sign. I just went to the owner to express my displeasure at how there advertising was misleading. Thats all i said to have her shoot up out of her chair and get two inches from my face screaming at me, her saliva getting all over my face. She said i was acting like a child, which was quite hypocritical considering how she was acting. At one point she even got physical and pushed me back. She told me shes allowed to do whatever she wants there, that she had the fairs permission to do things however she felt like, even if shes guilty of false advertising. Probably the most upsetting part is that she asked me if i was on the spectrum. I asked her if she thought it was ok to ask if somebody has a disability just because they want to complain about how she runs her business. She doubles down and said its ok to say that because I was acting like i was on the spectrum. Autism is listed as a disability with the Americans with disabilities act (ADA) and therefore they are an officially protected group. It bothers me that this miserable woman works with kids for her job. She should not be allowed anywhere near other peoples kids. I am contacting the fairground management to try to get her barred from going back next year. I cannot believe the fair operators would be ok with somebody running a booth pushing and spitting on people who complain and accusing people of having a disability. I have never in my life seen anything like this from a business owner, its truly a wonder that she gets any business at all acting in this way. read more

I have been attending parties hosted by My friends for several years, all of which are very well put together ( attention to detail, environment, etc). I was so pleased to bring my 5yr old son to her son's 3rd birthday dinosaur party because I knew it would be filled with activities for the children to enjoy. Imagine my excitement when I saw the Dino Encounters truck on the corner of the house. I've read about their company and had amazing expectations!! Unfortunately those expectations were not only let down, but left me feeling very sad for my friend who did not get to participate or enjoy her son's birthday party because she was dealing with issues with Dino Encounters!!! Both she and her husband, as well as several other guests missed the majority of the party with conflicting messages from the owner as well as her spouse while trying to move cars to accommodate the Dino truck. Prior consent for the location was given via text message (far in advance) to ensure that space would not be an issue. The workers who came to set up were an absolute pleasure and very accommodating. However the owner continuously sent mixed messages to their staff as well as my friends leaving them outside disputing things for several hours. Only to be told that the Dino experience would not occur. The unprofessional nature in which this situation was handled is truly disappointing. The lack of customer service and empathy was disheartening and troubling. I encourage anyone attempting to do business with this company to NOT patronize this company. It's one thing for miscommunication, but the blatant disregard for the party goers and the birthday boy is what hurts the most. *see picture in comments* read more

Dino Encounters - Examples of the owner not taking responsibility and blaming the host. - Party & Event Planning Near Me

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My 1st born son LOVES dinosaurs. If you want your kids to ride on a pretty big dinosaur,.. then this is one of the things to do for a dino themed party. The package we ordered included the animatronic dinosaur that kids could ride. It was abit humerous because kids who said they weren't interested in riding the dinosaur ended up riding the dinosaur. Our package also included searching for toy skeleton dinosaurs. My kids loved digging through and trying to find stuff... they through the hay/dirt everywhere looking for the mini skeleton figurines. I do agree,.. the workers might have had better training. I think if they came in with a game plan on how to entertain us.. it could have been even better. They came in... setup the dinosaur. Kids were riding the dinosaur for about an hour. They setup the digging stations. That lasted for an hour too. Finally they brought in a pet dinosaur to explain to the kids. It definitely was more just one event after another instead of like a learning show. read more

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I loved this for my kids birthday- even better I loved they provided the invites and thank you and prty favors!! Less stress for me! The Dino looked real and only a couple little littles were afraid lol I think they need practice maneuvering the truck and trailer but all in all great experience read more

No stars is more appropriate. My son attended a friends birthday party over the weekend. As much as I would love to say the party was a hit, the birthday boy did not get the party he deserved. Dino encounters was booked to provide what was thought to be an awesome experience for this well deserved 3 year old. Unfortunately that did not happen. Apparently the company did not do their research to ensure there was adequate space for their truck, even after the company confirmed there would be. Although mistakes like this happen, the unprofessionalism of management was unheard of. They argued and lied with the family in an attempt to place blame elsewhere. I saw the text messages between management and the family. The company not once sympathized with the fact that the entire time the parents were outside attempting to make accommodations with management, they were unable to enjoy their son or their guest. When booking a service such as this the most important factor is the confidence you have in the company to provide an unforgettable experience. The lack of empathy and unprofessionalism I witnessed was damn right disrespectful. It's saddening to see the hard work the parents clearly put into this party not go the way they expected. I will NEVER entrust Dino Encounters for any of my children's parties and I encourage you to do the same. Don't be regretful later. read more

Keri did the most amazing birthday party for my boys! Everyone said they have never been to a party like that and were talking about how they could ever possibly top it. Keri taught the kids, had them dancing and doing a song, puzzles and so much more. It is more than I could have ever amazed and wish I had birthdays like this growing up! If I could give her 10 stars I would. Love her and the team! read more

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They made my 6 years old sons birthday party a hit. He had a blast with the baby Dino's but really loved Blue the Velociraptor. They were great with the kids and the adults loved it as well. Thank you very much!!!! read more

Didn't even want to give the 1 star.Horrible customer service! Not happy to be there with the kids...no energy. Had a teenage boy try and give information to the children and he was clearly nervous and no one could hear him. Would not ever use this company again. Did find another company and they were fantastic! read more

at the Oklahoma state fair 2024 lady working the booth was absolutely horrible to my son and acted like it was bothering her that my son wanted to ride but was scarred to and threw her hands up when we tried again as if we were A "problem" read more

I don't even know where to begin....I usually throw super fun parties for all my kids, but our Dino party was the absolute BEST all thanks to Dino Encounters! From the very first moment we reached out them, and throughout the time of our event they were hands down SPECTACULAR I have had guest message us after the party on how amazing it was and their kids still raving about the dinosaurs!!! #momwin when the team arrived at our event, they were nothing short of EXCELLENT. They were engaging the entire time, all the kids AND adults enjoyed the show. We were extremely pleased with their professionalism, knowledge and ability to make it a memorable experience for us all! I researched and reached a few companies before making our choice with them, and I am pleased we decided on Dino Encounters!!! Thanks again for making our event such a memorable one. read more

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A very honest review of my experience hiring Dino Encounters for my son's 3rd bday party. Pros: owner was accommodating to the late RSVP I made. She was responsive. The dinos are cool. Cons: Too much talk and explanation, not enough hands on activities. The kids were very anxious, they wanted to touch the dinos (fyi, some dinos can not be touched). It was too long and not interactive enough. Presenter was not patient enough with the kids, I got complaints from parents saying she was being too harsh. This is not the type of experience I wanted for my guests. I paid for $670 for the entire thing (includes mileage fee) and it put a damper on my party. I do not recommend the activities, probably just stick to renting the dinos themselves. Tips: If you are having the activities make sure to have a good shaded area, no water activities near by. read more

Idk how they have 5 stars , The communication is the worst . I'm trying to book for the 15 of September and this is the response I left a picture so you can see . "They" first start by saying that "they "have 2pm and 5pm but don't say if that's what they have BOOKED or AVAiLABLE how I'm I suppose to know your Schudule. I tell them I want 5pm "they"say it's booked ok , I ask again what's available "they "response after their 5pm . I told them 6pm-7pm " they responded that they"re booked . Do you guys want my business or not because the communication is bad , and you guys have no customer service to even come to a solution to me booking with dinosaur encounters. Save your self some time don't bother reading the reviews and find some other business that's wants to make your party or event a success ! read more

It was an absolutely amazing adventure for the adults and kids!!! The parents were amazed as were we! the instructors were patient and attentive absolutely amazing thank you thank you thank you. It was like a theme park I could not have asked for more! read more

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I attended a friends birthday for her 3yo with my two daughters who were so excited for the dinosaur themed party. The host had a beautiful area with awesome gift bags for each child. The children were excited for the show! However the show never happened. The poor host and her husband literally spent the majority of the party patiently trying to convince the company to provide the show they paid for. They basically missed the party and had a yard full of disappointed children and parents. The company had no sympathy for the situation and quite oppositely spoke very harshly to the host. I was hopeful to host a Dino party for my child's next party but I guarantee I will not be using this company and I hope you don't either. read more

They did my sons birthday in July! They were super professional and on time. Very trustworthy. The dinosaurs were super cool and real. It was a total hit!!!! read more

I found Dino encounters thru Craig's list then came across their website and let me tell you all booking them was the best experience ever!!! I booked then for my sons 5th birthday and I'm sure it'll be one he never forgets! :) I'm huge when it comes to Yelp reviews so I'd thought I'd share some in site for people interested in booking rocky for your next event! :) right when I submitted a request online for info I got a call within 15-20 min!! They're truly the nicest people I've ever met. The kids loved every activity they did and when rocky came it was 20xs more enjoyable! Bottom line I could guarantee you would not be disappointed!! Thank you sssooooooo much again Dino encounters!! read more

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The dino encounters show was in Decatur Illinois and is geared towards kids and families. The show was not perfect but given the circumstances, ranging from out of control kids climbing all over the stage and security did not bother to do anything, I think the presenter did a pretty good job. The show as educational and had some fun elements. The kids in the audience were of various ages so its impossible to please everyone and kids can have short attention spans but I think if your looking for a fun show where kids will actually learn something about the dinos they love, this is a nice show. It was also more than affordable. read more

WOW. Just wow! Ms Keri and her crew of dinosaurs were incredible. Everyone had the best time and the kids all enjoyed themselves even with the hot weather. When Ms Keri, her helper, and the crew of dinosaurs arrived, they were very considerate and professional. Although there was a very tiny miscommunication, Ms Keri was able to figure it out and arrive at the party earlier than the set time! Ms Keri was super attentive to my daughter (the birthday girl) during the baby triceratops hatching and the interactive show about dinosaurs; she even allowed plenty of time for pictures. Most of the kids were under the age of 4 and were so interested with the whole event aside from the dinosaur rides. Everything from start to finish was more than I could have ever expected from a Dinosaur event company! Everyone was amazed at my daughter's 3rd birthday party but now I need to find out how to top this one next year! read more

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Dino Encounters ended my grandsons birthday Jurassic Park theme party with a bang.They fought through traffic texting me with updates on ETA every 1/2 hour.Rocky was the hit of the party. Can't say enough about Keri kindness and her husband entertainment with the Q & A during the show.They really do a great job.Thank you guys once again. read more

One of the Best Birthday parties we have ever had!! I had a birthday party for my twins and their older brother. The kids ages ranged from 3 to 12 years old. From beginning to end, the kids were completely entertained from making Dino tooth necklaces to cracking open Dino eggs(they looked and felt like rocks). Of course the highlight was a fun visit from Rocky the Dino himself. Keri and her husband put on a party with such professionalism and uniqueness. Everything was hand made from the huge triceratops bone structure to the Dino cave where the kids looked for their very own Dino fossils. If you are looking for something that you haven't seen before and want something that all kids will love, this party is it!! My kids and their friends are still talking about it. I would highly recommend to anyone. Five stars just isn't enough read more

Dino Encounters - My older son was in Dino heaven with Rocky - Party & Event Planning Near Me

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Yesterday was my sons 2nd birthday and we had a dino theme party. Keri and her husband are the best they are so personable and friendly. First their costumer service was amazing they always kept in contact with me and just made it easier for me planning my sons birthday , you know planning your kids birthday party you always have to make sure every vendor is on the same page and they just made it one less call because how attentive they are. Second they came to the party and the kids and adults were so amazed on how realistic there dinosaurs look. Also Keri presentation was awesome kids loved it and were so amused with the real fossils and poop ahaha! Lastly Keri and her husband were just very genuine nice people and were a hit at my sons party ! We definitely recommend them to any kids dino birthday party it just adds that bang ! And they were def. the talk of the town ! We love Dino Encounters!!! read more

Had Dino encounters come to my sons 2nd birthday! The kids loved interacting with Rocky! We had a big party and everyone was able to take pictures with Rocky! Thanks Dino encounters for a great birthday! read more

Dino Encounters - Party & Event Planning Near Me

I guess my 1 star is for the employees who tried their best to deliver the party, but that is the only part of this company that deserves that star. This past Saturady we had a birthday party for my nephew and were super excited for the dinosaur and show that Dino Encounters was supposed to provide. The 2 employees arrived in a very timely manner but were unable to deliver the party due to conflicting instructions from their bosses (Keri & Tom) My sister and brother in law missed most of their childs party because they were trying to work things out. several different solutions were suggested by their employees, Keri ageed to them along witih my sister and brother, then when the employees were going to deliver Keri would call them and tell them not to do whatever plan she had agreed upon. These shenanigans went on for over 3 hours, they missed most of the party and were not able to be host and hostess to their guests and most importantly the kids never saw a dinosaur or show which was planned and paid for months in advance. Such a disappointment because everyone was looking forward to seeing what Dino Encounters had to offer. The way Keri and Tom handled this situation was very unprofessionsal and they especially Keri was very rude! I definitely do NOT recommend Dino Encounters for any event and highly suggest anyone looking to find another vendor for your event! read more

Amazing!!!! Hands down the best interactive/educational/fun experience for not only kids but adults. Keri you guys are awesome!

I attended the Dino Encounters event in my hometown on on 7/8/21. I will be brief and brutally honest. This was the biggest rag tag operation I have encountered in quite some time. Show started 45 minutes late (not a good idea when you have hundreds of children anxiously awaiting a dinosaur encounter). There were merch sales going on so I can only assume the show started late in order to bleed the audience of their very last dime before the show started. Because once the show was over, no one would have bought a single piece of cheap crap from this company. Anyway, once the "show" finally began it couldn't have ended quick enough. The presenter was long winded and obviously loves the sound of her own voice. Her droning descriptions of dinosaurs were not geared towards little children. You could look around and tell that every person in attendance was bored out of their skulls. She was impatient with the children in front of the stage who were just being kids (hyper and noisy). Once the dinosaurs began coming out on the stage, we quickly realized that the owner of this operation is a modern day snake oil salesman. We thought the dinosaurs would do something but we were sadly mistaken. She would just trot out these lifeless dinosaurs and talk about them incessantly. There was supposed to be an interactive song with the kids but the presenter's iPad was dead (of course it was). The finale was someone dressed in a rubber T-rex costume that came out on stage and even he/she looked bored :) Apparently, the kids could come up and get their picture taken with the T-rex but by that time we had packed up our gear and were running as far away from this nonsense as our legs could take us. I spent $50 on this show and I might as well have lit the money on fire. As we were leaving, my son turned to me and said "Wow Dad, that really sucked." I replied "I know son, I know." read more

My son and his guests had an amazing time! I mean, seriously, how cool is having a walking and roaring dinosaur at your birthday party?!!! Even our adult guests had a blast. The kids were highly entertained, occupied the whole time and my favorite part, as a teacher, the education! We had the party out in the front yard and Rocky the dinosaur literally slowed down traffic. People from down the block came to see the dinosaur. So cool! Definitely an experience to remember forever! If you have a kid who is even mildly into dinosaurs, I highly recommend using Dino Encounters. read more

My wife found Dino Encounters while researching ideas for my two sons' (ages 3 and 1) joint dinosaur themed birthday party. We were a little bummed that we didn't have enough space at our party for the big dinosaur, BUT even without that, the presentation and activities they provided were awesome! We had a diverse age range of kids from 1 to 13 who were all very captivated by the demonstrations provided which were both educational and loads of fun. The kids got to put together dinosaur bone puzzles, chisel and use other scientific methods to extract dinosaurs from fossil eggs, make shark tooth necklaces, witness a dinosaur egg hatch, and watch a volcano explode. The kids got to take these necklaces and the dinosaurs the excavated home wit them. As I mentioned we didn't have room for the large dinosaur, but they provided two smaller puppets, one of which hatched from the egg which amazed a lot of the young ones. The kids were able to take some cute pictures with the realistic baby dinosaurs. Overall Dino Encounters was worth every penny and helped make our sons' birthday memorable for all. We live in San Diego, so there was some mileage charges, but all reasonable. Our party had a lot of adults too, which caused a lot of ambient conversation noise. At times it was difficult to hear if you weren't close enough, but despite that Keri did a fantastic job interacting with the all kids. I would recommend a quiet space or some kind of microphone and PA system depending on your situation. Another positive, Dino Encounters kept the kiddies so busy, the parents had a nice little break to enjoy the party. read more