May 16, 2024
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Giant dinosaur exhibit coming to parking lot at Six Flags

Traveling drive-thru show featuring 50-plus animatronic dinosaurs product of Crystal Lake company

By James Kane - Daily Herald Media Group
A drive-through exhibit featuring more than 50 animatronic dinosaurs that has been traveling across the country comes to the Six Flags Great America parking lot in Gurnee from May 13 to June 6. It was developed by a Crystal Lake businessman.

A drive-through exhibit featuring more than 50 animatronic dinosaurs that has been traveling across the country comes to the Six Flags Great America parking lot in Gurnee from May 13 to June 6. It was developed by a Crystal Lake businessman. (Provided by Dinosaur Drive-Thru)

A drive-thru exhibit featuring more than 50 animatronic dinosaurs that has been touring the country is coming to the parking lot at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee from May 13 to June 6.

“They all move, roar, blink and breathe,” said Jim Wojdyla, marketing partner in the venture that started in Crystal Lake.

Dinosaur Drive-Thru is a COVID-19-safe family-friendly activity, as everyone remains in their own vehicle during the show, Wojdyla said.

Vehicles move through an array of dinosaurs set up in order of when they existed, with an entertaining and educational audio tour streamed in English and Spanish that is filled with jokes and facts about each dinosaur.

Also included is an interactive trivia game the people in the vehicle play during the 45-minute show. Tickets are $49 per vehicle, which can contain up to eight people.

Wojdyla, the lead singer of the popular local band Modern Day Romeos and whose day job was marketing bars and restaurants for Cinemation, said the pandemic “was kind of a gut punch” to both his careers.

Then he was approached by Troy Diskin, owner of Diskin Systems in Crystal Lake, which makes car wash parts and is located next door to Cinemation. Diskin had a plan to bring in the dinosaurs from China. Wojdyla worked on the logos, audio component and marketing.

“We are dads of little kids, and nothing feels better than taking them to an experience that we can share together versus buying them something that they only play with for a few times,” Diskin said.

The exhibit launched last November in Phoenix and toured parking lots in the South during the winter at venues such as stadiums that were closed during the pandemic. It drew about 15,000 vehicles at each stop, Wojdyla said.

“It’s been doing really well,” he said.

While Six Flags is open, its massive parking lot can accommodate the exhibit and its own customers. The exhibit will be open Thursday through Sunday, with the dinosaurs illuminated for colorful nighttime viewing. Tickets and information are at www.dinosaurdrivethru.com.