Hold onto your hats dinosaur-lovers – there’s a new BIG kid in town! Triceratops Horridus is Melbourne Museum’s brand new – yet prehistoric – exhibition, and he’s unlike anything your or your kids have ever seen before!

A REAL dinosaur skeleton in Australia

Did you know there’s a real dinosaur skeleton in Australia? This month we were really excited to be invited to attend the official opening of the Triceratops Dawn of the Dinosaurs at Melbourne Museum

Watch our video tour of the opening event & new dinosaur exhibition

No time to read? Watch our video tour of the Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs launch VIP Melbourne event and Triceratops exhibition.

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The Melbourne VIP celebrity event of the year!

You could cut the excitement with a flint at the VIP opening event of Triceratops at the Melbourne Museum.

Held after-hours in an empty Melbourne Museum prior to the Members preview event, Melbourne’s VIPs, celebrities and influencers – many with excited children in-hand – arrived to find an official grand opening event full of dino fun!

Dinosaur themed launch party fun

Upon arrival to the Museum, guests were directed to the event room fitted-out to Jurassic Park proportions.

Dinosaur themed treats

Dinosaur fans young and old were served with dino-themed drinks, appetisers and snacks. Dinosaur treats such as dinosaur gingerbread cookies and even gold-covered chocolate dinosaur droppings made a really fun novelty, and set the dinosaur theme perfectly.

Dinosaur themed crafts

There were lots of dinosaur themed crafts for the kids at the event too, including a Triceratops hat and mask-building station, and a special photo wall provided the perfect place for some unique dinosaur event Instagram photos.

An expert-manned ancient fossil table

A table crowded with a huge dinosaur skull and dinosaur bone casts offered genuine fossil examples for guests to take part in some hands-on learning thanks to the help of a friendly and highly knowledgeable paleontologist.

A circulating baby Triceratops puppet man kept everyone completely enchanted, particularly the toddlers and babies who were completely convinced they were patting a baby Triceratops!

Official Melbourne Museum exhibition opening

Official ceremonies included speeches and further historic, statistical fun facts and background on just how amazing the new Museum acquisition is. Then it was time for the main event – actually visiting the much-anticipated Triceratops Horridus exhibition – Triceratops: The Fate Of The Dinosaurs.

Triceratops: The Fate Of The Dinosaurs

Located in the dinosaur section of the Melbourne Museum where there is already a large collection of impressive dinosaur skeleton cast models, the new exhibition provided a wonderfully interactive experience.

The opening night Melbourne Museum after-hours tour

Opening night visitors found themselves transported to a lost world – immersed into an audio-visual prehistoric jungle and river dating back 67 million years ago.

Dinosaurs roamed and thumped along the exhibition walls thanks to the clever soundtrack and projections that covered not only the walls, but also the carpet below museum visitors very feet.

Whilst it would be easy to spend a lot of time just enjoying the introductory walk-through experience, with the promise of a genuine dinosaur up ahead, people were spurred onward to emerge into the large space that hosted what has to be one of the most spectacular Australian Museum coups of all time – the world’s most complete Triceratops skeleton – Horridus!

Triceratops Horridus display area

Fully re-assembled and atmospherically and dramatically lit with an eerie jungle background audio, this real dinosaur skeleton stands a terrifying 2 metres high, this is the world’s most complete Triceratops Horridus skeleton. It’s mesmerisingly glittering – a product of the type of rock that fossilised the bones.

Triceratops Horridus dinosaurs lived during the Late Cretaceous period, and went extinct half a million years before a mass extinction-level asteroid hit earth. An impressive asteroid representation is installed on one wall of the large display space surrounding the dinosaur skeleton.

Neither a girl or a boy due to the eons of time erasing such details, this Triceratops dinosaur is regarded as a “they”- and what an jaw-dropping sight they are!

Multi-level dinosaur viewing platforms

Multi-level platforms offer different perspectives of the huge dinosaur skeleton. A mid-way viewing platform offers a close-up overhead view, whilst the second floor gives plenty of room to spread out and appreciate this most impressive of dinosaur relics.

Also to be found on the second floor are further fascinating insights into dinosaurs thanks to a detailed bird feature display to accompany the various prehistoric displays spread over the two main floors of the exhibition.

A Melbourne April school holidays must-see

You can visit Triceratops Horridus now at the Melbourne Museum.

With its imposing stature and trademark horns, Horribillis is a spectacular world-class permanent addition to the Melbourne Museum, and truly needs to be experienced in person to be appreciated.

Melbournians and all dinosaur enthusiasts big and small – don’t miss this incredible new exhibit!

Essential info

How much does the Melbourne Museum cost?

Melbourne Museum ticket prices: $15 per person – pensioners and concessions (including single parent concession) and children are free.

Admission to Triceratops: The Fate Of The Dinosaurs is included in general admission – BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL

Where is the Melbourne Museum located?

Melbourne Museum address: 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053

How to get to the Melbourne Museum

Public transport: Trams, trains and buses all service the Melbourne Museum.

Parking: There is a Melbourne Museum carpark located underneath the Museum.

What dates is Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs on?

Exhibition dates: Triceratops: Fate Of The Dinosaurs with the world’s biggest Triceratops dinosaur skeleton is a permanent exhibit at the Melbourne Museum from March 2022

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