Dinosaur Train

Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don go river rafting for the first time at Nature Adventure’s Tracking Camp. Their old pal Jess Hesperornis meets up with them and they all learn about erosion and the importance of rivers, before finishing up their adventure by cruising through some rapids!

For their second outing at Nature Trackers Adventure Camp, Buddy, Tiny, Shiny, Don and other friends learn about the tree line as they set out to hike up a mountain. Shiny is determined to get to the top of mountain forest. Buddy wonders if they’ll be able to see anything from the mountaintop, through the tall trees. The kids are amazed that the higher they hike, the shorter trees and bushes get! Then they reach the tree line — a certain point on the mountain, where trees are really small because they don’t have enough air to breathe and the temperature is too cold. In the end, Shiny and all the kids use teamwork to all reach the mountaintop together!

The campers explore levels of the ecosystem in a rain forest before riding on a zip line.

Hiking down a canyon

The Pteranodon family is super excited to be traveling to the ‘Classic in the Jurassic’, an Olympics type competition in which different dinosaur teams representing the three Mesozoic time periods will compete in various contests. Today’s competition is a race between turtle and theropod teams. When the fast running theropods all get tangled up at the finish line, the race comes down to the slow moving turtles. It’s an exciting race as the turtles are neck and neck! Who will win this pre-historic match up?

Buddy, Tiny and Mrs. Pteranodon are eating lunch at Pteranodon Terrace, and even though they've just eaten a big fish meal, Buddy's still hungry. Mum understands that because Buddy is a carnivore he needs meat.

The Pteranodon Family is excited to be going back to the ‘Classic in the Jurassic’! This time, it’s a race between pterosaurs from each of the three Time Periods. The best part—all of the family members will have a role to play in the race! Mom and Tiny will be in-air referees, Buddy and Don will do “play-by-play”, and Dad and Shiny will man the start and finish lines. It’s an exciting race as the pterosaurs fly between hanging vines, swoop through a canyon, push through a wind tunnel, slalom over and under branches, then carry food from a pond as they race to the finish line! Teddy Pterodaustro finishes first, but the race is contested when Remy Rhamphorhynchus (another competitor) protests that Teddy never retrieved a fish from the pond. Everyone is surprised to learn that Perodaustro don’t eat fish, they strain plankton through their bristle teeth. Teddy shows everyone how he does it to prove that he did indeed get food from the pond! Teddy is declared the winner!

Buddy, Tiny and Mom are riding the Dinosaur Train when they bump into their old friend, Crystal Cryolophosaurus. She’s on her way to visit King Cryolophosaurus down in the Jurassic Antarctic and invites our family along. Mom and the kids jump at the chance, and upon arrival surprise King as he’s singing a brand new song, Top Carnivore. King and Crystal’s heartfelt reunion is marred when Crystal tries to convince a reluctant King to take this fantastic new song out on the road to share with his adoring Mesozoic fans. But King doesn’t like leaving home and excuses himself to do some thinking. Buddy and Tiny follow and King sings a song called Good ol’ Gondwana to explain his feelings about his home. Tiny has a great idea—King and Crystal can perform a live concert in Gondwana and invite dinosaurs from around the Mesozoic to attend! The concert is a huge success, and King is surprised and delighted when Crystal decides to stay there with him instead of going back out on the road.

It’s time for the ‘Classic in the Jurassic’ – the Mesozoic Olympics! Today’s “Air, Water and Land” contest is a three-part competition pitting teams consisting of a pterosaur and a crocodile from each Time Period against one another. Mrs. Pteranodon, Tiny and Shiny are recruited to help in one of the three “legs” of the race, while Buddy, Don and Dad watch from the stands. The competition’s three “legs” are flying, swimming and a lap around a track. Early on, Team Cretaceous pulls ahead and hold onto its lead, until the wild card of the race is revealed: Team Triassic’s croc, Effie Effegia who shocks the crowd when she runs, and then sprints, on two legs! Effie wins the race, and her bi-pedal abilities prompts many questions – and a healthy discussion – about her features. Tiny is disappointed her team lost, but cheers up when reminded that she was part of `Classic in the Jurassic’ history.

While playing ‘Cold and Hot,’ a game they made up, the Pteranodon kids learn from Mr. Pteranodon that there might be more variety in the desert then they imagined. Their curiosity piqued, they plead for a trip to investigate the desert scene. Mr. Conductor tells them just how diverse plant and animal life can be in the desert. He happens to know a desert mammal Fruitafossor. Upon disembarking from the Dinosaur Train, the Pteranodon kids meet Frankie Fruitafossor, a chipmunk-sized mammal. They quickly learn that their assumption that desert life was hot all the time and relatively uninhabited was incorrect. Come dusk, they find the desert hopping and crawling with life, as creatures emerge all over – mostly underground – where they hide from the blazing sun. Frankie gives our family a tour, including a peek at underground burrows he dug. Back on the desert floor, Don and the siblings can’t believe how cold the desert has become. Nighttime in the desert is a different world than daytime! The family goes back to the Dinosaur Train to warm back up and have a snack.

The 'Classic in the Jurassic' games are back, and this time, it’s the Ultimate Smackdown. Mr. Conductor explains the “wrestling” matchups from the three Time Periods are: T. Rex vs. Triceratops, Allosaurus vs. Stegosaurus and, Zupaysaurus vs. Riojasaurus (dinos new to the Pteranodon clan.) Fears that competitors may get injured are allayed by the explanation of how the `Smackdown’ works – the best choreographed and most entertaining show wins! Morris Stegosaurus beats Alvin Allosaurus. When Ziggy Zupaysaurus goes up against Renaldo Riojasaurus, Mr. Conductor explains that Riojasaurus may be smaller, but has a powerful tail and speed on his side. Then Boris the T. Rex loses to Trevor Triceratops. Tank and Buddy are thrilled –what a face-off! Once the judges tally the results, Team Cretaceous is declared the winner, and the fans love it!

Buddy and Tiny start wondering aloud whether the Triassic was the beginning of time, and if there was anything before the Age of Dinosaurs. So, to the Dinosaur Train they go where Mr. Conductor takes them back to the beginning of the Triassic time period to get some answers. In the Triassic, Buddy, Tiny, Mom, and Mr. Conductor meet up with Erma Eoraptor who is happy to explore the “before the Triassic” question with them. Our group walks through a Pedestrian Time Tunnel (that’s beyond the end of the train tracks) to get to the Permian Time Period, the time period immediately before the Triassic. There, they meet Deon Dimetrodon, who has never met a dinosaur or pterosaur before. Buddy and Tiny are amazed to learn that there are neither in the Permian (or earlier)! Deon marvels at our family’s features – especially Tiny and Mrs. Pteranodon’s wings. Deon shows our group around the hot and humid Permian, and he explains how his sail fin keeps him cool. Then Deon is delighted to experience the Mesozioc Era. He walks through the Pedestrian Time Tunnel with our group, and is blown away by the vegetation and the variety and size of dinosaurs. Another lifelong friendship is forged!

The family visits Troodon Town Roundhouse to see the Solar Train, which is powered by the sun.

Birds show off their feathers for birdwatching/drawing day.

The whole family plans a surprise birthday party for Mr. Conductor

The Pteranodon kids learn about clouds.

Dad and the kids search for the biggest frog ever -- the Beelzebufo

The Pteranodon family rides the "Night Train" all the way back to the Jurassic Period to visit their nocturnal friend, Vlad Volaticotherium, who tells them that he wants to take them caving! Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don don't even know what caving is, but they are soon having a great time seeing all the beautiful stalactites and stalagmites that have formed inside the cave.

Tiny tries to find a mammal in the Mesozoic who likes fish.

Don befriends a butterfly.

Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don have fun when their babysitter watches them for a night

The kids learn about sycamore trees while visiting their grandparents.

The Pteranodon kids are riding the Dinosaur Train with friend and fellow pterosaur, Quincy Queztalcoatlus. When they pass by a waterfall, Buddy comments on how big it is! Quincy’s dad mentions a giant waterfall at the edge of the Western Interior Sea. Mr. Conductor gives a lesson about waterfalls and then suggests a unique and amazing way to view the giant falls – from above! They can fly in the experimental Dinosaur Train Zeppelin…if Thurston Troodon will agree to take them all there on the zeppelin’s maiden voyage. Thurston does and our Pteranodon family gets to experience a spectacular zeppelin ride! The Queztalcoatluses fly alongside, impressing everyone with their flying abilities. After learning more about waterfalls, the Pteranodons catch lots of fish and dine before heading back to the Train via the one-of-a-kind Dinosaur Train Zeppelin!

When the Pteranodon family spots Annie and her T. rex herd migrating to follow the food, the Pteranodon kids wonder if other creatures, even marine mammals, also migrate. The Conductor flies the Pteranodon family over the ocean in the Dinosaur Train Zeppelin to look for Polycotylus, a type of marine reptile that does migrate in the ocean. After spotting a pod of migrating Polycotylus from the sky, the Zeppelin lands in an atoll and our family meets Paulette and Polly Polycotylus, a mother and daughter (from what is modern-day Australia.) Our Pteranodon kids, and Mom, Dad and the Conductor learn all about Polycotylus migration and the reptile features. Then the whole group of new friends enjoys a fish-picnic on the reef of the atoll before the Pteranodon clan heads back home in the zeppelin.

When the Pteranodon kids decide to draw some maps, Don’s map of one big land mass for “the whole Mesozoic” triggers a discussion on whether the Mesozoic is “one big place that’s all connected” or comprised of a bunch of smaller, interconnected land masses. On the Dinosaur Train, the Conductor explains that millions of years ago there actually was just one big land mass called “Pangaea”! Then, over a long period of time, it started to drift apart and form separate, smaller landmasses, or continents. Our family can’t believe it! The Conductor offers to take the Pteranodons up in the Zeppelin and through a Sky Time Tunnel, back to the time of Pangaea. At the Zeppelin Station, they meet up with Tricia Troodon, who helps pilot the Zeppelin on their journey. Once in the sky and through the time tunnel, our family is able to see Pangaea, the one giant landmass, just as it’s starting to break apart. Then the family travels forward in time and views the continents separating more as oceans and seas move in between the land. Looking down at how their coastline looks in the Cretaceous, Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don all agree that seeing Pangaea breaking apart is one of the coolest things they’ve ever seen!

As the Pteranodon kids are playing outside their nest, a few seedpods fall from a nearby tree, bonking Don on the head. This leads to a discussion about how far away things can fall from…maybe even from space?? Buddy hypothesizes that perhaps if a star came close enough, it could land on Earth! On the Dinosaur Train, the Conductor explains that things actually do fall from space. Big space rocks, called “asteroids”, sometimes land on Earth, and when they occasionally do, they make a biiiiig hole, called a crater. Don perks up at this—he’d love to see a crater! So the Conductor takes the Pteranodon Family up in the Zeppelin to see a giant crater from above! On the ground, they explore the crater and find fragments of “space rocks” from the former asteroid. As evening falls and our family flies back home, the Conductor and Mom and Dad surprise the kids with a picnic dinner on the Zeppelin—hurrah!