Owning a pet pterodactyl is considered to be both a completely rewarding experience and fundamentally impossible. Attempt to outsmart extinction with admission to Dinosaur World in Glen Rose. Based on the explorers' ages, purchase up to 12 of the following Groupons:

• $4 ticket for children ages 3–12 (a $9.75 value)
• $6 ticket for adults ages 13 and up (a $12.75 value)

Dinosaur World creates heart-thumping exhibits with more than 100 life-sized beasts. Interwoven with tree-lined paths, these looming mammoths stand conveniently still for photographic moments, and each provides a new nugget of prehistoric knowledge. If seeing is believing, then feeling is beyond reality itself at the fossil dig site, where future paleontologists dig and potentially take home authentic fossils such as dino bone fragments, shark teeth, fax machines, and more. For anyone older than 12 or younger than three who wants to dig, the price is $2 extra. Dinosaur World also hosts a massive full-scale boneyard, where curious children can collectively dust the shoulders of a once-fierce creature grown tame since its extinction.

In between devourings of knowledge, take a break for a picnic on-site, or test the evolutionary endurance of any active toddler on the children's playground. With a wide range of dinosaurs to see and a wide selection of contemporary prehistoric toys available in the gift shop, Dinosaur World is a rare opportunity for families to study the Earth's past without experiencing the terror of time travel. Leashed pets are welcome at Dinosaur World for no additional fees.

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Texas's Dinosaur World was featured in AirTran magazine as one of 50 Places Every Kid Should See and on KDFW-TV.