A dinosaur-themed event advertised for Tatton Park later this year hit a T-Rex sized problem when the park warned people not to buy tickets as the event was not taking place.
Tatton Park, owned by the National Trust but operated by Cheshire East Council, posted on social media: “We’re aware of promotions for ‘The Lost Kingdom,’ an outdoor family experience featuring life-like dinosaurs, due to take place 18th October – 2nd November at Tatton Park.
“Please note: this event is not taking place at Tatton Park and is not organised by us. We therefore recommend you do not purchase tickets for this event. If you have already booked tickets, please contact your ticket provider.”
The “Manchester Evening News” reported that while events had gone ahead in the other locations, including Glasgow and London, the Knutsford event was off.
Tatton Park said the event was never confirmed at the site.
In March the “Manchester Evening News” reported that “The Lost Kingdom” would be running at Tatton, promising the “biggest Jurassic event to hit Britain” featuring more than 50 animatronic beasts including an 18m tall T-Rex that roared and lashed its tail while hunting for prey.
Tatton Park told the “Evening News”: “Tatton Park was approached in March by ‘The Lost Kingdom’ event organiser for initial discussions regarding the prospective hosting of their event. Unfortunately, the necessary contractual requirements were not met by the organiser and the event was never confirmed.
“We became aware that the company involved was promoting the event on its website and selling tickets through a third-party ticket provider in early September. Following several attempts to contact the company, we received a response from the organiser on 11th September stating they would issue an official public statement and close down their event website. This has not happened, and we made the decision to release our advice yesterday on social media.”
Ticket seller Fever said: “At Fever, our priority is to provide enjoyable and reliable experiences for our customers. However for this event, we are only managing ticket sales and have not been involved in the production nor the execution of the experience.”
A notice on the website for “The Lost Kingdom” this week said: “As the arrangements for our event are still currently under review, we are suspending ticket sales on our Manchester event until further notice. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will issue an announcement regarding on the next steps as soon as possible.”
The website said the “The Lost Kingdom” was the UK’s “newest Jurassic themed event … the only one of its kind to showcase giant beasts from the Jurassic/Triassic era.”
It said each dinosaur had robotic moving body parts, which included heads moving, bodies breathing, arms and tails moving, eyes blinking and jaws opening wide with realistic roaring sound effects.
Social media reviews on the event were positive, though some complained about the price.
Of the Glasgow event, one post said: “We went here yesterday with my grandson aged four, we had a great adventure around the park, he soaked the information like a sponge and added his own learning from stories we had previously told. Great day, despite the rain.”
Another review (minimoo.life) on the London show said: “The website suggested the event would take 2-3 hours to visit and we took 1.5 hours – 20 minutes of which was queuing for a ride. We took it at a fairly leisurely pace so I really can’t see how anyone could take 2-3 hours.
“Two of the information plaques next to the dinosaurs were missing, and one was printed entirely in Dutch with no English, which was a bit odd.” “I’m not sure it was quite worth the £44.50 it cost the three of us (including a £3 ride). It was quite interesting but I think probably more impressive if you haven’t seen dinosaurs on this scale before. It was still an interesting experience and a nice way to spend an hour or so.”
(Photo: The Lost Kingdom).
