Some people get tired of the stress and anxiety involved in visiting the big theme parks, especially with children. If you're a little burned out from Orlando's excess, you don't have to go very far from Tampa to find a fun, educational attraction that's still small enough to let the kids run free.

Dinosaur World is located just outside of town on I-4 in Plant City. It features over 150 life-size models of various species of dinosaurs, from the really tiny to the Tyrannosaurus, arranged around a wooded natural trail.

A brachiosaurus in front of the new Prehistoric Museum — Photo courtesy of Dinosaur World

They recently opened a 12 acre expansion of the park that doubled the size of their property and added some great new features:

• Key in the expansion was the addition of a Prehistoric Museum that houses an animatronic dinosaur exhibit and hundreds of actual fossils. 
• A Fossil Dig lets guests dig for their own authentic fossils. As they say in the schoolyards, it's "finders keepers" if you find one.
• Two new playgrounds make sure the kids fall asleep on the way home from the park.
• They also added a 5,000 square foot gift shop and a new entrance to the park.

Dinosaur World always had a kitschy, roadside appeal, but simply wasn't big enough to take up more than an afternoon. With this expansion, it's quite easy to spend the day in an ancient world. Kids always leave the park in absolute awe.