Our Dynamic Earth

Our Dynamic Earth is spectacular. And I mean that in the literal sense that it is a spectacle, rather ‘really, really good’. If you’re under 10, both of those are probably true, but older visitors will probably feel in places that it’s a little bit of a wasted opportunity.
Good things first: it’s obviously been tremendously well resourced. Divided into discrete rooms, every space in Our Dynamic Earth is a lavishly produced multi-​media extravaganza, from the moment you step into wobbly-​floor ‘time machine’ to the moment you leave.
It also doesn’t seem to suffer from Millennium Dome Syndrome (too much cash + too many cooks + lack of clear vision) — the whole thing is totally consistent and very creatively executed. My 5yo spent the entire visit with his mouth open, full of questions and really enjoying the interactive elements.
But here, I suppose, is my one reservation — although I wouldn’t say it was *shallow*, the actual content sometimes doesn’t justify the presentation. In several rooms (the 3D theatre for example, or the section about water erosion) the science is shunted off to the side like an embarrassing necessity.
For each room like this though, there are another four where information and presentation gel perfectly, and my son really learned a lot from the experience. We’ve been back again since and I’d thoroughly recommend it.

Surprisingly good! We went on a free day, so it was swarmed with some of the world’s worst-​behaved children, but we still enjoyed it. It’s quite involved and managed. You are taken from room to room to explore displays and view films that explain things to you. Finally, you get to explore some galleries on your own and you get to see a planetarium type of film in the dome. While all of this is very good and educational, — cool special effects including smells, temperature changes, earthquake simulations — it’s also kind of dark and not terribly stroller friendly when it’s crowded. The lifts are small and only hold two prams at once, so if that’s a factor, come on a quieter day, midweek or opt for a child carrier. Good soft play downstairs and nice café. Worth a visit but best for kids over 4.

I have to remember that this place is clearly meant to cater to families. As a major science geek, unfortunately Dynamic Earth was just a bit too watered down for my tastes.
However, the exhibits would no doubt capture the imagination of rugrats and hopefully instil a wonder of science for their future. Of which I can only give the thumbs up gesture to.
Feels a bit tired now — could maybe use a bit of a cash injection to give it a bit more sparkle.
Still, I don’t think I am really who they are looking to capture. I bet it’s a great family day out :) I just wanted more rocks under glass, haha!

Very impressive special effects, clever, imaginative and funny displays, nice staff, and not a lot of scientific content. It would be a great place for a kid, or someone who just likes special effects (a 3-​D movie, a room with a shaking floor that simulates earthquakes, a dome theater), but the science is painted with a rather broad brush. As an example, and as an earlier reviewer pointed out, the explanation of how we figured out that the Earth isn’t the center of the universe completely leaves out Copernicus, and suggests that it was Galileo’s invention of the telescope that provided the aha! moment. And why do movie-​makers have to accompany explosions in airless space (in this case, the Big Bang) with loud booming noises? And for that matter, the Big Bang wasn’t an explosion in space; it was the very creation of space, so they got that part wrong, too. And it would have been so much more interesting if they had gotten that sort of thing right, because astronomy and earth science and biology can all be fascinating. But would I bring the kiddies here? Absolutely.

Having just arrived back from trip to Iceland, I was having complete withdrawal from chat about volcanoes and glaciers! So with an extra day off, and no plans, I decided to be an ‘at home’ tourist for the afternoon and pay Dynamic Earth a visit. It’s been a really long time since I was last here, but as I gleefully skipped towards the foot of Arthur’s Seat I was very much looking forward to this next visit!
It cost £11.50 to get in (£7.50 for kids) and I thought this was pretty reasonable (although given I’d just paid £150 to have personal tour of a volcano, glaciers & geysirs… this was remarkably cheap!). The staff were chirpy, friendly and looked after me well!
Dynamic Earth is very well structured, starting with a trip ‘back in time’ to the Big Bang, and working it’s way through the formation of Earth, Ice Age, tropical rain forests and dinosaurs, to modern times and space travel! It’s extremely visual, packed with loads of interactive features and has lots of things to play with!
Now, I’ve always wanted to be a like a kid alone in a toy store, and the fact I’d went into Dynamic Earth quite late in the afternoon meant I got the chance to do just that! I had the ENTIRE place to myself… and I made very good use of it! No crowds, no screaming children and the tour guides all to myself!
Well…I pushed buttons, touched things I maybe shouldn’t have, jumped up and down and generated a fake earthquake, cuddled a glacier (made of actual ice, I wasn’t tempted to lick it though!), prodded a fake lava flow, got an entire 3D cinema to myself («just pick a seat» requested the bemused tour guide, who still had to go through his scripted speech even though it was just me!), got to spend AGES at each exhibit, rather than having to move on because it’s busy and other people want to play with things, and generally just had a ball!
The tour concludes with a film in the domed cinema (which is sort of like a planetarium. You get to laze back on comfy reclining chairs and watch the film overhead!). It was a new film called ‘Are We Alone?’ and focused on the search for life in space. It was a lovely animated film, topical (there was a nice explanation of how they landed the Curiosity Rover on Mars), and was narrated by Ron Weasley from Harry Potter!
When the film was done, the tour was over and we were guided into the gift shop. It was a great shop, although I resisted the urge to buy a Dynamic Earth pencil and eraser!
All in all, I had an absolute blast in Dynamic Earth and it was a great way to use an afternoon off! Although it may not be as interesting for younger kids, there was a really fun looking soft-​play area. I resisted going in to play though… I’ll save that for my next visit!

not that expensive depending on what you want to buy. loved the idea of being able to take away a little piece of memorabilia of dynamic earth. a great way to end an amazing day

This place must of had an upgrade since the time before last I went there. Now you go in a room to watch a film wearing 3d glasses and more. The best yet. I walked out of the gift shop stating to the security guard I enjoyed it so much they should expect me back anytime soon.

A real let down after all the hype about it.
Nothing particuarly special and i have seen as good in pretty much any museums science corners.
The building is also rather vile/​blatent in sticking out in its surroundings.

As a sucker to all things in connection to the Beautiful Sciences of Earth and Space, I must admit Dynamic Earth is a dream land for me.
I cannot fault this place at all. It is filled with knowledge for both kids and adults alike. You are taken on a journey from the Big Bang to the shaping of the Earth and at no point during this journey are you at all bored, unless this stuff doesn’t interest you at all, in which case why did you go?
I feel this place just gets everything right. Instead of having you wander around aimlessly to begin with your left to watch a series of documentary like movies based on some of the main events which have shaped our world. These movies, narrated by John Hannah (the mummy) are the perfect introduction into the Dynamic Earth scene and do fantastically well to keep the guest interested. Then to end the day with a Bang we finish off with the beautifully done ‘We Are Astronomers’, an inspiring short film telling the story of the incredible progression of Astronomy today and how we are all joining together to delve deep into unraveling the answers to some of life’s biggest questions about the Universe and the beginning of, well everything really.
Well thats the exhibits done, now lets focus on the other little things that make a big difference. The staff were amazing. I didn’t feel they felt forced to give 5 star service, I felt they just genuinely wanted to. The gift shop had all you could expect, magnets, mugs, postcards, books, cuddly toys, selection of sweets, stationary, and all those little silly science type toys kids would love to waste there money on. I spent £30, I was happy with that.
In the café they had a great choice of food and I enjoyed my chosen meal. The staff were not overworked and everything flowed very well.
Would I go back again?
I ALREADY DID!!!

Haters gonna hate. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed Dynamic E!
Visited a few days ago (in January), so had the place pretty much to ourselves. In our visit there we travelled back in time, stood in a volcano, strolled through the Ice Age (it was a walk in the park), stuck our tongue out at a big olé (plastic) lizard in the rainforest, watched a 4D movie and moved one step closer to the stars.
It’s cheesy but good, suitable for kids of all ages, well paced, entertaining enough for wee yins but with enough info posted around to keep from patronising the oldies. I’ve got to say though, the experience was heightened by the awesome, friendly bunch of staff. Their information tripped off the tongue, they were approachable and engaging. They weren’t too full on as you sometimes get in these places. I got the impression their opinion really mattered, so rather than seem like they’re complying to a glossy gimmick their personalities shone through when delivering shows. Their chat was definitely spontaneous, so we learned more as a result. And I do love to learn!
Aside from the staff, my highlight was David Tennant’s narration of the cataclysmic tale of the universe. The movie was touching and inspiring, not to mention easy to understand.
I didn’t make it past the gift shop alive — they’ve got GEMSTONES. I ended up buying myself a bloody cuddly parrot as well. How old am I? Never too old for Dynamic Earth! Gies a job!

Poor old Dynamic Earth, I really can’t understand why there are so many bad reviews about it! The first time I visited this place was on a Primary 7 class trip when it first opened. That was a while back now but I absolutely loved it, especially the earthquake, the huge ice berg and the rainforest. After all this time, it’s still been a place that’s always stood out in my memory and it was definitely one of my favourite trips ever. I was a little shocked then, to find so many low star reviews about it when I looked it up on Unilocal.Perhaps it had changed since the last time I was there? So I decided to give it another visit to see what’s gone awry.
After my second visit to Our Dynamic Earth a few weeks ago, I’m still confused as to why it has so many bad reviews. It’s still awesome! Okay, it was better when I was younger but it is designed for children so you can’t really fault it just because you’ve grown up and have lost most of your imagination and childhood spirit.
Rather than just strolling around at your own pace, it’s designed as a tour where you are transported back to the beginning of time. You are then taken all over the world to experience all the different climates, the ice-​berg is still my favourite. You even get to go on a plane, well, a 3D cinema with a flight film. In fact, I think it might be 4D as there’s even snow, wind and heat too. Very cool.
Definitely one for the kids, but if you still have any imagination at all then this place is great and even if you’re too grown up for the tour, the planetarium at the end is beautiful so there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

I came here recently for a conference. I always knew Dynamic Earth was used as a venue but never got to experience it. And it makes for a stunning corporate venue.
There are many rooms to make use of, for workshops and presentations. They have a great system for lunch, there was about 200 people at the event yet there were no queues and the layout was brilliant. The food was really good too — I was expecting something totally drab and unexciting. As it was a sunny day, we got to use the outdoor patios for our coffee, it was lovely!
I was told that you can get married here too. I would turn my nose up at that prospect, but now that I’ve seen what else it has to offer, I would consider it.

I dont know what people have against this place!
Dynamic Earth is childishly fun but in a good way, educational and fasinating. From the moment I stepped in that ‘Time Machine’, I was enjoying myself. Our Dynamic Earth follows the earths history from its creation (where you observe the big bang in a space ship, hence the time machine) through the volcanic periods, the ice ages and the creation of the earth as we know it today. Yes, the acting is a bit hammy, and the anamatronics are a little dated — but the fun is there, and it really is interesting too. As for the ‘ice cube’ — it is actually more like and ice burg, kept in a room at a constant temperature just below freezing. There was also an unbelievable 360 degree, 3D tour of the universe called ‘We Can All Be Astronomers’ with David Tennant doing the voice over which was mind blowing and more than a bit trippy.
Yes, this place may be expensive, but who says you need to eat at the café? You’re slap bang in the middle of a city — go out and do something else!
For me, and many ithers — this was a great day out.

The worst, most boring overpriced place on Earth. I have never been anywhere I have like disliked as much as here (and I was briefly wrongly arrested. it’s worse than jail).
It’s somewhere that’s supposed to teach children the wonders of the natural world around us. This is done by having a 2metre square ice cube in the middle of a tent.
Can’t even hang around in the café because if you want a carton of juice it’ll cost you 6 and half thousand pound for the pleasure. Too far out the way to wonder down to, pointless when you get there, no parking, big ques.
Rubbish.

I went there a year ago supervising a group of teenage students who seemed completely enchanted by the shop. It looked like this was the best part of their trip around the Dynamic Earth museum, although a couple of them stayed religiously in the rain-​forest section and waited to see and take a photo of the rain. I liked part of the exhibition, especially the elevator of time and the telescope show. But the shop itself I found a bit poor for the history of the Earth, it resembled closely a souvenir shop from the tourist district in the city. A much richer choice, for instance, one can find in the Camera Obscura shop.

The most exciting part our child had while visiting this exhibition was the train ride there when a train was passing in the opposite direction.
I’ve not been to a single science exhibit of this stature in the UK or the US that fails to capture the imagination quite like this one does. Not only are their typos on their displaysbut they can’t even locate Yellowstone park correctly on their earthquake map for Yogi’s sake.
It’s not just the small things the mismatching of the video screens, particularly in the polar section, is really off-​putting and maybe they want you to sit in case you get motion sickness and fall over?
It’s dull, I don’t mean the topic but the whole experience, which is in fairly low light, with loads of text to read to the young ones it’s very much a lesson in reading.
Loads of text without a lot of contrast.E.G, The ocean section has sheets that undulate the text back and forward and unless you are right at the bar it’s pretty hard to pick up.
Food is basic and well it’s edible so let’s leave it at that .Here we have yet another ecologically aware science exhibit that sells utter crap in the gift shop for the most part. It would be nice if they could practice the kind of restraint the walls urge the visitors to do.
It’s not all bad the 360 theater is pretty impressive but a really basic movie was showing on the day we went. I.E., what’s an astronomer? The movie overstates Galileo a bit and left Copernicus out entirely, that’s nice but it’s indicative of the cursory geology, astronomy, biology et all within the exhibit that tries to fit too much into a small space and everything suffers from it. I think kids over 7 will start to get more out of it but it’s light for things to do below that age.

I have visited Our Dynamic Earth once and will never go back.
I found it extremely dissapointing after all the hype. There is a lot of information written all over the walls and we seemed to spend at least half our visit reading aloud to our youngsters. It was fine for a while but soon became tedious.
The exhibits themselves are interesting enough but there were very few interactive displays so the kids soon got bored.
I found the whole place expensive, from the entrance fees to the gift shop and food.
I seriously would advise friends of mine to give it a miss — it’s pretty dire.
Over hyped, Over inflated and Over priced.

As a main city attraction, i think this is a bit pricey. It is very similar to attractions you would find in the EPCOT park in Floridas disney World. It is pretty interesting and it is easy to spend longer than expected in some of the areas.
The iceberg and the rain forest are particularly well done and it is too easy to fall asleep while lying down watching the stars

I visited Dynamic earth as a college trip. I was pretty impressed. There was lots to do and see and you wander around. very educational but in a fun way.
I liked the huge block of ice that represented an ice berg and the area where you lie on the floor under a huge starry dome and watch film clips on global warming.
Alhtough aimed at kids it is interesting for adults too.
worth a visit.

Visiting Dynamic Earth is quite literally like stepping in to a time machine. Each section of the museum is a fascinating hands-​on journey through time, revealing the complexities and diversity that is our planet. The immensity of the Big Bang is brought closer to home with shaking floors and lifelike volcanic eruptions, while the polar extremes are brought to our doorstep with a real iceberg. A portion of a tropical rainforest is created with accurate proportions and is brought to life with convincing models of mammals that blink and move when the rain falls on the trees and plants. All of this activity and movement is laced with informative voice-​overs that invite you to explore and journey with them through the ages.
Given that there is so much to see, do and experience, walking through the whole of Dynamic Earth can easily take up to three or four hours as this is something that you certainly do not want to rush. The super-​friendly and enthusiastic staff are always on hand to answer any questions.