Social story for Victoria the T. rex exhibition

Museum Foyer and ticketing desk

I am going to visit Victoria the T. rex at Melbourne Museum. I will need to buy a ticket

for this exhibition, which will be for a specific date and time. 

I might have already bought our ticket online, which will have a time and date that we will
visit. I can buy a ticket online here.

Or I might need to line up and buy a ticket when we get to Melbourne Museum.

Going down the escalators

I will go down the escalator, under the picture of the T. rex skeleton to get to the entrance of the exhibition.

I can also use the lift if I need to. To find the lift, I walk past the gift shop, and past
the toilets.

Entering the exhibition

I will need to wait at the entrance to show a staff member my ticket to get into the
exhibition. I will need to check my ticket time to make sure that I am in the queue at the right
time.

It might be busy in the queue, as lots of people want to see a real T. rex.

Entrance of the exhibition

When I enter, it will be a bit dark, as the lights are dimmed. I will see a large screen, with a
short video about Victoria the T. rex.

There are some images of T. rex dinosaurs fighting, and some images of baby dinosaurs hatching. I don’t have to stay and watch the whole thing if I don’t want to.

Sensory supports

Parts of the exhibitions might be noisy, because of other people or because of the screens.

I might like to wear some headphones or earmuffs if I think this will help me. I might also like to bring some fidgets.

Victoria's skull

When I visit Victoria the T. rex, the first part of her skeleton I will see is her skull. The real skull
is on display in a cabinet and not connected to the rest of her body. The fossil skull is very fragile and needs to be kept inside this case to protect it.

The skull on the skeleton is an exact replica of this real fossilised skull, so the skeleton of T. rex will have a skull on it.

Exhibition interactives

There are lots of interactives to explore in the exhibition.

Some of them involve smelling things. I don’t have to do this if I don’t want to. 

I might have to wait to have a turn of some of the interactives.

Plant room

Before I see the full skeleton of Victoria the T. rex I will need to walk through a dark room with plants and screens showing videos of dinosaurs with lots of noises.

There are no living animals or plants in this room. Nothing will jump out at anyone.

Entering the T. rex room

Next, I will see the real fossil skeleton of the T. rex. The skeleton is mounted on a very strong metal frame and cannot move or fall. I can walk around the whole skeleton and look at every fossilised bone.

There are digital information screens I can touch to find out more information. I may have to wait to have a turn to use the screen.

Leaving through the gift shop

When I leave the exhibition, I will need to leave through the gift shop.

Sometimes we buy things in gift shops and sometimes we don’t.

Thank you for visiting Victoria the T. rex at Melbourne Museum.