Kids love dinosaurs. How else to explain the fact that 4-year-olds can tell us that diplodocus did not eat meat, that velociraptors did and that pterodactyl certainly flew.

One of the great things about kids loving dinosaurs is that it means they'll willingly enter museums, where they are likely to learn about all sorts of things, not just dinosaurs.

That's why it's troubling that the Carnegie Museum of Natural History decided to begin charging steeply higher admissions -- particularly $11 for children -- when its expanded dinosaur hall opens in November.

The museum's across-the-board $5 increase means adults will pay $15, and senior citizens and students over 18, $12. For children 3 through 18, the admission jumps from $6.

Post-Gazette reporter Tim McNulty says the new exhibit is spectacular, with the Carnegie's new three-story hall tripling in square feet and housing one of the world's largest dinosaur collections. It surely will be worth a visit.

But an 83 percent increase in the admission charge for children is too large, even if it is for a look at giants.

Museum officials say not all of the $36 million to pay for the renovation has been raised, and the new facilities at the Oakland landmark mean higher operating costs. They point to the cost of other local attractions, such as $19 at Kennywood for those shorter than 46 inches ($31 for taller children and adults). The Carnegie Science Center charges $10 for children 3 to 12 years old; the Children's Museum costs $8 for ages 2 to 18.

The museum's $11 charge may not appear out of line when compared with those entertaining venues, but other major museums charge less for children, although many of them have a cutoff at age 11 or 12 instead of the Carnegie's limit of 18 years. The American Museum of Natural History in New York City, one of the most expensive places in the world, charges $8.50 for children. At Chicago's Field Museum children pay $7 and at The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia the youth rate is $8.

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History also raised the rate for group tours. School group visits to the Carnegie Museum of Art, by contrast, will stay the same, as will the price of yearly memberships.

The 1899 unearthing of Diplodocus carnegii, named in honor of the steel titan who funded the discovery and excavation, gave birth to widespread fascination with dinosaurs. The treasured institution founded in Pittsburgh by Andrew Carnegie should not force its youngest patrons (or their parents or grandparents) to dig so deep into their wallets.