Excellent park

We visited the Park on Easter Sunday, as it was the only decent day weather wise for a bank holiday weekend and they had recently opened the Dinosaur area, so we were intrigued.
We arrived just after opening (9.30) and there was plenty of parking and no queues to get in, which is always a good start, although there's plenty of parking so I doubt this is an issue. The prices aren't much different to the likes of Whipsnade or Woburn and it is a lot smaller, but has a surprisingly good selection of animals and things to do and has the added bonus of not having to walk to the moon and back with two kids (5 & 18 months) and the various paraphanalia that comes with them, to see something they were excited about but now just need the toilet which is back where you have just come from, so I think the size of the Park is perfect.

First up you'll hit the Dinosaur area. Now I'll be honest I was expecting some tacky fibreglass models with an annoying loop tape of ripped off Jurassic Park theme tunes playing everywhere, but I was pleasantly surprised; the models were fantastic!! They are all anamatronic models with moving limbs, heads, mouths, replicated breathing, even eyelids and eyes were moving and they had some fairly decent sound effects for each with a info plaque near each model. The kids loved them and so did we, so much so we ended up going round again later on in the day.

As for the rest of the Park, it's brilliant for such a small site. The enclosures for the animals are not huge, but substantial and best of all you can get pretty close to most of them (safely) and get some really decent pictures which is normally lacking in the bigger Zoo's. There is also a good selection of animals to see which again surprised me.
I am absolutely no expert on how to care for a wild animal like some people claim to be on here, but from what we saw the animals seemed well looked after and were obviously fed and whilst the enclosures were not huge they are obviously big enough or the Zoo wouldn't exist. As for 'enrichment' that everyone seems to be banging on about, you don't see a lion on a David Attenborough show playing with a multicoloured plastic ball in the middle of the Savannah, so why should they play with one in an enclosure.... sort your lives out.

A couple of the sections were closed on the day (nocturnal and part of Big Cat being developed) but these were due to expansion or improvement and were noted on the website and made no difference to the enjoyment of our day in fact it was good to see the Park is developing.

Best part about this park is that, even though there were a lot of people there, you weren't fighting to see the animals and having to elbow people out of the way so the kids could get a glimpse of something; one of the things I despise in the other places.

Food.... As is always the case with any attraction like this, the food is normally extortionate and terrible.... in this case the pricing wasn't horrendous although still a bit on the pricy side, but it was actually pretty good. The kids and the Mrs had burger, chips and beans, which were very nice , for around £7 which included a drink and I had a jacket potato with salad,m pulled pork, bacon and cheese which was £7.90 again, including a drink.... and this was really well cooked and not like eating a cricket ball like I expected. My advice would be , if you are going to the main eating hall near the entrance, get there around 11.30 or earlief if you want to eat inside or just eat outside if it's nice, as it gets rammed really quickly and nobody wants screaming hungry kids who can't sit down anywhere, whilst listening to a cacophany of other people's screaming kids in a packed food hall that's getting warmer by the second......... alternatively bring a packed lunch, it'll save you some money and there's plenty of benches about, but the food there is good.

There is also a shed load of things to do for the kids if/When they get bored, in the big play area just Inside the entrance, there's also a mini golf area, fire engines to sit in, slides, swings etc, etc plenty to keep them entertained anyway.

The only small gripe I had was some of the staff could be a little bit more enthusiastic and show a bit more urgency when doing things and have a bit more of a rapport with the paying punters. A lot of the time waiting in food/drinks queues was either due to lack of staff or lack of competent staff, but this is a very small blot on an otherwise brilliant day.

Would definitely recommend this to anyone with a young family who wants the Zoo experience, but not the marathon that goes with it and has something a little different to the rest.

Perfect place to bring kids, the stench of camel's can get intense but other than that definitely would go again

Great place for the family

Actually should go if you have some more time to go around near by

Good day out, kept kids entertained but food took a while.

It was so fun. You must go there. SOOOOOOOOO many animals

Brought our girlguiding brownie unit here. We had a great time. Lovely staff. Good venue.

perfect day plenty to entertain the children and adults

Brilliant place to visit, lofs to see and loads to do. The dinosaur section was amazing.

A great day out with a good selection of large cats, a little pricey when compared in size to some of the larger zoo's but still a great place.

We took our daughter to feed a sloth. She had a fantastic time and all the staff were great

Great for kids of all ages

Excellent value for money,lots of animals of various sizes,the lion is moody but great to watch him food is reasonably priced great for children and adults alike

Cons: the tickets are on the pricier side, particularly in the off season when some of the attractions are closed and food outlets and experiences are limited.

Pros: a really good family day out for all ages. Loads to see and extremely well staffed - clearly safety was top priority. Everything was well tended and spread out with plenty of rest and play areas to keep the kids busy without being too crowded. Food and drink was reasonably priced and good quality for an attraction of this size. The new dinosaur world was impressive and a must see for little dinosaur enthusiasts. Presenting staff were on top form despite smaller crowds on a cold day - kudos to the pair on the safari stage who danced to an audience of 5 people with the same gusto as a crowd of a 100. Parking was free and plentiful, though not sure how that stands up during school holidays. The staffed crossing joining the two areas is genius and we even got a friendly wave goodbye on our departure.

Definitely on the list for many repeat visits!

The new dinosaur experience is amazing!

My partner and I thoroughly enjoyed our day out, despite the bad weather. The park was easy to get around and the variety of animals was amazing. We would love to go again and plan to in the future. Would be an amazing day for families, especially with children, as there is also a funfair section and many interactive sections.

Excellent variety of wildlife that were housed in what look like very good conditions. Excellent complimentary dance show.

Playgrounds are amazing :) ♥ my lo in love with tapirs

Good fun for children

A lovely event with lots of nice activities. The animals were particularly friendly

Great place to visit

I visited with my husband and daughter (18m) we all thoroughly enjoyed our day.
The park is easy to navigate and there was plenty of room for our daughter to wander around safely.
The animals seemed really well looked after and clean, the viewing areas were well thought out and gave was access to see the animals.
The food wasn’t great but not the worst I’ve had. Next time we’ll probably take a picnic as there were nice areas to be able to dine.

A great family day out that I would highly recommend.

This Wildlife Park exceeded my expectations. We had a lovely day out! It is very much geared towards families with young children. So, if you have older children, you may be more suited to a much larger facility like Colchester Zoo. Paradise WP has many safe areas for young children to run about. There are plant of picnic areas so it would make a perfect day out in the warmer weather. As well as animals there are plenty of playgrounds and play areas. It is also very interactive so make sure the little ones have animal feed for the lovely farmyard creatures. There is a good cafe, with an indoor play area, and plenty of places to get drinks and snacks. I would highly recommend taking a picnic and letting the children amuse themselves. Wonderful place!

Overcrowded