My wife and I booked "shadow a big cat keeper " experience and it was by far a lot better than expected.
We was greeted by our keeper Hannah when we first arrived.
She took us through the day by day of being a big cat keeper and informed us of what we would be doing during the experience.
We met all the big cats and even got to clean the enclosure' s, prepare their food and then to feed them! The whole experience was out of this world and literally breath taking. Hannah was amazing throughout, so much knowledge and was able to answer any questions that we had. We couldn't fault one thing about paradise wildlife park, there is plenty for children to do and see, and lots of different places to eat. We are looking forward to returning with family and have another great day out. Thanks to everyone at paradise and especially to our keeper Hannah. Keep up the great work.

Amazing

If you and your kids love animals then Paradise Wildlife Park is the place to visit.
Loads of animals to see and other attractions for the kids to enjoy, from outside slides to a train ride. Ample parking and the staff are young and enthusiastic.

Excellent park, great fun had by all especially in the lagoon.

We visited today and had a truly marvellous time......x The park was clean and had a lovely calm feel about it....was a very relaxing place to be x The Big Bug Bonanza & Animal Antics shows were done with great enthusiasm and were very entertaining x There are plenty of themed play areas for children of all ages, lots of clean well priced food & drink kiosks and the toilets were clean and well spaced throughout the park x There were so many different animals to see and the enclosures were clean & tidy and there were plenty of talks and feeds to attend x Great day had by us all......I highly recommend a visit :) x

This is a really fabulous wildlife park. Some great animals (I loved feeding the emus!), an aerial walk so that you get a better look at all the lazy cats, great play areas for the kids, really well maintained, goat feeding, little monkeys that are friendly... the list of stuff here goes on.<br><br>In general though, these places are getting a bit expensive for my liking - £70 for a family (summer 2017). But with Tesco vouchers the day suddenly becomes a bargain.

Brought my children here years ago and it's changed loads now for the better. Lots to see and do, all the great animals, soft play area, outdoor play area and places to eat and outdoor entertainer. Only downside is the food , not great and mine was cold .

We travelled 2 hours to get there and were hoping it was going to worth the drive.
It certainly was, right from the entry where staff were friendly and helpful.
There has obviously been lots of new improvements to the park with the Bat house currently being rebuild.
Our first animal experience was the beautiful white tiger, my 3 year old daughter was transfixed by a tiger of a different colour.Then on to the characterful camels and zebras. We were thrilled by the reptile house and the amazon adventure where we saw the biggest snake I have ever seen in my life.
Our highlight of our day was the bird show (although it took us a while too negotiate the map to find the arena, it's tucked away) This is a beautiful quiet part of the park which is the perfect place to have a picnic especially if you have a child with a sensory disorder. The talk was informative and entertaining with the staff taking the time to chat and answer questions afterwards.
At the end of the day we played at Pirates Cove, our children loved the ship and played happily with all the children there then we had an added surprise as Moana and Repunzel came to visit and even stopped for a photo. (Not sure if these wonderful ladies were park staff or hired in entertainers however they were amazing).
We arrived at 12:30 and left at closing (when we witnessed clean up which was efficient and thorough, all tables washed down and litter disappeared like magic)
There are just a few suggestions we would like to make:
More disabled and baby changing toilets are needed preferably as separate cubicles as at the mixed cubicles there was queues, a few extra pull down changers may fix this.
We parked in the over flow car park which meant crossing a very busy fast road, although there are warning signs for motorists (children crossing) it needs a crossing or foot bridge and staggered railings at the park exit to prevent children rushing to the road edge.
The tractor rides need the "stop" put on the map, we didn't find the small A frame until it had stopped.
Although the map has small print stating that some attractions occur charges, we didn't expect to have to pay for the train ( especially as entry for our family of 5 was £86) I know it's only £1 per person however that's an extra £5. We only planned to pay entry and took a picnic so had no cash, this was hard to explain to a child with ASD.
The gift shop was not restocked so was empty of most stock at the end of the day, I only let my children buy an item that is place branded and all your park branding stock was over priced (£3.50 for a pencil sharpener, £7.50 for small hanging monkey wearing a branded t-shirt) so we didn't buy a souvenir. A small assembled gift bag containing branded pencil, small jotter, eraser and sharpener in a nice little bag would have been great to write about our day on the way home maybe branded as a Paradise Park Ranger Journal.
Ice creams were also over priced at £2.30 for a fab/knobbly bobbly.
However we hope to return next summer as a planned trip as part of a holiday in the area rather then travelling from home.
Thank you for a wonderful day.

Good place for children and big cat lovers

Purchased a rainforest and sloth experience for my boyfriends birthday so turned up early to take advantage of the free entry to the park that came alongside it. The park is really lovely, would be fantastic if visiting with kids with SO MANY things to do. I haven't been to a zoo with so many varied children's activities. Big cat enclosures were fantastic and TONS of free talks and feeding demonstrations throughout the day. Our rainforest experience was expensive but the zookeeper was very knowledgable and the experience was great fun so I was pleased with the value. We ate in the diner part of the park and the food was nice if a little expensive (as you would expect).
Also worth noting - lots of places you eat picnics, you can exit and re-enter as many times as you like in the day if you want to get stuff from your car as long as you get a stamp,

We really enjoyed our day here, there is so much for the kids to do including indoor softplay, various outdoor playgrounds, splash pool, nature walks and talks and of course, the best part, the animals.

Great fun for young children. Lots of stuff to climb on. Oh and there is a zoo. Pull off into Paradise

Really lovely cost effective day out for the whole family. We got there early around 9.30 am a good time to go as by 12 lunch time it's packed out! The animals vary from farm yard to tropical & rare, the foods ok, not a lot of choice for meals but good choice of snacks & drinks. The train ride is fun and short very jungle like great for the kids! A couple of outside parks, park games & stalls. They also have an indoor soft play and cafe on the exit of the park. Handy to ware the kids out just that little bit more before the drive home and the chance for the parents to grab a bru, coffee or take a rest before your Journey home.<br><br>Very good range and variety of animals.<br>Decent 'petting' area<br>Lots of parking, toilet, shop facilities etc<br>Safe kids indoor and outdoor parks<br>It's got a good clean environment park and enclosures<br><br>All rounder, it's a real good day out!

Great for the kids, lots to do and see. Nice day out.

We had the most amazing experience of shadowing a big cat keeper yesterday. Shirley was fantastic and extremely passionate about the animals and her knowledge was outstanding. We both were involved in cleaning the animals, preparing their food and then feeding them by hand through the fence. A terrifying thought initially, but with Shirley's expert guidance it was an experience we will never forget. Everything behind the scenes is so well organised and the care, attention and passion showed to the animals was immense by every single person we came across. Whilst observing the white lions we were privileged to have Moto, the big male lion display his almighty roar. It was so intense it made your chest vibrate. The experience from start to finish was absolutely outstanding, a day we will never forget. After the experience we had lunch in cafe and then finished off our day with a walk around the park. A truly memorable day spent with Shirley the outstanding cat keeper and the most amazing animals.

Purchased tickets through Virgin days out for cheaper than at the door. Lots to do, great day out for the family. At the Zoo itself you can feed the farm yard, sheep's, goats, rabbits etc for £1 per feeding bag. There's plenty of animals to see from tigers to monkey's. Even a free tractor ride to take you round the zoo.<br>Also opposite the zoo is an adventure playground for the kids and a soft play area. Again plenty of fun for the kids. The restaurant is a bit pricey but it always is at this type of establishment. All in all a good day out. Would definitely recommend.

I thought the park was lovely, such a great variety of animals and the staff clearly love looking after the animals and full of enthusiasm about what they do which is lovely to see. Loved seeing the big cats, although thought the lion enclosure was quite small. Particularly liked the cafe overlooking the tigers!

A suprise Birthday treat from my wife took me to Paradise Wildlife Park. Quite busy as you can imagine and really geared up for families with a lot to do for Children. For adults the Zoo can feel small but families can spend the whole day there and have a great time. We found the staff to be excellent, We ate in the resturant and both chose the Egg and Tuna salad, at £6 each we did not expect much. To our real suprise it was top draw food. An excellent meal (which was not all lettuce leaf as you get in most places) and truly filling, well done guys! My real suprise was my wife booking me the oppurtunity to hand feed a full grown White Tiger. This was always the top of my bucket list, a fantastic experience, truly of a lifetime. That cost £99, however a true one off. There are other less expensive oppurtunityies such as Meerkat feeding etc. My guide Ian who trained me on the correct methos was full of knowledge which he clearly enjoyed sharing, thank you Ian. My treat gave the other visitors the oppurtunity to see the Tiger at close quaters. We will go back again. But for families with children, pack swimming trunks for the paddling pool and have a great day out!

Fantastic place for the family and kids. Highly recommended and value for money compared to London zoo. Much more activities for the kids.

Lots to do for the children.

5 adults (17 - 50 years) 5 kids (1- 7 years). I think it's a little expensive but we had used Tesco Clubcard vouchers so much cheaper and there are some deals online if you buy in advance. Food and drink is expensive here but we took a picnic so spent very little except for icecream for the kids, £1 bags of food to feed the animals and £1 each to go on the train ride which was a little dissapointing as I would have expected this to he free. Lots of animals to see and you can get quite close to most. Lots of sky walkways which all have slope access so wheelchair users can get up there too. The slopes are very steep in places though. Penguin feeding time gave some of the kids the chance to throw them some fish so worth a look. Bird show was one owl, 3 love birds and a kestrel. Ok if that's your thing. Lots of parks for the kids to burn off some energy and lots of nice picnic areas. The new water park lagoon was quite dissapointing as it's nothing more than a paddling pool with a slide in it. Think they could have made much more of this area and don't know why they decided to make it so small. A nice surprise and a hidden gem was the National Speedway Museum. We had no idea it was there and just accidentally found it. Great collection of bikes and memorabilia. Anyway, all in all a nice day out with the family. Would go again. We only live a half hour drive away so it's local to us. I'd probably drive up to an hour to get there but much more over that I'd probably opt for one of the bigger places like Colchester Zoo maybe.

This is a park mainly aimed at families with young children. We went as we were staying that way overnight. We had a great day out. There is area that could do with a bit of updating which from what we could see is happening in certain areas. All in all we had an enjoyable day.

Booked with Picniq tickets and got 21% off, for 1 adult and 2 kids it cost £40 where if you pay at the gate it would set you back over £50.

zoo:
firstly took the kids aged 11 and 6 to the zoo side, they were a bit disappointed as half the animals were hiding or not in their enclosures, was amazing to see the big cats although my heart broke for the white tiger who looked somewhat depressed and was walking round in circles, (if he never had a mate he should have one).

Food:
being school holidays i would advise to take a picnic, we queued for near on an hr to be served food i would not feed to my dog. also very overpriced. (£2.30 for an ice lolly)

Park:
not much for the 11 year old to do although the 6 year old loved it, swings, lego pit, sand pit, paddling pool, climbing frames etc. although the balloon man train and go-carts were all additional charges, you are easily looking at £100 for a day out even though we did the lot in 3 hrs. personally i wish i had gone to the seaside for the day, however under 10's would be in their element here.

We have been twice before and were looking forward to a great day out, But a lot of the pens were over grown or empty and on a day when a lot of people were about the staff were cleaning cages so the animals were not on display. a lot of the picnic tables were covered in bird poo or in poor condition. I think the bird of pray area was the most disappointing

Loved seeing different type of big cats