Very nice day out for children and adults

The animals are well looked after. The snow leopard fantastic

Very good for children Have days where you can shadow a keeper

Easy to get to. Lots of animals and shows. Great day out for the kids.

Went with my mum for the Zookeper Challenge experience.....what an amazing day! Our guide was enthusiastic, friendly and very knowledgeable on all things furry. He explained about the conservation efforts that the park assists with.
The park is well laid out and allows you to get as close to the animals as you possibly can......perfect for the camera lovers out there.
Will definitely be going back in the summer :0)

Had an amazing experience whilst I visited here! Staff were brilliant and I was so close to all the animals within re park! Amazing for the whole family!

went on a very hot day and enjoyed the huge paddling pool and had a picnic on the large grassy area. fairly good selection of animals liked the insect house,got to hold a tarantula!!

The park had variety, looked lovely and was very educational, especially for special needs which was great as I was there with a disabled group of kids. Park is awesome and there is even park for people in wheelchairs.

Animals are well cared for and there is information provided to bring their situation and care to life.
Local and small so easy to visit if you don't have time to do one of the larger parks.

We have been twice to Paradise Wildlife Park, it is a great day out. A good variety of animals, from big cats to farmyard animals. Rocky the tiger is a favourite, he is gorgeous. Another highlight is the fruit bats, who you can go in with. Go at the end of the day when they start to become a bit more active. They also have rabbits who you can feed (bags of food can be bought for £1) which is great fun. Some of the other animals are also allowed to be fed, check the signs on the enclosures.
It is also quite small which means you can walk round lots of times and good for kids who can get tired out easily.
I have been to a lot of zoos and wildlife parks and this one is highly recommended.

animals looked really sad and made my kids cry because they looked so malnourished and sad! please give them more food!!

although becoame better when i saw some lions doing each other in the bottom

Took my grandchildren and daughter. We had a super day. Penguins and Meercats were our favourite, a must for the family and quite well priced.

I decided to take my camera for a walk and what better place than a zoo. I chose the Paradise because it wasn't very far away - Junction 25 on the M25 - easy to get to, very easy to get around, well laid out, and great for buggies. Best of all they have reduced the prices for the winter and, being a senior for the first time, it was well reduced, I paid only nine pounds, and that for a day out is great value.

The sun was shining, but it was very cold, so all the animals were out and about, just right for the kids and the photographer. No hills like some of our zoos, but you could go above the animals on the walkways, for a really good view.

The Kiddies loved the farm animals that they could get close to, and they weren't bombarded by baby goats (yet!) wanting food.

The food courts were warm, comfy and not too expensive, about average I would say. The staff were great, pleasant, helpful and with lovely smiles. I learned a lot about the wolves, by having a one to one with a lovely lady keeper, who knew what she was talking about. The only thing that took this from Excellent to Very Good was the bird show, I think it was too cold, the birds didn't want to play, so we watched three ducks have a race and a lovely owl try to fly, and she didn't want to, not that it was the keeper's fault, but we were getting colder and colder sitting there waiting.

A great day out for me and everyone who was there, I'm sure, there were a lot of smiles, so one assumes everyone was having a good time.

Was a good day out for all the family, only problem was during the winter some of the park was not in use, best time to go would be spring, summer or early autumn. I was lucky enough to have tickets and a family of four only cost 25 pounds but if you paid even double this for this visit during the summer it would be good value for a family of four.

You can take a picnic or eat in one of the dining areas which was reasonable. There was even a place to eat a more healthy diet in the soft play area. Overall this was a good day out.

This wildlife park is fairly local to my home town. The park has been build up gradually over the years and is now one of my favourite places to visit for a day out. Not a fan of zoos at all but here they have loads of space to play (and hide) if they want too. Well worth a visit.

Take up the option of a guided tour, you will get so much more out of the day.

We had a great time here, young, middle-aged and old alike. Brill day out for all the family.

We spent about 6 hours here on a chilly November day with our grandsons (aged 2 and 8) which I think shows that there is plenty to do with children, mainly outside but with several things to do indoors as well. The animals in the zoo seem well cared for and range from farm animals to tigers so something for everyone, some of them can be fed with bags of special food purchased for £1 near the entrance. There is also a free tractor trailer which gives round the zoo every half hour.

As well as the animals there is an extensive play area with a good variety of slides, climbing frames etc with several themed items such as pirates or vehicles. There was plenty for both the 2 and the 8 year old. Indoors there is large safe climbing/play area with a conveniently situated coffee bar for the adults to sit at whilst they can watch the children play. In addition to these areas, and closer to the zoo area, there is a bouncy castle, a helter skelter and a mini carousel, all again included in the admission price.

Very popular with our 2 year old was the Thomas train ride (£1 each) which went round and between the dinosaurs distributed among the trees (these can also be seen on the woodland walk).

The National Speedway Museum is also on the site also crazy golf and in the summer a children’s splash area, however we did not visit these as we ran out of time.

All in all we thought it was a good day out, initially we had thought it expensive but there was so much there that we decided it was value for money.

I went to this zoo in April 2010 with my family and really enjoyed it, we were able to feed some of the animals and get up close to a majority of them. I love zoos but this one has to be one of the better ones ive been too.

This is a small zoo compared to Colchester but i really like the idea of being closer to the animals and they all seem happy and well looked after which is the main thing.

I would highly recommend this zoo to anyone interested in zoos and animals.

My grandchildren have visited this Zoo with us several times a year since they were 2, they are now 9 and still love going here. I am not a supporter of Zoo's as I believe that animals should be in the wild, this place appears to look after their animals very well and all seem to be in good health. Other attractions great for the kids

This is a very compact zoo, but has been well thought out so the enclosures are large and interesting.

I have never been to a zoo where the animals are so animated, they all seemed happy.

The white tigers and lions are beautiful and I really liked the armadillo. Throughout the park you were able to get really close to all the animals and feed a lot of them.

A few parts were a bit run down, but don't be put off. They are building at the moment as well but that doesn't effect anything.

The car park does need work though as the spaces are too short for all but the smallest cars, hopefully this is something they are improving.

If you book online you can save £1 per ticket, not much but you may as well. It is worth paying the full price though, you'll get your monies worth, we spent 4 hours there.

We visited Paradise Wildlife Park with our two young children one afternoon in September. The zoo does an excellent deal where arrivals after 3:30pm can get in for £5 (children free) during school term time, which is a massive discount on the usual park admission of £16 per adult. The park is divided in to a number of quite different attractions and this review focuses on the zoo element of the park.

Paradise wildlife park is well laid out, modern and very well maintained. In particular there is a fantastic big cat section, with Lions, Tigers, Cheetahs, Snow Leopards a Mountain Lion and several other big cats. Whilst the paddocks for these big cats are not vast, it's clear that the animals are very well cared for, kept stimulated and in healthy condition. Of course all the animals would be better off in the wild, but as far as small zoos go - this is about the best we have seen. The zoo also has Camels, Zebras, Wolves, Lemurs, Emus and many other animals large and small.

We spent quite some time talking with one of the volunteer zoo staff and it was clear to us that there is a great emphasis on conservation and care of endangered species at Paradise Wildlife Park - all very laudable.

Touring the zoo in the afternoon was excellent, since it wasn't crowded and we were able to really enjoy our visit, spending almost 3 hours on site, and listening to a very informative talk on the plight of the Tiger in the wild. We didn't feel rushed, and the children were safe to run around with supervision at a distance.

There are a number of food and drink outlets on site, along with the obligatory retail experience, an area for small pets that children may feed and a great many wild birds in well kept aviaries. I believe there are also a number of bird displays during the day, but we missed the last of them.

The only thing that lets this park down is the intermingling with an eclectic mix of somewhat tacky, partially run down amusements and children's rides - all of which are absolutely fine in their own, but somewhat detract from the high standards of the zoo experience. Crazy golf and fair ground rides alongside endangered big cats is not for us - better that space be given over to larger paddocks for the camels, zebras and endangered felines!

The park is also home to the National Speedway Museum - again, nothing wrong with a speedway museum, but what has that got to do with conservation of wildlife?

That said, the zoo is outstanding and well worth the visit. If amusements and fair ground rides are your thing, there are better places to go along the Essex coast.

Its a good place to go if you want a one off day trip. I became a full year member so it gets a bit the same if you go too many times. But thats not their fault! Enough to do in one long day for first timers. I go with my two year old. Some of the areas of the park are a bit dated. The bouncy castles could be indoors. The softplay is large but can get a bit cold in winter. Once winter comes there is not much other than the main attractions of the animals. I do like the place and would say if you have a family then put it on your list to do.

we booked a meet the red pandas experience as a present for my mum, she had to arrange day with them other telephone which was easily done. Because we live so far away decided to stay in a hotel near by, as we arrived at the park we couldn't believe how quiet it was. If you went to chester zoo in the middle of school summer holidays you would be mad but we drove straight and got parked very quickly. The lady at ticket booth was pleasant and explained what time and where we had to go. We went and had breakfast at the little cafe which was very nice and prices were reasonable.
We went to the information place where my mum had to meet the keeper, we were offered biscuits, tea and coffee, which i found very welcoming. the keeper (sorry can't remember her name) met my mum and went through everything that was going to happen, we then said what time will you be at the enclosure so we can make sure we are there to take photos the keeper said we could go with them into the staff / animal food areas which i thought was brillant, anywhere else would have said other the person taking part could go with her. we then watched as the keeper and my mum got all the fruit and veg ready and made their way into the enclosure, she was in there for ages (at least 45 mins), she got to feed and touch the red pandas, amazing experience - worth the money! after that we spent the day in the park, which was massive, very quiet and you get very very close to the animals. alot better than any other zoo i have been to. we watched a family hand feed tigers (which i think we will book next time) and other animals be feed by keepers. very clean and tidy and we found the staff very friendly, we had no problems all day.

Perfect sized safari park with a lovely family feel and loads to see and do. We had a brilliant time.