This was a combined Christmas/Anniversary/Birthday present for my wife and me, yes it was that expensive. We had a brilliant day weatherwise and there were so few people there it was easy to see everything. £16 each entry for the family aged 31/32/33 was good value for all day from 10:30 to 16:30 for us. We had a "Tee" shirt, certificate and coffee each thrown in for our experience. We expected Meerkats everywhere and were prepared. What we had was 4 and a small bowl of food each for the Meerkats. We went into the enclosure, as small as my lounge, and sat down. The Meerkats came for the food and did sit on us taking food and allowed us to stroke them. After about 10 mins they had eaten enough and moved away and within 5 mins they had gone back into their "bedroom" to sleep (said by and expected by, the keeper). We sat for a further 10 mins while the keeper groomed one that reciprocated on her and then we decided there was nothing more to do so left. Taking off £10 for the "extras" and £16 for entry leaving £73 for that was a huge rip off. £25 + £16 entry would have been over the top but I would not have worried.

The rest of the Zoo was small, well stocked and well organised, seemingly really aimed at children under 16 and those who have limited access to animals and countryside. Being so close to the animals was an excellent bonus, however the bigger animals were a little cramped for space and some big cats showed signs of boredom, just pacing around in the same manner and small, never ending circuit.

We all had a very good day, but I have to report honestly as I find.

A zoo is what it is really, and they are triyng their best with breeding etc, but it just didn't have the wow factor that you get at other zoo's. I imagine money etc is a big factor, and compared to the stories they tell of how it used to be, it is amazing. Had a tour through Groupon, and value wise it was good. Just wanted more, and half a day was more than enough

I had never heard of this particular park but was kindly given a Meet the Meerkats gift experience which was located here. Unfortunately I chose a terrible day to go as we experienced heavy rain all day and the park was almost deserted. The fact that this did not hinder me from having a wonderful time says a lot for the park, I believe. They have the largest collection of big cats that I have ever seen and we were able to see white lions as well as cheetas and pumas. Certain animals like the tapias and red pandas were hiding from the rain but we managed to see most of the other animals. This park has a diverse collection of fascinating creatures as well as a display on poaching and items seized by custom officers. The staff were very welcoming and friendly and there are places to purchase refreshments as well as freshly made sandwiches, soups and cakes. There is also a large play area and some arcade games for children. I am glad to have discovered this lovely park and intend to return when the weather is a little nicer!

Excellent day out at the wildlife park. Start off with a walk around the animals feeding the deer , sheep , goats and many more animals. Then little ones had face painted . I then let the kids play in the soft play area while i had a coffee the food was expensive so take picnic

The only downfall is that you think after paying quite abit to get in rides and activites in side would all be included which there not so it does add up.

As part of a belated christmas present Sue had an hour with the meerkats at Paradise Wildlife Park. This included a hands on feeding session and we had the rest of the day visiting the other animals. The staff were very knowledgeable and friendly. The park is well laid out and the animals are well cared for. A vey well worth day out.

Went there as part as a groupon deal... will definitely be back! What a great surprise it was to discover such an amazing place!
Got a very interesting tour of the Big Cats territory with a very entertaining guide who gave us lots of interesting fun facts.
All the staff we talked to was very pleasant, the animals seemed happy and at no point stressed by the surroundings. We got to have breakfast overlooking the tigers enclosure...
We came across a few ppl who had purchased "experiences" at the zoo (feeding cheetah, penguins, lemurs etc) and all seemed extremely pleased. (and made me feel very jealous!!)
All at 30 minutes train from Liverpool Street (7 pounds return), the park providing shuttle coach, it's been a great day out!
Would recommend without a doubt and happily go back at some point!

This is a great attraction, not huge and obviously not in the same league as London zoo, Whipsnade or Woburn but that's ok and it's great with small children. The animals seem well looked after and the staff are friendly and helpful.
There are lots of other attractions that you have to pay for, but only if you want to. You can also buy food to feed the animals which pleases those wanting more interaction with the animals but seems a cheek to those who don't want to! I've never eaten here but there seem to be plenty of people who do.
Nice little trip out.

I visited the Paradise Wildlife Park Tuesday 31/8/11. The staff were really friendly and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble and I will try to go more often. Lovely family day out.

First ever visit ( won't be the last ) & was very impressed with the whole park.
I was so impressed how child, pushchair & special needs friendly the whole park was.
I loved the big cats the most, the raised viewing platforms allowed us to look down into the enclosures and get a closer look at them.
Would recommend paradise to all my family & friends.

we went with 2 children aged 5 + 2 years old through an offer made by groupon - we stayed overnight at the cheshunt marriott hotel and then went to the park on the following morning.
We were supposed to be there at 7.45am for a private tour of the park and then breakfast in the tree top cafe, due to over booking we ended up going at 9am and had to sit around for a while for everyone to get organised - not easy when you have young kids.
Having said that once we were on the move we went straight up to the cafe and had breakfast, as much toast, croissants, cereal or drinks as we wanted and we had a lovely view of the massive tiger in the enclosure next to us.
We then had the tour of all the big cats and were told all about them and the other breeding site they have, it was very informative but again trying to keep 2 kids in one place while we were listening to what was being said was hard.
Once we had gone around the big cats we were able to go do our own thing and went round all the other animals, I have never known a park where you can touch & feed sooo many different animals, there were Zebra's, Emu's, Reindeer, Camels, Alpacas, Lama, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats and you could touch them all, we even stroked an owl after one of their displays.
In a nutshell a great place to be closer than you would normally be anywhere else.
They also had plenty of other rides which were chargable but not expensive so a good mix to keep the little ones amused.
The animal experiences are a great opportunity too, we did not do any of them as they were all booked up but you could see the people doing them as you walked round I watched a few people inside the enclosures getting a great experience feeding the animal and in some instances being climbed on by them.
We had a great day here and would recommend it to anyone as in my opinion it is one of the best zoo's I have been to and probably enjoyed it more than the kids.

Where to start!! We have now been to the park over 12 times in just over 3 years. We have done many of the experiences including, feed the tiger,feed the meerkats, breakfast with the tigers( fantastic value).

We have also through ideal world done VIP tour for the day which is a must.

The park does what it claims. There is something for everybody, young and old and caters very well for people with disabilities. The park is mainly on the level with tarmac paths so ideal for people who are not so goosd on there feet.

car park is well laid out and always somebody on hand to help you aprk or answer questions.

i really could go on and on about this park and its staff and probably bore you too death!!.

It really is a case of go and see for yourself i promise you wont regret it.

If you ever get a chance you must go and visit the sister park in Kent WHF which is not open to the public. WOW WOW WOW IS ALL I GOT TO SAY

Once again thanks to Steve and all at Paradise for making the park what it is

Paradise Wildlife Park is an excellent day out - much better than Chester Zoo and London Zoo.
I purchased a "Feed the Big Cat Experience" for my financee. As this included her admission, we arrived early and I paid for entry myself (a VERY reasonable £14 if booked online). You stop at a pay-booth before being directed to the car park.
Car park was quiet and had no hassle finding a space. We immediately picked up a map and had a look round the park. They sell small bags of food for feeding the animals but this doesn't mean you can feed everything - mainly goats, rabbits and emus.

They have some very impressive animals there such as white lions and a snowy leopard. The Big Cat experience itself was amazing. Feeding Rocky, the biggest tiger in the UK, was perfect for my financee. We intially had a tour of the food preparation area (not suitable for vegetarians!) and the keeper who took us round was very friendly and knowledgable. I had assumed I would have to wait outside, but I was very much involved. Then we were lead to the tiger area and she was able to feed this magnificient creature.

Food and drink in the park was VERY reasonably priced (£3.70 for Strongbow Extra Cold - as much as anywhere else), as was the gift shop.

You are able to get very close to the animals and I would thorougly recomend this Wildlife Park to anyone. Also saw two bird shows which were very well presented. As a whole this park is extremelly good value for money and the dedication by the staff is obvious.

Only negative was the sheer number of schoolchildren there (gets a bit irritating) but that's not the fault of the park!

I was made to feel at ease instantly at reception and was introduced to a gentleman who had also bought Shadow a big cat keeper experience and would be sharing the day.We were then introduced to Steve who proved to be extremely knowledgeable ,very patient with both humans and animalsand easy to get along with.My son who had gone along to take some photographs was actively encouraged to do so and he also enjoyed himself.Nothing could prepare me for meeting and stroking the lions,I even shed a tear at the sheer pleasure of doing so.We were blown away at stroking the tiger and we fed him by hand too-unbelievable!We also went into the cheetahs enclosure and sroked them while they were eating.If you are squemish it may not be for you as we had to de-poo the lion enclosure and help create some delicious meals from raw meat which helped us understand some of the work that goes on in the background.The an imals are all well fed andVERY well cared for and help provide an excellent learning tool for us poor ignorant humans.10 out of 10 Paradise I'm still on a high,forget your fancy holidays cos I stroked a tiger !Amazing!

i bought an Ideal World Experience for myself.2 sons,their wives and my grandson aged 5. I was quite worried that it wouldn't live up to expectations,but in fact it could not have been better. We were with another group,so 12 altogether, but our guide was great, and no one felt left out; we held or touched snakes,lizards, a tenrec(like a tiny hedgehog) and a tarantula - and then it kept getting better. We went in with the meerkats -amazing!- and the tapirs and wallabies, and fed a variety of other animals.Finally, my 2 sons fed the snow leopard by hand. All the animals are well cared for, and in enriched pens. The grounds a re beautiful, and ok, the rides etc can add up, but there was more than enough to see in the 6 hours we were there without going on them. We had a wonderful time, and if you have the chance to buy one of the Experiences, do take it, it's money well spent!

I purchased this experience through the Ideal World website as a gift for my husband as he loves wildlife and paid full price. The only sore point of the whole experience was that it was a nightmare to book and took me two weeks of phone calls and emails to finally sort out. The hotel didn't even realize that Ideal world was selling this experience and kept asking me if it was booked through Groupon!! Needless to say, I was very concerned as I was spending £199.!!!
I complained to Ideal World and the customer service staff did not have a clue of how to book the experience. I finally wrote a strong email to The Marriott Hotel international head office and they advised me to speak to Danielle in sales at The Marriott in Cheshunt and she finally sorted it out as she must have received notice about my email from head office and then was most accomodating. Ideal World and The Marriott Cheshunt should really make this a lot easier and clearer to customers on how to book the experience itself.
Once we finally booked a date we were happy with and arrived at The Marriott in Cheshunt we were treated very, very well. The room was lovely with a king-sized bed and it was very clean. We used the hotel's pool and jacuzzi and luckily on that Friday afternoon that we arrived we had it to ourselves which was lovely. The dinner that we had was superb and got free fresh bread rolls with our meal which they refiiled. Even though this was a set meal (two courses) the restaurant staff made us feel so welcome and were so kind and attentive. When they knew it was my husband's birthday they brought out a big slice of cake with fruit and a candle and they all sang happy birthday to him!
The Tiger Brunch was lovely. We were picked up from the hotel by a lovely man from the Paradise Wildlife Park and brought to a drinks reception (cofee/tea/juices) and given our goodie bags. The park staff kindly stored our luggage bag for us for the day. We were then brought on a very interesting tour of the big cats by our tour guide Kayleigh whom you could tell was very passionate about what she was doing. She told us some very interesting facts and even about the history of the zoo itself. We got to watch a keeper feeding a huge tiger some meat as well and took lots of great photos as we were very close to the tiger. After the tour was finished we all went to the Tiger Treetops restaurant and had our brunch which was lovely. We had amazing views of the tigers. The food was replenished each time it ran out as it was buffet-style. We watched a video about tigers and the wildlife conservation.
After we finished we were able to freely enjoy the wildlife park until we were ready to go home. The Paradise Wildlife Park is very well-run and not overcrowded with people so we were able to enjoy great views of the animals and the shows. The park provides free transportation to Broxbourne station which was so handy as we were heading back to London. What a fantastic experience and my husband loved it too!

We visited the Park today,6 adults and 9 children aged from 2-11. The weather was great which obviously helped but the whole place was extremely clean,both the "human" parts and the animal enclosures.
The staff we encountered were not only friendly and helpful but seemed incredibly knowledgeable when bombarded by questions from our tribe of children.It was small enough for even the youngest to enjoy but big enough to not feel crowded but also have enough to do.We have never been so close and had such a good view of the animals which all looked in very good condition.Even the smallest cages/tanks etc were very well kept and looked like they had tried very hard to replicate the animals' natural environment.
I can't comment on the food as we took a picnic and this place is brilliant for picnics! There are loads of places where you can sit on tables/gras/sun/shade and have lunch.It is a refreshing change to not be forced to pay high prices for not great food as we have experienced in many other places.
In addition to the beautiful animals (the Lemurs are brilliant!) there are two playgrounds (one with a fire engine) and a soft play area which if had rained would have been very useful.We spent ages in the play areas with the younger children and the ride on the train (only £1) and the woodland walk were brilliant.We also really enjoyed the shows they put on and the chance to talk to the keepers.
It is amazing how much there is to do there,our only regret was not getting there earlier as we really could have spent the whole day there and not been bored.
We live nearly an hour from this place but were so impressed we are seriously considering a season ticket.
I hope everyone has as good a time there as we did - we can't wait to go back!!!

We bought a Tiger Tea experience for four adults and what an experience it was! We had a fabulous time at the park beforehand, the animals looked wonderful, well loved, well cared for and certainly well fed, which would be hard to disguise if this were not the case as a lot of them were within touching distance and very friendly. Our keeper/guide, Kayleigh was lovely, she named all the big cats for us, told us lots about their personalities and histories and was really passionate about the breeding programmes. It was lovely to hear that many of the cats despite being too old or having genetic health problems were living out their lives in safety and comfort, which I'm sure is not often the case in all zoos. We had our tea at the Tree Tops cafe overlooking the tiger enclosure and what a treat it was, the best table had been reserved for us and the food and service were excellent - selection of fresh sandwiches on a platter, scones jam and cream, muffins and delicious cakes as well. All in all an excellent day, we would all do it again! Thank you and well done Paradise Wildlife Park.

Our fith time at the park for my wife,grandson ( aged 4) and myself, had a wounderful day,
lots to do and see. the park itself is well laid out,and very clean and ceared for.
This is NOT one of the normal rip off attractions, the entrance fee's are very fair. Catering is very good although the variaty of food could do with an upgrade.
My grandson cant wait for the summer holl's to go again.
WELL DONE TO ALL AT PARADISE PARK

Thoroughly enjoyed our day at Paradise Wildlife Park, we had bought a Meet the Meerkat experience, which turned out to be fantastic and great fun. Barry, our guide, was lovely and even spent some time after our experience giving us some information about the park and animals. It is nice that the enclosures were designed in a way you can see the animals, especially the raised walkways for seeing the wild cats. We will be going back again some time, it is worth the drive.

We went as a Groupon offer - "The Tiger Brunch" which included an over night stay at the Marriot Hotel, including dinner - entry to the park, a tiger health check and tour of the big cats territory ( by Barry..who was great)..oh and a fab brunch metres away from two tigers. - it was amazing!!!
Ok, some of the enclosures could be said to be a little small - but from what I could see, the keepers, staff etc are doing a great job -and working towards the common goal of releasing the big cats back into the wild. The cats seemed happy and very familiar with their keepers - especially as they were being hand fed!!
We also booked a "Meet the Meercat" experience which was also great fun - maybe a little expensive, but we got a good deal -and our keeper Conner was attentive, friendly and knowledgeable. As the money goes to the animals -who can argue with that!!
Ive read what others have said and I respect their views - ok, some things need to be upgraded, little touches etc...but we loved it!!!

went this week with husband and 7yr old son. cost over £40 to get in!!! there's renovations and building works going on the whole time around the site as they're improving/changing it all the time. it was nice to visit but everything expensive and anything you see to go on for kids is at least extra £1. there's a cafe up high which is nice but coffee starts at £2.50. best part was the mini railway and walk (really worth the £1. each ride) and the fabulous array of neat climbing things in the play area. When i wrote to them about why do they up their prices in school holidays etc, their answer was simply 'its supply and demand'. It doesnt cost any more to look after the animals. its just greed. summary, pricey and overcrowded and they dont restrict how many go in. it was beyond a safety issue when we went. wont be going back again. The toilets were worse than any public toilets too. ghastly! they should invest some of that cash in those!

Visited today (11th April) with a 3 and a 5 year old (having been once ourselves pre-children).

Well sign posted from M25 and takes Tesco vouchers so a good deal for a family.

The animal part of the park is absolutely lovely. Well designed enclosures so that the little ones can see the animals themselves without always having to be lifted up. Lots to see without acres of walking. Not convinced about how much space the lions / tigers / cheetahs have but the animals were all basking on their platforms enjoying the hot sunshine. The raised walkways between the cats makes a pleasant change and little once find it exciting.

There were quite a few other attractions that my children really enjoyed, particularly the woodland walk, fire engine, pirate ship and log playground. However, there seemed to be so many 'fairground' style extras needing more money including golf, jungle gems, swan rides. We avoided these (which would really mount up even with just two children) but were surprised at how many more paying attractions were being added including two versions of a water spray style game, one on each half of the park.

I would be nice if the park could stick to what they clearly do well (well looked after animals, clean enclosures etc) and limit the tacky extra bits and pieces that seem to be overshadowing the real purpose of visiting.

Would still go again next year though (if we can still use Tesco vouchers).

im 12 years old and i love the park. i love it so much i have to go every year in the summer. ive never booked any of the experiances but just visting the park is enough. all the animals are well cared for and have very clean and spacy enclosures. there is lots to do for example the rides.there is a cafe to get somthing to eat with reasonable prices and if the weather is nice it makes it just that much more enjoyable! its not just me that likes going there my family love it to!! i want to be a vet when i grow up because i love animals. when it comes to it i will try to get work experiance there as it is avaliable along with volanteer work. overall its a a great day out for all the family and i absolutly love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our visit took place on 25th March 11. The whole park was truly amazing. The animals are so well cared for and their enclosures were both stimulating and beautifully maintained. My husband and I had the ' lunch with Tigers' which was a lovely experience. The animals are so close you can almost touch them. Our guide Barry was very friendly and had a genuine interest in the wellbeing of the animals. Overall a wonderful experience and we couldn't rate the park highly enough

We went on a rather wet Sunday afternoon but even that didn't spoil the visit. It's an excellent park with a superb array of animals. The amount of different big cats were excellent and it was amazing how close you were to the enclosures. I went to feed the lemurs and can highly recommend it. There handler Steve was really friendly and interesting and so were the lemurs! Can't rate it highly enough.