My husband and I met when we were both zoo keepers at Paradise Wildlife Park 12 years ago, we both left to pursue other careers 7 years ago but have stayed good friends with Paradise and always follow their developments with interest especially we now have two young boys.

With this in mind and with my Dinosaur- mad little cousin over on a visit with his family, 12 of us headed to Paradise ready to explore the “World of Dinosaurs”.

Set approximately 9 miles outside of Hertford, Paradise is easily accessible by car. with free parking. or train (Hertford East line) and they operate a minibus service from Broxbourne station for a small fee.

Paradise’s website teases us with the promise of meeting life-size animatronic dinosaurs at this incredible World of Dinosaurs attraction. It is one of the UK’s biggest and most spectacular animatronic dinosaur attractions, set in acres of natural woodland. It features 30 life-size, moving and roaring dinosaurs- we could not wait!

 

It did not disappoint!! 

 

Paradise is notorious for being top of their game when it comes to their target audience - young families - and in recent years with the transition to a charity, ZSH, they have been able to make further improvements to the enclosures and facilities.

At our first glimpse of the enormous gates at the entrance to World of Dinosaurs with dinosaur footprints leading the way we just knew it was going to be Dino-tastic (sorry couldn’t resist!)

The entrance is next to the tumble jungle soft play and the trail is set where the old woodland walk used to be (you can still see reindeers, red and hog deers and wolves from the other end of the woodland, through the play area) though, even to someone who spent ten years walking in it daily, it is unrecognisable and seems much larger than the half a mile it encompasses.

You can grab a photo of yourself hatching from a dino egg before you begin your journey if you like (and who wouldn’t!)

Your eyes and ears are in for a treat as you are submersed into a prehistoric world.

There are dinosaurs everywhere of all shapes and sizes, all your favourites and a few rarer ones as well.  They move, they make (very realistic) noises and having this feature set in the woodland really helps to set the scene and spark the imagination of old and young alike. There were plenty of educational opportunities via fun signage and dino-guides to engage and inspire your little (and big) dino-lovers.

If, like me, you haven’t yet had the chance to take the little ones to the Natural History Museum they may never have previously appreciated the sheer scaled and magnitude of these creatures. This really does bring dinosaurs to life for young minds.

There were selfie spots galore, the highlight for me being a jeep you could sit in with a huge animatronic T-rex behind you (my 4 year old was a little scared here).

The exit is through a well-stocked gift shop (your purses may feel the pinch here but there are a few pocket money toys as well as the more expensive ones).

There’s an opportunity (for a small additional fee) to ride the Dino train to experience the dinosaurs again from another perspective and there’s a “Dino dig” sandpit to inspire those little budding palaeontologists.

World of Dinosaurs is included in the entrance price to Paradise Wildlife Park so once you’ve finished enjoying the dinosaurs you can head off to explore the rest of the zoo. Paradise is home to over 800 animals, a large splash pool (which we loved), 5 adventure indoor & outdoor play areas and much much more.

That’s it from me for now, do feel free to email me with any questions you may have about my trip.

For further information see www.pwpark.com or use this link to pre-book slightly discounted tickets (this must be done at least 24 hours before your visit)

 

Kayleigh