Big cats so it's paradise for me (Paradise Wildlife Park)

Member Name: sam_k

Product:	Paradise Wildlife Park
Date:	14/11/08 (267 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of big cats, lots for children to do

Disadvantages: -

Paradise Wildlife Park (PWP) is located in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, easily accessed by road (M25 J25 then off the A10) and rail. Broxbourne main line train station is the closest station and PWP offers a free shuttle bus service to/from the park, if you ask at the station they will call to organise the bus to pick you up.

Opening Times
1st March to 31 October 09:30 - 18:00
1st November to 28 february 10:00 - 17:00

Entry prices
Adult £13.00
Child (2 - 15 years) £10.00
Senior Citizen £10.00
Guest with disability £7.00
Family of 2 (1 Adult & 1 child) £22.00
Family of 4 (2 Adults & 2 Children) £44.00

Obviously the main attraction at PWP are the animals so I will give you a bit of information about what you can see should you go and visit. They have a good selection of Big Cats which include African Lions, White Lions, Tiger, White Tiger, Cheetahs, Snow leopards and Jaguars.

You will also be able to see Alpacas, Camels, Reindeer, Emus, Penguins, Wallabies, Tapir, Capybara, Zebra, Wolves, Meerkats, Coati, Raccoons, Toucans, Rabbits, Lemurs, Parrots, Red panda, Beavers, Foxes Owl, Deer and Otters. In the Rainforest area (it's really hot in there!) you will see tamarins, two toed sloth, armadillo. There is also a range of Birds of Prey and Owls in th Birds of Paradise area. In the Reptile temple apparently (I didn't go in as someone told me one of the keepers had a snake out on the floor!!) you can see Snakes, Turtles, Hissing cockroaches and Alligators. In the Farmyard area are goats, sheep, pigs. There may well be more that I have missed off the list!

In addition to the animals there are a number of other things to keep children entertained. There are a couple of bouncey castles, a roundabout and a helter skelter (no extra charge) there are also large play areas including climb on fire engine and Thomas the Tank Engine, swings etc, an adventure playground. There is also a play area (The Special place) dedicated to those with special needs. Connecting these areas you will find the woodland walk where some of the animals are hidden away such as the deer, foxes beavers and owls. If you want to get an idea of where all the animals are you could hop on the tractor trailer ride to give you a tour of the park before you head off to see your favourite animals.

If the weather turns a bit too cold or rainy for you there is an Indoor soft play area (for children under the height of 1.5m) with a cafe and plenty of seating for all the mums and dads. At the other end of the weather scale if the weather is hot there is Paradise Lagoon, a water play area.

There a a number of other attractions for the children available at an extra cost, such as Paning for gold, crazy golf, the woodland train.

There are numerous areas with picnic tables and there are a number of places you can buy food if you didn't get a chance to bring a picnic (I haven't purchased any food there so can't comment on the food or prices) Toilets are found throughout the park with disabled and baby change facilities available. Oh and of course there is a gift shop!!

There are a number of experiences you can purchase to do at PWP such as face your phobias, feed the lemurs, feed the big cats, shadow a keeper (more details are on the website).

I have visited PWP 3 times so far so even just from that you cann probably guess that I quite like it there!! My son loves looking at the animals and it's great having all the play areas too. My favourites are all the big cats and so far I've managed to catch the cheetahs and the african lions being fed while I've been there!!

One of the great things about PWP is the fact that they have great viewing platforms round many of the big cats and some other of the animas. Not so great I guess for those in wheelchairs or unsteady on stairs as they are all up a flight of stairs but they enable you to see over the top of the enclosures which makes for some great pictures and a different experience than many other Zoos. The enclosures all appear to have been well thought out and designed the animals it will be housing so there are platforms for big cats to climb on, ropes and tunnels in the tamarin areas.

For more information
http://www.pwpark.com/index.asp

Summary: Great place to visit with or without children