Dinosaurs After Dark at Paradise Wildlife Park

Last weekend we were very kindly invited to Paradise Wildlife Park, in Broxbourne, as guests to trial a new experience they are hoping to bring to the park next year.

This experience was Dino’s After Dark – and it is just as the name suggests, visiting the parks dinosaur area after the park has closed and the sun has gone down.

There is something a little more special about being in a closed park with very few people about, the children were instantly excited that they had been locked in the park after it had closed, and once they were given lanterns the excitement levels grew even more.

The experience starts just outside the dino park where you meet the keepers and your tour guide.

Instructed to be very quiet upon entering as you have to pass the wolves enclosure and they are just settling down for the evening – it was lovely to see them all eager to see what we were all doing as they watched from their enclosure while we all passed them by.

Once passed the dinosaur teeth the tour began, stopping at each dinosaur to hear much more about them from the very knowledgable guide.

It was a great way for the children to learn far more about these dinosaurs than you would wandering this area of the park alone. We have previously visited and documented our last trip to the dino part of Paradise Wildlife Park. The kids enjoyed it in the daytime but at night is a whole new adventure.

The tour started before the sun had set which I think has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the age of your children. For mine who are almost 7 and 9 years old (and another 8 year old as Emmy took a friend with us), it worked well as the sun gradually set while we were walking around and they didn’t really notice at first as already had their lanterns turned on. By the end of the tour, it was pitch black and they started to get a little worried and scared by the dark and the noises…there are animated dinosaurs all around and dinosaur noises too which in the dark seem a little scarier and louder as other park noise is now eliminated.

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For older children, it may work starting the tour later so it is completely dark when they begin. It may even work if they were to offer 2 timed tours, one starting when ours did at 5.45 pm/6 pm and another 30 minutes later – this way two tours can be in the park at the same time as long as 2 guides were available.

Our guide was very knowledgable on all of the dinosaurs in the park, telling us not only facts we already knew and could read from the signs but also new and exciting ones we hadn’t heard before.

The children loved being up close and personal and really enjoyed meeting one for a photo opp.

There were lots of opportunities to take photos with the dinosaurs and to ask questions – the guide was also great at engaging the children by asking them questions all the time.

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After the Dino’s After Dark experience we all had a lovely buffet feast consisting of all the food the park serves in their cafe and it was absolutely delicious.

The kids then dug in the dino sandpit uncovering their own dinosaur bones to complete the whole experience.

Overall, we think this was such a fun evening and can see it working well as a new addition to the park.

There are a few little tweaks to be made, as with all experiences, and we have now all fed back that to the park and hope this will soon be added very soon to their programme – I will keep you updated on this as and when it opens.

Do you have a dino mad child? Do you think they would like this experience?

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