Drusillas Park, East Sussex

We have also made a more recent visit to Drusillas Park - You can read about it here.

Drusillas Park is a small zoo in East Sussex. It's a lot more than just a zoo though - as well as over 100 species of animal across various themed exhibits there are also large indoor and outdoor play areas and a small Thomas the Tank Engine themed train and track. I have very fond memories of Drusillas as it is somewhere that we used to visit when I was younger, so I was delighted when our family was invited along to review Drusillas.

Our visit started with a well marked tour through the zoo. The path leads through the different animal displays, with plenty of extra features to keep children entertained. There is a free animal spotter guide which you can stamp as you see each animal, and a series of challenges as part of the Zoo Olympics where you can compare your abilities to those of the different animals - for example how fast you can run, how high you can jump or how long you can hold your breath. We didn't take it too seriously, but it was fun to try them out as we passed them.

There are also lots of interactive features for children, for example you can have a go at milking a (pretend!) cow and there are lots of opportunities to touch some of the friendlier animals. Harry was also fascinated by a large giraffe model which you can climb into and look out from using a periscope in his neck.

We ate our sandwiches in a large and pleasant picnic area and then headed for a ride on the Thomas the Tank Engine experience. As well as being a train that looks like Thomas the Tank Engine, the ride takes you past a selection of familiar characters from the television show and was a big hit. Then we headed for the adventure playground. This was the part of the park that I remembered most from my childhood, and it didn't disappoint. The outdoor play area is large and contains play equipment suitable for children of all ages. We spent all our time in the area aimed at younger children, where there were slides, rope bridges, a roundabout and the biggest hit which was a large trampoline, safely sunk into the ground. Wi-Fi is also available in the play areas, although it wasn't working when we visited.

Fortunately for the usual British weather there is also an indoor play area, which has a separate section suitable for younger children. Even though the park was busy when we visited it didn't feel too overcrowded. The food and drink in the adjacent café and other food outlets wasn't cheap, but we always take our own along anyway.

Before we left we explored the Eden's Eye Maze, a small themed maze which the children loved looking around and jumping as statues talked to them and squirted them. The park also has a number of other attractions, for example Panning for Gold and Dino Dig, but these do have an additional charge.

We had a really good day out at Drusillas, and I would definitely recommend it for a family day out. To save some money, you can use Tesco Clubcard vouchers for admission and cheaper tickets are available if you book online in advance.

We received a complimentary family ticket to review Drusillas.