Our Day Out at Drusillas Park!

Last weekend we spent a lovely day at Drusillas Park in Sussex. We weren’t sure if the weather was going to be on our side but it turned out the be a glorious day- great weather and a fab place to visit.

I have fond memories of visiting Drusillas as a child so I was delighted when we were invited along to review but I think it’s been totally transformed from anything I remembered! It’s classed as a small zoo but it’s actually quite large and there is plenty At Drusillas to last an entire day and it’s definitely no ordinary zoo! Aside of the animals, there is a large adventure playground complete with a splash pad (for those warmer months!), farm animals, Petworld, an interactive maze, indoor soft play, rides, a train ride around the park and a large covered and uncovered picnic area.

The Animals

I was impressed with the design layout of the zoo- the route is easily to follow and accessible for buggies and there are over 100 species of animals so there was a different animal at every corner you turned. The animals have enclosures with walk ways over them where you can observe them without staring through glass. We loved the bat cave where you could observe the bats up close- I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to a bat before and there are walk through enclosures so you can get up close and personal with the animals such as Lemurland and a tunnel into the Meerkat enclosure and underwater viewing for the penguins. The kids loved being that close to the animals – a golden Tamarin monkey swung right over us at one point! We also stood right next to a gorgeous owl who was nesting on her eggs. Orla’s favourite animals were the flamingos whilst Finlay loved the anteaters and Elodie the Emperor Tamarins with their cute moustaches!

Drusillas caters so well for children of all ages, there are loads of added extras spotted about including stamping stations and a zooolympics. You are given your Animal Spotter Book and a Zoolympics Record Book at the entrance. This is a great touch, Orla really wanted to fill her booklet up so was super keen to search out all the stamps! Finlay and Elodie loved the zooolympics which are fun activities that you follow as you go around the zoo- you get to try to learn new animal skills and compare how we fair against the animals! There are timers all over the zoo to see if you can swing as long as a lonely or hold your breath as long as a penguin! These are great to keep kids interested and learning all about the animals.

Adventure Park

We found some picnic benches to have our picnic- there are lots on offer and some undercover for rainy days and then we headed to the impressive outdoor play area which is large and contains play equipment suitable for children of all ages. There is an area for the under six’s where there were slides, rope bridges, a mini zip wire, a roundabout and the biggest hit which was a large trampoline, safely sunk into the ground. There is an over six’s play area too – it felt like Drusilla’s was perfect for a family like ours with 4 children between the ages of 9 and 1. The older kids area has zip wires, a hamster wheel (!) large rope bridges and lots of climbing and slides! You could easily spend half a day in this area. There’s also a splash area with fountains and water guns- the kids were so sad we hadn’t bought their swimming cozzies! But this would be fab in hot weather.

Lastly, we had a trip on the train around the park- perfect for our one year old- and had an ice cream before heading home. We didn’t even manage to squeeze in the interactive maze or time in the soft play (perfect for the temperamental British weather!) there is so much to do here so I’d advise to get to Drusilla’s early.

We had a really good day out at Drusillas, and I would definitely recommend it for a family day out. Cheaper tickets are available if you book online in advance and there are frequent special events throughout the year- you can even become a zookeeper for the day

We received a complimentary family ticket to review Drusillas. All words, photos and opinions are my own.