Not your Classic Jurassic...

12 September 2019

Not your Classic Jurassic…

Originally published 2018

Imagine you’re a child again, and you imagine your best ever place.

You conjure up an enormous park in the middle of acres of woodland, with play areas at the end of every path and hidden trail. Then, you add DINOSAURS to the park. Then, you multiply the play areas with the dinosaurs and you can PLAY ON THE DINOSAURS AND THE DINOSAURS HAVE SLIDES COMING OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS. You add some water fountains, and the dinosaur slide is now a DINOSAUR WATER SLIDE. Then you add go-carts. Then you add fish and chips. Then you add baby goats and rabbits and lizards. And THEN you imagine the biggest, most fantastic climbing frame you can think of… the climbing frame is also surrounded by dinosaurs.

Such a sense of sheer magic and unadulterated joy is exactly how it feels to visit Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure. It is everything you ever dreamed of as a child, with loads of things for older children to do too. Quite simply, it really is a day out for the whole family.

Let’s start with the dinosaurs.

They are everywhere. They lurk behind bushes, by pathways and are hidden in the trees! You can do a dinosaur trail where you can spot beasts of all shapes and sizes (especially good for children who are studying all things Jurassic at school!), as well as see some other prehistoric creatures such as mammoths and sabre toothed tigers. You can get up close and personal with all the dinosaurs – the perfect photo opportunity!

The park also has many, many play areas, designed for children of all ages. For younger children, Dippy’s Splash Zone is a dream come true. Featuring 31 water play features within 755 square meters of rubberised safety flooring, it is perfect for outdoor play on warm summer days. There are lockers for safe storage of your belongings, and Base Camp Sales and Supplies is on hand with towels, t-shirts, and items for every eventuality!

For a slightly drier day out, you can also find the X-tinction play area, assault-o-saurus, as well as a go-cart course and Jurassic Putt Crazy Golf.

 

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Photo: Predator High Ropes NEW!

For older children, something very, VERY exciting has just landed at Roarr!, and we visited last week to try out their latest addition: The Predator High Ropes. These are the world’s first parallel sky rails, and at 35m long have two levels of difficulty for when you’re feeling brave, or when you simply need to work your way up to something a bit headier!

It’s like the obstacle course of your childhood dreams. After getting harnessed in and briefed, you are let loose – as much as is possible after being safely strapped into the rails on the course, where you are faced with scrambling nets, tightropes and wobbly bridges. I was slightly more nervous than my accomplice Eve, who seemed to skip across the whole course with no fear and acrobatic grace. I, on the other hand, was left clinging to my harness and my nerves, before stepping out onto a narrow wooden walkway. It was like learning to walk again (probably), but this time tens of meters in the air, and in tight jeans. While Eve looked on (supportively), I managed to catch up with her, before we both came to the side-by-side zip line that would get us back to the start of the course. Apparently, it is impossible to get stuck on this (I checked), so we both threw ourselves off the platform and sped through the air to reach the other side… before doing it all over again!

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Photo: The zip line on the Predator High Ropes

I LOVED it. In the end, we went around three or four times, and were sad to come back to ground level. It’s an amazing activity, and something adults can do alongside their children, or older siblings can do with younger brothers and sisters.

After the Predator High Ropes, we visited the Secret Animal Garden,  where you can see goats, wallabies, ducks, lizards, bunnies and so many more animals! The animals are located right by the steam-punk themed Explorers Restaurant and Nautilus Fish and Chip outlet, so if you’re in need of refreshment then this is certainly the place to be.

If you’re feeling even more intrepid, then the Deer Safari is for you. Seasonally, you can jump on board the special safari trailer, and explore the park in search of the two main herds of resident deer. The animal team will give an informative talk as you go along, and you can learn all about the less prehistoric inhabitants of the dinosaur park!

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Photo: More dinosaurs!

Overall, there is nothing else like this in Norfolk at all. In fact, Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure was voted ‘Best Large Visitor Attraction of the Year’ in 2018, in the Norfolk and Suffolk Tourism Awards. It’s easy to see why: the park is easily laid out with lots of provision for wheelchairs and prams, the play areas are imaginative and suitable for a variety of ages and abilities, and there is plenty of different catering options to choose from. Added to that, well, dinosaurs and you’ve got child’s paradise. It’s good too for all ages: Roarr! have put in a lot of work and investment into making sure that the park has got lots to offer both younger and older children, meaning that you’ve got an ideal solution for the summer holidays when everyone’s off school (and they want to bring a friend). There’s places to picnic, quieter areas for some nature spotting, and easily enough to do to keep you there all day. I can’t recommend a visit highly enough.

Standard admission to the park: £14.95 adults; £16.95 children; £13.95 senior citizens; £7.50 reg. disabled adult/carer; under 3’s go free (book online for great savings a roarrdinosauradventure.co.uk)

OR a season ticket will get you unlimited access to the park for the whole year!
£75 adults; £75 children (3 – 15); £60 senior citizen; £37.50 reg. disabled child/adult/carer.