Took family friends and their young kids down to Drusillas for a weekend and hadn't been for such a long time that I felt compelled to share my thoughts.

You won't find a better family attraction for all ages than Drusillas. The park is so well designed and there's something for every age group (which is so rare in my opinion), ranging from the animals, play areas (for a variety of ages), swimming pool and cafes/restaurants. There's such a fantastic interactive element to it, encompassing learning, games, 'kids olympics' and animal based trivia that if you need a family friendly place, you've found it.

What struck me the most was a) the fantastic conditions of the animals and their enclosures and b) how clean the park was. Such a testament to the staff and owners as this is so rarely the case in these sorts of attractions.

Would thoroughly recommend and couldn't praise highly enough.

Plenty of parking, easy access to everything, helpful maps and clear signposting, educational and informative on many levels, lots of engaging, fun activities for children, clear views of a wide range of healthy, active, happy animals in well designed habitats, every aspect of the park is well presented and maintained and organised in such a way that just when you are ready for refreshments, a seat or a bit of free play for the children, the right facilities miraculously appear!
The staff were, without exception, helpful, professional and well informed. I overheard many comments from adults praising Drusillas as an exceptional day out for a family: absolutely right!

We visited drusillas park during the school half term break I was slightly concerened about the park having long ques but this was not the case.

The park was busy as the weather was fab but there was no wait to meet hello kitty and no wait for the rides in hello kitty secret garden.

My 4 year old was in her element she loved the tea cup ride and the cars in the secret garden. Thomas the train ride was a huge hit to also with my 22 month old.

We spent the whole day here , we spent hours on the amazing adventure playground outside and they loved the soft play indoors also.

They both loved seeing the animals we were even lucky to see a red panda!!!

Drusillas also had a great splash park so if you visit on a lovely day make sure you take your costume.

We can't wait to go back and visit

We took out 3 1/2 year old and MIL to Drusillas during a recent trip to Eastbourne. We had a fantastic time! There's so much to see and do and the animals were all in large, clean and interesting enclosures. Some of the rides in Hello Kitty's garden were only running every hour which could have made it difficult if you missed the time slot but out son wasn't bothered. The Thomas train was a big hit!!! Fabulous day out. We'd highly recommend.

Before the day we were given a lot of help by the restaurant manager (Malcolm) and Sarah who reserved a table for us and helped us go through the menus. On arrival we found the staff very attentive and responsive to our requests.
We found the zoo itself very interesting and informative, the children all enjoyed filling in and stamping their books. Having arrived at 11.00 we eventually dragged the children away at 5.00 and were amazed at how quickly the time had gone.
An excellent way to celebrate two birthdays and ensure that a family get together with ages ranging from 1year to 78years was enjoyed with everyone agreeing it was a great day out.
Thank you Drusillas

Spent a wonderful day with our two children ages 4 and 3. A wealth of activities kept them and ourselves entertained for the entire duration of the day. With perfect sunshine adding to the adventure we were able to sit by the poolside and watch our little ones play whilst enjoying refreshments! I would highly recommend visiting the park so you too can share the magic and watch your children's faces come to life with excitement!

Firstly, I have been driving past Drusillas for 10-15 years now and had never thought that it was a serious action packed, and informative day out for kids and adults alike. Well, how wrong I was and how sorry I am that I didn’t bring my two eldest to the park when they were 6 as my youngest is now.

Your animals are amazing and so easily viewed, even when asleep or inactive which, cannot be said for the majority of animal attractions in the UK. Everywhere was so spotlessly clean and I love the amount of hand wash and toilet facilities there are…..The education is immense, seriously, we are coming back on a drier day to find out more about the animal world which my daughter loves.

I am running out of superlatives but, your play area is one of the best my daughter has played in, your food embarrasses most of your competitors and, at a good price (expected to pay more – your jacket spuds and filling idea is the best park food in the UK) and lastly, Hello Kitty world had my daughter and her friend in fits of giggles and excitement it was lovely to watch.

Sadly, the rain came in early afternoon and we had to leave, however, we will be back.

I just wanted to share this with the owners and their team as you should be immensely proud of what you have created and, maintain to such a high standard.

My six year old son was a Zoo Keeper for a Day yesterday and he said it was the most amazing thing he's ever done! Helena our Keeper met us at the gate and took us through what we would be doing for the day (although not everything ... she kept a few surprises!!) and gave the rest of our family an itinerary so that they knew where we would be at certain times and watch. Firstly, we went to prepare the food, which involved seeing where all of the different food is stored and then selecting the food, chopping and weighing it. We then went on our rounds to clean out and feed porcupines and meerkats , which was fun. Then we went to be part of the penguin talk and feed the penguins, which was fantastic. We were then off to feed the capybaras and beavers, before we had our own lunch. In the afternoon we got to handle lots of animals from snakes, to giant snails, to armadillos - far too many to mention. A highlight was helping with the lemur talk and feeding the lemurs! Helena our Zoo Keeper was amazing, so patient and managed to answer all of my son's questions. A really worthwhile experience and my son wants to do it again next year! A really nice touch was being able to keep his zoo keeper T-Shirt and having a zoo keeper badge with is name printed on it and at the end of the day he was given a certificate.

We visited on a very busy day in half term but this did not hinder the enjoyment. Very clean, well organised and an impressive array of animals in the zoo area that can easily be seen by young children. The picnic areas give people the opportunity to take their own food. The Hello Kitty and Thomas the Tank Engine attractions were very popular and luckily the queues to get on the rides moved very quickly. An excellent day out for the whole family and especially for young children!

We went on a Sunday during a May bank holiday weekend, we were expecting it to be packed but it wasn't which was nice.

We booked tickets online in advance to save 10% which is definitely advisable as it is quite pricey. Paid for a family of 4- me, partner, 14 year old and 5 year old. Our 1 year old was free.

The youngest 2 loved it. Very accesible for pushchairs. Lots of small monkeys and other animals suited to younger children. You can pay £1.00 to have tropical birds feed from your hands, there are other walk troughs too. The playgrounds are HUGE and separate areas for under 6's. The other areas are great too. We could barely get the kids to leave. There is also an indoor soft play with big slides.

Hello Kitty land is new and has 3 rides (free) . There were no queues when we were there, my daughter wasn't tall enough for one of the rides but loved the others. We also didn't have to queue for the Thomas train ride.

The edens eye maze was quite fun, and if the weather had been better there was a nice paddling pool area.

We did not try any of the food outlets as we took a packed lunch. There were lots of picnic tables on an artificial grass area, it was very clean. The loos were also clean.

All in all, if you have young children its definitely worth a visit

Drusillas is a great day out for all the family. It may seem a little expensive on arrival but once inside every member of the family will get their money's worth. Everyone can ride the train all day if they want to. Younger members have the new little miss kitty area with lots of free rides. Older children can climb, slide and swing to their hearts content. The animals are a great joy to see and are well looked after and displayed.

What a lovely surprise... small zoo area with monkeys, birds etc (no big animals at all) - very clean and well tended. Also no-where near the crowds that you get at other attractions.
Saw Hallo Kitty and our granddaughter loved the rides and play area.
Not suitable for older children - I would imagine as it is very Hallo Kitty and Thomas the tank orientated.
We thought it was very cheap compared to Chessington etc but then there are no 'big' rides or 'big' animals to maintain. Food was good value and lots of areas for picnics if you didn't want to buy there's.
Overall a really lovely day - enjoyed by all.

This is a relatively small zoo which is aimed at families with young children. I took my adult son who has learning and physical disabilities and we found it was great for him as he could move around easily (there is excellent disabled access), the animals were lively, easily visible and there were lots of hands-on activities. There are no big animals, but plenty of small (and very cute) creatures such as meerkats, marmosets and so on. A particular highlight was the chance to walk through the lemur enclosure, though my favourite was "Lory's Landing" where you can buy little pots of nectar - only a quid, which is very good value seeing as these gorgeous birds them come and sit on your hand to lick it up. That was a lovely experience. I'm no expert, but the animals all seemed healthy, happy and well cared for and there are excellent signs explaining their lives, habitats and how they are looked after.

If you have small children I'd suggest making a whole day of it because besides the animals there is a large play area, a huge inflatable slide, the inevitable gift and sweet shops and a train ride, but older families could probably get around in a few hours.

There are reasonable facilities for humans; the loos were clean and there are plenty of places to wash your hands which is always important around animals. Food wise we visited one of the cafes which served burgers, nuggets and chips - heaven on earth if you are eight years old but a bit of a limited menu for anyone else. Maybe the other cafes serve a bigger range? However, staff in the cafe and throughout the park were kind, friendly and well-informed.

Overall this was a really pleasant place to spend a day.Entry fees are reasonable if you take into account the cost of maintaining the park and looking after the animals, although it's not particularly cheap. (Disabled visitors can take a carer for free if you offer proof of entitlement to DLA or similar.) If you have children who like animals and you want a chance to visit somewhere in beautiful countryside (the park is not far from the Devil's Dyke or Brighton itself) it is well worth a visit.

Went to Druscillas Park bank holiday Monday . Paid approx £75 for family of 4 travelled from 1hr20 from Portsmouth.

Positives :-

1/Tropical birds feeding from your child's hands for £1 ( bird nector )
Perfect experience for anyone!
2/The zoo is great and good views of many monkeys / animals ect.
3/Thomas tank engine and character s great for our kids
4/Hello Kitty section new build with 3 good rides for kids under 5
5/Good for local people that can dilute the costs for repeat visits.

Negatives:-

1/The entry fee to DP is about 5% less than Paultons Park - which is a far greater developed theme park for children
2/ DP opens @ 10am but had to wait until 11pm for Thomas and Hello Kitty
3/ The shabby inflatable slide in our option should be supervised from the top as large and small kids bundling all at once is completely dangerous
4/ The aged outdoor play area has so many hidden blind spots in it you wouldn't know if anyone was in trouble above you / my child got trapped twice so I took him off .
5/ Noticed hello kitty car ride had 1 attendant letting people in and also trying to seat people in the car - no-one letting people out of the car -impossible for him to achieve this safely ! Undermanned
6/ lots of "repaired" rotting timber sections / maintenance looks shabby at best .

We entered DP @ 10-10am and was back in the car by 1-20pm including 30mins for lunch and covered pretty much everything.

Not worth £70+ for a one off visit .
Needs few more attendants for saftey, and a planned maintenance refurb for the out of season months .

None of your big animals here, small monkey and birds and farm yard types here but the staff are very knowledgable about what they have and are willing to spend time talking to you and explaining their passion.
Lots for little peole to get on with and burn energy off. We were just a couple of adults and still enjoyed it. You could rush round in an hour or take your time and study what there is to see, took us 4 hours witha food stop in the middle, and that was without the train ride or the kiddy park. A good full day out for a family
Nicely laid out plenty of eateries and toilet facilities so no waiting in line for hours.
Great place to photo animals as can get very close.

We had not been to Drusillas for probably about 15 years,so very very different, it is not cheap, but pound for pound compared to what they used to charge years ago for what they had then it is better. We went in on a busy bank holiday, so very crowded and apart from the fact they funnel everyone arriving into a relatively narrow zoo tunnel, it's well laid out and organised, even though the place was heaving, we still managed to find a picnic bench for us at lunch time. My only two criticisms are, my granddaughter is an average size 2years old, so we had to pay the full price for her, which we accept, but then to find she does not reach the required size for all rides, is a little galling, my second point is that having paid 93 pounds for 6 of us, to then see there are attractions which were an extra cost is a bit cheeky, it is this point that stops me from giving 5 stars and saying I would recommend it.

I hadn't been to drusillas with my own children of 1 & 3 until this visit, but have been with other family a few times. My husband was never a huge fan, thinking it was expensive for what it was.

Convinced him to try it again with our two knowing that there had been a lot of changes and additions since he last went (probably 10 yrs ago!) And he had to admit he was impressed.

Booked the day before to save a little on entry and actually given how much there was to do I think the price is fair....even better that you can use tesco vouchers, which we are sure to do next time.

Our three year old loved everything. The interactive stuff around the zoo area, the animals themselves, the play areas both indoor and outdoor, Thomas and hello kitty. Tons for him. Our one year old even had lots to look at because you can get so close to most things and she spent the whole day 'chatting' to the animals.

Food was a little pricey but no more than expected and was actually really tasty. The toilets and baby change we used were clean.

Overall a lovely day and we will be back!

As most have already pointed out, this venue is expensive. There are two other areas it could improve upon. The first is parking. We found it very difficult to put a mid size family car into a space. This was largely due to some selfish people who were taking 2, sometimes 3 spaces. The staff need to do something about this. The second area is baby changing facilities. There are ladies & gents half way through the Zoo but these provide no facilities to change little ones. Tricky if you get caught short. That's the learns done. Overall the Zoo is excellent. Very informative for young & old and very interactive. The zoo-olympic ideas will really make learning fun. Our little one is not two yet, but he enjoyed the layout and could see all the animals. The play areas are excellent. Made me wish I was ten again. Food prices are a bit heavy but you expect that. Overall we had a fab day & would recommend it to everyone. If you want to save money;
Book the day before on line & take a packed lunch.

It's a superb day out. Rather expensive for a quick visit but worth it for the day. Good zoo, small paddling pool if hot, loads of areas for children to play on right up to about 12 I'd say. Thomas tank engine too plus themed days from time to time. If you are local and can visit four times in year then membership is a must!

We visited here in May. A great zoo,clean and tidy. Plenty of animals too see. And plenty of activities for the kids,play parks galore,Thomas the tank engine train ride and three hello Kitty rides. The food in the explorers cafe was very nice.

I bought the "Keeper for the Day" package as a gift for my partner and she had an AMAZING day that she will remember and treasure for ever.

From the very start of the purchase the staff were very friendly, informative and helpful, enabling a smooth and pleasant transaction.

The day itself was superb. My partner spent the day with a keeper (who couldn't have been nicer!) and got to meet, feed, touch and interact with all kinds of animals and creatures. For an animal lover, this is an amazing opportunity and an extremely special day. As a gift this is second to none.

I very HIGHLY recommend Drusillas 'Keeper For The Day' to you, it's money well spent and an experience that will be remembered for a lifetime.

We would like to say a huge thank-you to all the staff and especially the owners for inviting elderly people and their carers to your 90th Birthday Cream Tea. We were all made to feel so welcome. There were quite a few wheelchairs but everyone was seated and taken great care of. The zoo was of great interest to us all and to see the many changes from when we were there last with the grandchildren was amazing. Such a lot in a small area!!. The cream tea was lovely, all very fresh and with endless cups of tea and coffee, a real treat. We did have lunch there as well earlier in the day and must say that is was very good and reasonably priced. Thank you again to everyone.

Great day out for adults and children. The zoo was great, loads of interesting species that were are displayed with informative signs. All animals looked happy and healthy. The "theme park" side of the park was great, with hello kitty and Thomas making a big impression with our 2.5 yr old. Slightly disappointed that not all elements were fully open despite it being a beautifully sunny day, with lots of visitors coming through the gates.

I had a fantastic experience and21st birthday surprise adopting Slasher the penguin and actually getting to feed him and his friends in the penguin enclosure which is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I would definitely recommend to take young children here as even for a Bank holiday saturday it was spacious enough and all the activities to do that it didn't even seem as busy as other Zoos. I think its important places like this are not over crowded when you have young children as it can become more of a stressful day then fun and relaxing. I think this place ticks all the correct boxes for families with small children. I had a lovely time and thank you again for making my 21st a day to remember :)

My 3 year old had a great day. Friendly staff and endless activities. Don't be put off by lack of large animals, the monkeys, reptiles and farm animals were very active and you get very close to them. Thomas and carriages were a big hit. It was raining so unable to maximise the experience but will definitely return. Judge the experience on the smile of your children rather than adult comparisons to other venues based on the size or diversity of animals. If you want just zoo animals go to Regents Park or Marwell. If you want educational fun diversity at manageable size then this is great. Only mild disappointment is food for adults and paying £3 for wet wipes in the shop.