Drusillas Park

4.7/5 based on 4146 reviews
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We went to the zoo the week after the the kids went back to school on a Saturday afternoon. We got there at 14:00 and to be honest I'm glad we didn't plan to stay all day there as we were done by closing time which was 18:00. Because we got there late in the day there were no queues, which was nice! The zoo was good fun for the kids and there was lots of information about the animals and some good interactive stations to keep them amused.
The Hello Kitty park was a bit low key for my 7 and 8 year old girls. We didn't eat at the zoo - the food looked a bit cheap and nasty. The play park was good fun for the girls and big enough to take tons of kids so wasn't over crowded.
A pleasant place and I'd recommend it. It cost us £65 for a family of 4, but I think you can get a discount by booking online.
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Came here on Monday 15th September with 2 young children aged 1 1/2yrs and 3 1/2yrs. I used to come here a lot as a child so had very fond memories of this place. There was no que to enter and we used our tesco club card vouchers instead of paying . The stamp book is a great idea and my eldest loved finding each animal and stamping it off. The zoo section is very clean and well kept with information and interactive things for the kids to look at. Also what was nice was that all the animals were moving and visible, many places we have visited the animals are hiding or asleep. They also have two walk through enclosures where you can walk up close with the lemurs and then feed the lorikeets their nectar which was great fun as they land on you. After the zoo the kids wore themselves out in the enormous adventure playground and indoor soft play area. Plenty of picnic tables for our picnic but hardly any of the cafés etc were open. We went on the Thomas train but this was rather short indeed, as we didn't have to que it didn't bother us. The only downside of the place was that as it was out of season they are trying to cut costs in the hellokitty land by only having one ride on a time, a bit silly if you ask me.
Overall we had a lovely day and we were very impressed by the zoo area in particular. I would definitely recommend a visit here with young children
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Myself and my husband travelled to Drusillas Park with our son after friends had visited and sang it praises as a great place for toddlers.

When we arrived we were overwhelmed by the huge number of animals that greeted us and my 2 year old was amazed with the farm area and various monkeys.

He also muchly enjoyed collecting the stamps in his book and taking part in the zoolympics. The massive park areas kept him busy for ages and we also enjoyed our trip on Thomas.

However, our day trip finished on a sad note when we visited the new Hello Kitty Secret Garden. On arrival at Drusillas Park there were notices up explaining that the rides would only be open for 15 minutes at a time starting with the Hello Kitty cars on the hour. So we arrived at the car ride a few minutes after 2 and waited in the queue with my son who was excited at the thought of "driving" a car. We waited patiently as the people before us took their turn and then as we got close to the front of the queue (4 people ahead of us) the ride attend announced that she was closing the ride to move on to the next one. Of course this immediately upset my son who started to cry because he wanted his turn on the cars. When we asked why they were not honouring those people who had been in the queue before the 15 minutes expired we were told it was because there was only one person attending to all the rides during off peak days and then the ride attended walked off.

I understand that during off peak times it is not cost effective to have too many staff hanging around but what ever happened to customer service!

The whole park seems to be geared to young children and yet in that one moment there were many children heartbroken at the idea they could not ride in the cars (at least not for another 45 minutes).

We did eventually calm our little one down (with the promise of and ice cream) but it was a very sad ending to what had otherwise been a good day.

Drusillas, I think you need to review the ride policy. Maybe you should stop people queuing at a certain point to avoid this happening, or have two ride attendants overlapping on the closing ride and opening ride. Something needs to be done to try and avoid the upset to the children.
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This is the best day out we have had in ages.We have two small girls- 2 and almost 4 years - and they had a fantastic day. They learned and giggled all day long.
As a teacher, I personally loved the educational aspect of the zoo with a stamper book you collect at the start to fill with stamps when the kids spot the animals - this made our two actually look at the animals and learn their names. I also enjoyed all the interactive opportunities, crawling through the tunnel to be in the meerkat area, milking the pretend cow with false teets and water filling the bucket and walking around the leema enclosure.
We particularly loved feeding the birds nectar and it was a super experience for the girls to get so close to the beautiful birds. Even if, they were not sure about having them land on them, they certainly liked my husband and we're not shy about stealing the food or landing on his bald head.
After a great morning with the animals , we then had hours of fun in the play parks with a variety of areas for different ages, an indoor soft play area and lots of death slides/ zip wires for the older ones.
There are lots of areas for picnics but we had a treat in the cafe and this was tasty and a reasonable price. The area was kept clean and the high chairs were secure. The toilets and baby change areas were easy to find, plentiful and clean.
After lunch we enjoyed a free ride on Thomas the Tank Engine and the Fat Controller was even there to say Hi to the girls, I think this happens a few times a year and is advertised. My two loved the ride and went in with Nanna which meant I could have a peek in the shop, which has all sorts of toys and caters to all purses with small pocket money things for older children to buy. I thought this was really parent friendly.
To top it all off there is then Hello Kitty World with 3 free rides, teacups, cars and a up down thing ( ???) and also a bench for photos and a HK parlour to get painted faces. This was like a dream for my two and I got some super photos.
I would highly recommend this as an amazing day out but make it a full day as there is loads to do and lots of fun to have.
I've already promised that we will go next summer.
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We had a fantastic time. Hadn't been for a long time so it was lovely to see all the different changes. Our first ever visit was in 1992 for my husbands and Is first date. We have had many fun visits x
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This was a birthday present from my children and I loved every minute. The staff are great and I was the only person feeding the lemurs, so was a memorable experience.
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Had a day out with visiting family with 3 year old twins and they loved it. Everything is well set out & organised. Don't expect any of the bigger animals here that you see in other zoos but don't let that put you off. There are also a few small rides aimed at the younger kids, including Thomas the Tank Engine which were all good. There was only 1 eating place open which had a basic choice of food which was ok, nothing exceptional, but was impressed by the price of food there & did not feel ripped off. Overall we had a great day out. Best to buy your admission tickets online in advance as there appears to be a bit of a saving.
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Sunday morning decided to treat my grandchildren ages 5 and two 4 years old to drusillas. Booked online last night and saved £8 .straight in to the small zoo with penguins and meerkat s and lots of small animals which the children loved..HUGE play area which we came back to over and over again ..Thomas tank engine gave us a nice trip round the park and on the day we were there the fat controller was in attendance. There was a nice paddling pool area but we couldn't use as had no towels etc but lovely on a hot day .kitty land was great as rides all aimed at younger children .We were there from 12 till 6 and grandchildren still would have stayed longer ...great place for day out as a treat as expensive but was well worth it but take your own food as very expensive ..we had a picnic...we had a great day out and I recommend
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We visited drusillas when on holiday in Hastings, we go back every year now. It is brilliant. Its so much more than a zoo. Its clean, friendly, stunning animals and a must for any thomas fanatic :) have recommended to other friend who have also visited when on holiday and brpight back nothing but positive comments :)
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My son, Mother and i have been members at Drusillas since April. We have been going at least 4 times a month since and feel its a amazing day out for the whole family. Its always clean and tidy even down to the toilets. The staff have been helpful and seam to enjoy making sure everyone has a good time. The animals look well cared for and happy plus the enclosures always look clean. I also love the offers for members like the £5 for non member days as my partner can not afford to be a member at the moment so it means he was able to come with us once to the delight of my son.
So in all its a lovely day out and i would recommend it to anyone. Get there early because there is a lot to see :)
tripadvisor.co.uk
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Such a wonderful place to take children. All kinds of animals with lots of interactive educational things to do, play areas, places to still enjoy if weather is not so good. Thomas the tank train rides going continuously round the park. A new Hello Kitty section that is very pretty, but the little car rides have fixed steering wheels - can't understand why the designers didn't understand that little ones like some movement in a steering wheel or something with action like a horn or gear stick,
The staff operating the Hello Kitty rides should be trained in how to appear interested in their job and interact with the little ones, not look as if they were bored stiff even if they were!
The maze is quite entertaining too - too small to get lost or anything, but some interactive and scary things to do whilst in there.
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Grandma was stuck in the caravan dog-sitting when husband, daughter and 6 year old granddaughter departed on Saturday morning for Drusillas. They returned some time later, bubbling over with the time they'd had and I had a bad case of "day out envy". Arriving around 10.15 parking was no particular problem, and entry (pre-paid bought online) was easy - a queue of 3, I understand. Most of the animals were in their cages and DG loved climbing into a dome and spying on the meerkats. Much fun was had milking a pretend cow in the farmyard section and there was the opportunity to see the animals at feeding times. Toilets (essential with a 6 year old!) seemed in good supply and there were sufficient reasonably priced food outlets. Even better was the fact that smoking was only allowed in four specific areas around the park.Thomas and his coaches ride went down well, and best of all was the Hello Kitty area with both daughter and DG arriving home with matching braided hair. The rides on Thomas and the Hello Kitty rides were included in the entrance price as were the play areas. Some charges were made for e.g. panning for gold and Hello Kitty shop but they were reasonable. All in all ,everyone had a very good day and Darling Granddaughter wants to go back for her birthday next year. Husbands verdict was that it was a good value attraction. Maybe we can get a dog-sitter next time then I'll find out for myself!
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Having visited several tnemed children's parks during the school holidays Drussillas came out for value and entertainment. We visited at the end of August with eight and six year old girls. They loved the Hello Kitty area and would have happily spent the day there. When we moved them onto the adventure park and soft play via Thomas train ride they liked each one more. The interactive trail through the primates was imaginative and educational.
We ate in the restaurant which we thought very reasonable, similarly, any additional activities such as the inflatable slide were comparatively cheap. There is, however, so much to do that KT is unnecessary to spend extra money if you bring food. We were impressed with thoughtful details like the provision of lockers although we only found these towards the end of the day.
If I could think of any negatives it would be the bored attitude of some of the attendants but the children did not notice this.
We steyed until closing time but the children would have been happy to stay for several days.
tripadvisor.co.uk
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This is quite a compact zoo, has all the main features, but many of the cages did 'seem' to be empty or abandoned - maybe it was sleep time or something.Staff very helpful, had to hire a wheelchair and that was very easy.Toilets few and far apart, although that's the way it felt.Restaurant adequate, but quality of food could be better.Admission not cheap, would suggest using Tesco Clubcard Boost vouchers, which can make a real difference.On the whole, a nice place for the kids, but can't imagine being there a whole day.
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My second only visit to the Park and the first was over 30 years ago so what a huge surprise it was this time. Arriving in the afternoon on an overcast day just before the kids returned to school meant the car park was almost full but there were no lines queuing to get in. With 2 boisterous boys it was tricky keeping up and they were more interested in the play park than the animals but we managed to see almost everything. The boys were the only ones in the paddling pool at 5.45 but it cooled them down before we left. The animal enclosures looked great, lots of interactive material for them. If you're scared of bats dont go in to see them as they are able to fly above your head! Food plentiful and edible.
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We did the raccoon feeding that was incredible. You get to go into their pen and they eat from your hand. We also feed the birds, panned for gold, dug for fosssils, had a dip in the pool, took the rides in the secret garden. There is so much todo!!!
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I was really overwhelmed with how much there was really to do and how the educational elements were fun for kids! We stayed from opening to close and I still feel like we could have spent another day! Amazing day!
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Ignore the somewhat claustraphobic entrance area and walk straight through into the zoo proper. Happy looking animals, quality rather than quantity, lots of well presented information and buttons to press, a passport for kids to stamp as they go round, good play areas, good quality fast food outlets or bring your own picnics, my daughter loved the new Hello KItty area, plus the Thomas train.Recommended.
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Fantastic family day out. Great fun and plenty to do. We spent the whole day there. Animals, play areas. Fun and Educational.
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Wow, I was surprised what a lovely place, firstly I was very impressed with the condition of the animals and the settings they were in are lovely, we spent over six hours there, and my daughter didn't even go on any of the climbing activities, all members of staff polite and smart, nice and clean no litter about, the whole family loved the feed the bird experience well worth the pound to do it (might be a good idea to take another top to put on as I did get mine a bit covered in poo, but well worth it) when we got back to the car we all agreed that it was a great day of fun, and went a good way to making our holiday a special one well done to everyone at the park.
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We had a full day out at Drusillas and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We loved the fact that the zoo had some unusual animals eg. racoons, beavers and porcupines. The site was split into 50% zoo and 50% play area. We mixed the two up through the day. My 5 year old loved Hello Kitty's Secret Garden and my 7 year old loved the animals. The only negative was that we didn't know they had an outside lagoon which the kiddies could paddle/splash in and we didn't have swimsuits for our girls.
The lunch menu was good and fairly reasonable.
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Visited with my family and my sisters family with kids ranging from 1-5 years. Had heard good things about the zoo but the trip really exceeded our expectations! There was so much to do that even though we arrived at 10.30 we still couldn't do it all so will definetly be coming back!

Hello Kitty World was great and my daughter and niece LOVED it! The play areas are some of the best I have ever seen, I wanted to have a play! Food was good as were all other facilities.

My favourite bit were the animals, the kids were fascinated and I enjoyed feeding the parakeets and watching penguins being fed. All the educational/interactive parts were fun too! Not only were the kids testing out their speed mph, so were the adults, with embarrassing results!

I would highly recommend the park, we were so impressed and can't wait to go back!
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Wow what an amazing day we had.. all the babies. The animal stamps and the zoolympics so much for the children to do the thomas ride as always a hit but what a great addition the hello kitty secret garden is.. absolutely beautiful. A really good day oh and the play area go bananas was great :-) thank you
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I came to Brighton to stay with family and for a day out they took me and my grandson to Drusillas Zoo for the day .We come from Hackney in London and had never heard of Drusillas Zoo My grandson who is 11 years old and very hard to please. he really enjoyed it and gave it nine and a half out of ten .We play this game all the time and my grandson always marks the places we visit out of ten London Zoo has only ever got a six . We had youngsters of 4 years old and a 11 and 12 year olds. I felt Drusillas was really good for children with all the interactive Activities , the hello kitty theme park area was beautiful , the play area caters for all ages . Drusillas was lovely and clean , the staff were really polite and there willingness to help was brilliant . I would definitely recommend this to people and really do think it was much nicer than London Zoo.
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We recently visited East Sussex for a week or so, one of the days we visited Drusillas Park.

Drusillas Park is partly a zoo and part of the grounds are taken up by a model railway and a children's adventure playground.

It is a very well laid out zoo, more on the theme for children, but very well thought out. The animals that they have can be very comical, the meerkats, small parrots and some otters, to name but a few.

They have quite a good cafe for refreshments, if you find yourself in the area it's well worth the visit. The entrance is not that expensive considering the fun it gave us for the day.

Go for it
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