Dino Kingdom Review | Thoresby Park, Nottinghamshire

A couple of weeks ago we took a little trip to Dino Kingdom with the kids for a roarsome day out in the beautiful surroundings of Thoresby. I was actually lucky enough to go twice – once on the press day with my sister-in-law and one nephew and then again the day after with my family and other nephew!

Everyone had a brilliant time and none of them could stop talking about it afterwards which was lovely.

Dino Kingdom is an exciting outdoor adventure that brings dinosaurs to life (almost), with animatronics, 3D installations and interactive dinosaur-themed activities. There’s also great food and drink offerings as well as fairground rides so there’s lots to see and do.

It’s a really cool experience for kids to be able to wander around looking at the huge dinosaurs and see them move and roar realistically in front of them. It’s really educational too, in a fun way and I learnt a lot about them, both from the plaques displayed in front of each one as well as from my nephews! It was really sweet to listen to them telling me about them and getting excited to share what they know.

The dinosaurs really do look great – some of them are absolutely enormous and so lifelike, and the walk around them all is lovely – you wander through the trees and there’s pretty lighting guiding you before you see pterodactyls in the branches above you ready to swoop down!

My favourite part was as you walk out of the woods to see a huge dinosaur skeleton and more huge animatronic dinosaurs, with the backdrop of Thoresby Hall in the background. The sun was lighting everything up and it looked amazing.

The whole area was much nicer to walk around on the Friday as it was a lot less busy. There’s plenty of space but we did have to queue for some things on the Saturday but it wasn’t terrible and the tickets had all sold out for that day so it was to be expected. I would aim to go on a weekday if you have the choice though as then you can wander around at your own pace rather than waiting to get close up to see the dinosaurs.

After you have done the walkaround then it all opens up to the picnic areas and then the fair and there’s a really good range of things to go on. You do have to pay for rides separately though, as is usually the case, but we had fun going on the dodgems, the kids on hook-a-duck as well as a great bouncy castle and slide that none of them wanted to come off.

The more interactive activities are a nice addition. There were three different activities inside tents that the kids had fun in and they loved digging for fossils in the sandpits and that kept them entertained for a while, particularly the youngest (he’s 3).

They all really enjoyed the dinosaurs that you could ride on too. They moved and roared once they were safely strapped in and they were good fun. We did have to queue for them on the busier day but walked straight on the day before. The queues still weren’t too bad though and the kids could play on other things around the area as you queued.

There were plenty of loos around, including some disabled ones, and a good range of food and drink available to buy too – bratwurst, burgers, pie and mash and roast cobs, mulled wine, beer and hot drinks as well as meals for the kids.

It’s also perfect for taking your own little picnic too if you don’t want to spend more money. There are some picnic tables but not loads but there is loads of space to it on the grass without being close to anyone else and the weather was nice enough for us to do that (whilst I enjoyed my mulled wine!).

There is plenty of parking, although the signs could have been clearer as it is not the usual entrance to Thoresby, and we weren’t the only ones to need to turn around, although they had improved after the first day. It is a bit of a walk to get to Dino Kingdom from the car park so bear that in mind if you have little ones or if you are thinking about leaving your lunch in the car!

On the Saturday there was a really cute little train taking passengers some of the way which would be fun for kids and save their legs slightly but I’m not sure if it is there every day.

We all had a really fun couple of days out at Dino Kingdom at Thoresby Park and I’d definitely take the kids again another year.

We were provided with tickets for Dino Kingdom but all words and opinions are my own.