Whilst gate crashing Nanna and Grandad’s holiday in Saundersfoot, we visited the Dinsosaur Park, near Tenby.
It was on a main route and easy to get to by car, although the sat nav indicated I should enter through a field rather than the actual entrance, which crept up on me on a fast road, so I did have to find somewhere to turn around. But that said, it was immediately obvious I had made the mistake as the park is visible from the road.
One of the things I really liked about this place is that, unlike other small parks of a similar nature, once you pay your entry fee most of the rides are included. Though, when I say most of the rides are included, the ones I am excluding are 2p/ride. And they even gave the children some 2ps to get them started.
The park itself had a walking trail, which we didn’t get to do (2 people with mobility issues with us, so we stuck to what they could manage that day. And during certain periods they have the “safari” tours. Don’t be fooled by the queues on this one, they get people through as quickly as possible… we were waiting for about 10 minutes max. And bascially, you get on a large golf buggy, and get driven around a small trail with large model dinosaurs and sound affects. To the person who expects 5 star quality and comfort from a 2 star hotel, you are probably going to be disappointed. To the person who can respect “I didn’t pay masses, so this isn’t going to be the most magical experience ever” you may very well enjoy it, especially if you can look at it from a nostalgic and playful perspective.
There is a small information centre and a cafe that does your average “day out” food (chips, sarnies etc.), which was reasonably priced and well portioned. The staff were all polite, friendly and helpful.
Then there are the rides, some of them are manned like the water zorbing, tubing, “skiddy cars” etc, and then there are orb cars, kids bikes, mini karts etc. that are unmanned and are either help yourself, or insert 2p to ride. There’s also a maze, a play barn and a park. The rides there aren’t all listed here, click on their web link at the bottom to see a full list.
But we had 3 very different personality 5-10 year olds with us and they all were completely enertained right up until the moment we said we had to leave. They loved it. Red faced, sweaty, full of fresh air, laughed out, tired and happy. You know you are on to a winner when that’s the end result of the day. And it didn’t break the bank either – around £30 for the 3 of us to enter, and if you get the receipt stamped during your visit, you can return within 7 days for a heavily discounted price.
