Luke had some time off for the last week of the school holiday, so we decided to tak Orla to Drusilla’s Park in East Sussex. Now, we usually go to Fishers Farm Park, but we have been meaning to go and check out Drusilla’s for years, plus it had a little Thomas train which looked pretty cool, so away we went. It was a  long drive for Orla, past Brighton, lots of traffic jams etc, and finally, got to Drusilla’s. It was naturally very crowded.  We did the zoo part first, ate, then the rest of the park.

Verdict: I don’t much like it. I thought that despite the best intentions of the park, that many of the enclosures in the zoo were far too small for many of the animals, though no doubt they meet the standard requirement of acceptance. But, the zoo activities for the children are excellent. The food was absolutely dire, and I mean dire! Luke described the place as ‘obesity central’. A harsh observation no doubt. But, whilst I have some sympathy for people with eating issues, what I have little tolerance and charity for, is seeing the children going the same way as their parents. In this day and age, NO one is ignorant about food and what constitutes good and bad eating habits. Some of the parents I saw at this place want smacking…REALLY hard.

Also, there was no green space anywhere, and in fact the picnic area was astro turfed. I think that’s where Fishers Farm Park has the definite advantage, as it has lots of green space. The whole park was pretty densely constructed. The play areas were excellent though, lots of climbing, nets, towers, slides etc, but, all hard flooring.  In fairness to Drusilla’s it had lots of very good features, activities and thinks to do for the children.  However, what was irksome, was that despite a hefty ticket price, we still had to pay extra for some of the features. Not good. So, it was good to check it out, but back to Fishers Farm Park I think for us next time.