Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park Show

We Visited: Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park

We recently visited Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park in Waltham Abbey, Essex with the children for the half-term dinosaur event, and I was surprised by how much we all enjoyed ourselves. I knew this would probably be a hit with our youngest adventurer, I wasn’t sure if it would be as fun for our 11yr old, but this really is a fantastic day out for the whole family.

Animals, Shows & Bouncy Castles

Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park Slide

The park is very well-organised – upon arrival, we were greeted by a lovely lady who quickly gave us all the information for the day, including a schedule of the shows. We arrived just in time for the first show, which was a dinosaur-themed dance show for children held in the barn. Our 3-year-old was having the time of her life on the dance floor as soon as the bubbles came out.

The bouncy castles caught the children’s attention, but they were soon off exploring the other attractions, including the two rides for children, which we went on multiple times. There are a large variety of animals for the kids to see and also the opportunity to touch or feed some of them at certain times of the day. We also spent some time in one of the large tents with giant building blocks and it was great to find there’s a smaller bouncy castle for younger children.

The Dinosaurs & The Food

The dinosaur event included some special activities and we enjoyed looking for hidden dinosaur pictures in the sand, our kids love digging in sand and this led on to the interactive dinosaur area, where the children (and some adults..) enjoyed roaring at the dinosaurs.

Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park Dinosaur

For lunch, we headed back to the cafe for a sit-down meal, and we were impressed by the quick service and the portion sizes – it was fuss free and everyone was happy. There were other food options, we saw that there was also a food van in the main area where the bouncy castles were and picnics spots dotted around.

We burned off more energy in the outdoor play area after lunch, but the rides and bouncy castles were too tempting, so we went back to them. There were plenty of seating areas throughout the park, and in the big tent area, which was great as I could sit and watch the kids as they played. We noticed many people eating their picnics in these areas too.

Before leaving, we watched another great show on the outdoor stage and then discovered the sand play area, where the kids dug for dinosaur fossils for ages.

The Layout & Visiting Times

The layout of the park is well spread out, so you don’t feel like there are loads of people, and we didn’t have to queue for the little rides. The bouncy castles were not overcrowded, and there was enough room to watch the shows, this made the day smooth and we didn’t have spend lots of time queuing for things.

Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park Turkeys

Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park is almost entirely outdoors, which makes it a great option for a summer day out, the park is open 7 days week from March/April until the end of August and then weekends during the rest of the year. There’s one indoor area, which is the first show and the tent, as well as the cafe. They are currently building a bigger outdoor play and sand area, which looks amazing, especially for older children.

There was so much to do at the park, and it definitely makes for a full day experience. We arrived around 10:30am left about 4 pm, though we could have easily stayed longer.

Parking was easy and stress-free, with a large car park, and there were plenty of toilets by the front entrance, and we saw more over by the bouncy castles. The park is cashless, so make sure you bring your card for food and gift shop purchases.

Overall, we had a great time at Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park, and we would definitely recommend it to other families with children.

The park has more themed events coming up this year including Toddler Festival at the start of July and KidsFest throughout the summer holidays.

Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park Website

How to get there:

By car:

The farms are two miles north of Waltham Abbey on the B194 and just four miles from the M25.

By bus:

Buses stop outside Lee Valley White Water Centre, Waltham Abbey (buses 250, 251).

The farms are a two mile walk through River Lee Country Park.

By train:

The nearest station is Cheshunt, it is then a pleasant two mile walk through River Lee Country Park to the farms.

Follow the signs through this beautiful country park.

We travelled by car and from Chelmsford its a 45min drive.

This experience is best suited to: Adults & children of all ages

For more ideas for family days out take a look at the Visit Essex website.