When it comes to half terms and school holidays if we ask Erin where she wants to go the most her answer is almost always Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure. It’s been a firm favourite since the first time we visited back when Erin had just turned 3 and I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon. We visited again during May half term (2020) to see what some of thew newer attractions were like!
Buying tickets
Due to COVID you are no longer able to turn up on the day and buy tickets. Entrance is limited and tickets must be purchased online in advance, with you choosing a time slot to arrive when you book. I actually really like this system and hope that it’s something that stays. We usually book for a 10am entrance slot (the first one) so we can make the most of our day and doing so means being able to get some bits done while it’s quieter and also not as hot in the warmer months.
Adults and children over 90cm are £16.95 each and children under 90cm are free.
Dippy’s Theatre
One of the brand new attractions for 2020 is Dippy’s Theatre which can be found just round the back of the Dinomite Indoor Adventure Play. At Dippy’s Theatre you can go to Dippy’s Movie Time (4 times a day), Dippy and Friends Show (twice a day) or go for a meet and greet (4:30 every day). As we’d arrived early we headed straight there to catch the movie at 10:30am.
Dippy’s Theatre opens the doors 15 minutes before something is due to start and staff were great to get everyone seated with social distancing in mind. There was 3 free seats between us and someone else so there was a lot of space and we didn’t feel too close to anyone. There is also a small kiosk just before you go in selling bags of sweets and some merchandise. Bags of sweets cost £1.25 but we found that a lot of them were hard boiled sweets and not really suitable for Erin at age 5. It would have been better to have a proper pick n mix style inside instead.
The movie was really fun and only about 15 minutes long. This is a great introduction for children if they maybe haven’t been to the cinema before or they don’t want to sit still for too long. We also found that by going to Dippy’s Theatre we were able to escape the heat for a little while and cool down. I imagine this will be a really popular thing to do in the summer. We also saw the Dippy and Friends Show later in the day, which was just as much fun and definitely worth seeing if you have time.
Dippy’s Splash Zone
Dippy’s Splash Zone is one of Erin’s favourite attractions at Roarr! but it’s not always something we can do as it’s only open when the weather/ temperature is good enough. However, when it is open you can book a 20 minutes time slot starting at 11am all the way up to 4pm. We booked for the very first timeslot and it’s a good idea to get this done straight away to make sure you can actually get a time. It does get very busy in the summer as it’s such a good way for the kids to be able to cool down!
The splash zone has some picnic tables outside so there is space to get the kids changed (and dried afterwards) but again these can get taken up quickly if it’s really busy. There is loads of space on the grass opposite though if you need a bit more space and time to get dried after the time slot has ended.
You can’t actually take photos of the splash zone when it’s in use but I managed to get one before it opened so I can at least show what it’s like.
What else is there to do?
Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure really is a full day out (if you want it to be) and we usually stay until about 4:30pm which is only 30 minutes before closing. We are yet to do everything in one visit and I’m not sure we’d ever be able to. I’ll go over some of the attractions available at the moment:
Play areas
To start with there is a really large play area outside with loads of climbing equipment, slides and swings. Although busy, Erin has always found something to play on without having to wait too long for a turn on something. As the equipment is quite spread out too it never really feels too busy either.
Dinomite Indoor Adventure Play
Dinomite Indoor Adventure Play is currently operating a first come first served basis for the indoor soft play. This wasn’t something we did this time but I would say get there maybe 20 minutes before the time slot you want to go to. We saw some quite big queue outside for this but Erin just wanted to be outside on this occasion.
Dinosaur Trail
We all love the dinosaur trail and this is now something we tend to do on each visit. It’s a bit of a walk but it’s all pushchair and pram friendly so you won’t have any troubles walking it with really little ones. Along the trail you’ll find loads of different dinosaurs with so many photo opportunities. This part of Roarr! is also quite shaded because of the trees so another area where you can cool down a bit.
X-Tinction
X-Tinction is an area where you can dig for fossils in the sand. Another covered area but it’s quite small and can get very busy. However, there are two large sand areas here so it is possible to spread out and find some space if it is busy. Brushes are provided so children can see what they can uncover in the sand.
Dippy’s Raceway
Dippy’s Raceway is one of the newer attractions and one that was popular with Erin from the first time she got to go on it. This is a circuit where children (and adults if accompanying smaller children) can race against each other! During school holidays and weekends there are electric go-karts available and there’s even a winner’s podium for photo opportunities.
Pterodactyl’s Treehouse
This is another place that Erin really loves and makes sure we visit at least once during our day. It can be found right next to Dinomite Indoor Adventure Play with a fair amount of seating outside. Pterodactyl’s Treehouse is a big piece of climbing equipment with various sized slides to try out.
There are still more attractions to discover such as Predator! High Ropes, Raptor Racers and the Secret Animal Garden just to name a few!
Food and drink
One of the things I love the most about Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure is that there are plenty of options for food and drink and lots of places to eat. There are picnic tables all over the place with a lot being around the main outdoor play area and then again near Predator! High Ropes. A lot of people take picnics and there are also lots of bins dotted around. I have to say, I find that Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure is always really clean and you hardly ever see rubbish laying around.
Other options for food and drink include Dippy’s Snack Shack (next to Dippy’s Splash Zone) or Jurassic Snack (next to Dinomite) where you can get things like drinks, paninis, hot dogs, burgers and pizza. The queues can get quite long here at certain times of the day so just be prepared for a bit of a wait. Dinomite also has it’s own cafe inside but you can only use this during your soft play time slot.
At the bottom end of Roarr! you will find the Explorers restaurant and Nautilus where you can get fish and chips! The restaurant has only just reopened and we haven’t been able to eat here yet but we have eaten from Nautilus before and the chips were really good and not too expensive either.
A Roarr-some day out!
As a family we all love Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure and it’s somewhere we always look forward to going back to. Although we’ve been plenty of times before, there always seems to be something new to do or see and it’s great value for money. You can spend the whole day here and have so much fun and still need to come back again to do the bits you missed.
PIN IT FOR LATER
