With the promise of unicorns, rainbows, freebies and even more unicorns, I couldn’t resist heading to Twycross Zoo for the last weekday adventure I have with my little lady before she starts school. It definitely didn’t disappoint and was all the magic for her that it promised.

The Rhino & Unicorn Bank Holiday Weekend event lasts (or lasted, depending on when you’re reading this) until Bank Holiday Monday, August 26th 2019.

For non-members, tickets in advance are also from just £10, so a huge saving on usual prices. And did I mention there would be unicorns? A combination I couldn’t refuse.

Getting in…

The zoo opens at 10am, but by 9.30am there was already a queue forming to get in. Yes, I was one of them, but did take advantage of filling my KeepCup up from Costa by the entrance to keep me fuelled for the next few hours of fun.

This is the first time I’d been in the holidays as usually go on quiet weekdays during term time, but I’ll be losing those days now, however the queue behind did look pretty long to get in.

Once inside, members can head through a ‘fast track’ area and non-members can go through the other booths, however with tickets pre-booked and being at the front, we managed to get straight through.

Once inside the zoo itself, however, there is so much to do that you don’t tend to notice crowds.

The freebie toys…

We knew unicorn and rhino toys had been hidden around the zoo, so having mistakenly told Lily, she wouldn’t let us look at any animals before we found at least one hidden toy species.

Thankfully, by heading straight for the rhino and giraffe enclosure before anyone else, we pretty much instantly picked up one of each.

Lily was more than happy, and was then ready to demand seeing some animals.

The animals…

Twycross Zoo is a fantastic place to take all the family with some impressive animals to enjoy.

The night before our visit, I asked Lily what animals she wanted to see, and she seemed most excited about the zebras. No idea where that came from, but we definitely visited the zebras.

There are rhinos, giraffes, and now even beautiful Sumatran tigers, alongside meerkats, and a HUGE variety of monkeys, including orangutan and chimpanzee.

You can see penguins a leopard, and, well, over 500 different types of animals.

There’s even an interactive pet area where you can visit goats, rabbits and smaller animals, as well as a rainbow lorikeet area where you can feed the birds, and a butterfly area to come up close to some stunning butterflies.

Twycross Zoo is well-renowned for its conservation work and supporting some very rare species of animals, so it is a really special and unique place to visit.

The play areas…

We always take a picnic to enjoy on a blanket next to the play areas, letting Lily run around like a monkey to burn off some energy too.

She loves the main play area near the monkeys, but you can also find an indoor soft play (extra cost), and a play area next to the pet area, so there is always something to play on for all ages to enjoy.

If you wanted to go just for a coffee and soft play, you don’t need to pay to go into the zoo, just for the soft play, and your coffee of course!

There’s also an outdoor splash park area with water jets and fountains to play in… so remember a change of clothes or a towel! There are some changing cabins and picnic benches around there too, which is handy!

The food…

Food isn’t hard to come by, although you may need to queue for it at peak times. There’s an indoor restaurant at the entrance along with a Costa Coffee which sells snacks and kids’ picnic boxes, and there’s a fish&chip restaurant in the zoo itself.

We have always taken a picnic and there are plenty of indoor and outdoor areas for picnics, and a good number of bins to clear up after yourselves.

We usually get an ice cream treat before we leave, and there are several outdoor huts to get one from, or a slushy.

The unicorn weekend…

We came along for the rhino and unicorn weekend, and it was a fantastic event.

There were little toys hidden around the park (hint: get there early as they go quickly!) which you can take home if you find, and something Lily instantly wanted to search for.

Thankfully we found one of each… maybe it was karma for helping another little girl find a unicorn too!! 😉

There was also face painting, meet the rhino mascot, and a few games, such as Pin the Tail on the Unicorn and Unicorn hoopla!

Lily’s highlight was meeting the Unicorn Princess. She happily took photos with the little ones, and was so friendly too, chatting to everyone.

She then got up on a little stage, sang some songs and told a story, before teaching all the little ones the magical way to ride a unicorn.

All the kids were given inflatable unicorns for it, although a few were clearly reluctant to give them back after! Lily really enjoyed it though and it was something so different.

After the singing (her voice was great), she read a lovely story about unicorns, and then played some games with the little ones. Lily had an absolutely great time, and with this all included in the ticket price, I was a happy mama too!

It was lovely to see how excited she was, and giggled away with the Unicorn Princess, who gave her a huge cuddle at the end.

The end…

We will definitely be back again soon, as Lily gets so much out of her visits, and there is so much you can do there that a day isn’t always enough!

The staff are always so friendly and knowledgeable, and the talks with the animals throughout the day are always so interesting. The fact we had rhinos and unicorn activities today was just the icing on the very happy rainbow cake!

Please note, I’ve tried to use photos without other children in them. If you want any photos removed, just drop me a line.

For more information visit the Twycross Zoo website here…

Tips for visiting with families

• The whole zoo is fully accessible for pushchairs and wheelchairs
• There are plenty of toilets throughout the zoo too
• Tickets in advance online are from just £10 through the summer holidays, and keep an eye on their social media as they often have some great events and ticket deals
• Take a picnic with you to save some money as there are some great picnic areas both indoors and out
• There are often queues at opening, so either get there early or later on. If you’re there for an event with hidden toys, make sure you’re early!
• If you want to use the splash park, remember to bring a spare change of clothes and/or a little towel