Sunday in Blackpool – Blackpool Zoo & Coral Island

I can’t believe our weekend is almost over! Just 1 more sleep in Blackpool – sad times! Today we are visiting Blackpool Zoo and Coral Island

Blackpool Zoo

We pre-booked Blackpool Zoo using Tesco Clubcard vouchers – Just a note if you do this, you’ll need to convert enough for the on the gate day rate even though you have to prebook, we didn’t and ended up paying an extra £29 to get in! – We arrived just before it opened and there wasn’t too much of a queue.

If you follow my blog, you will also know I LOVE dinosaurs, so imagine my excitement when I am greeted by this after walking through the main entrance!

Come face to face with the terrifying tyrannosaurus rex, mighty marine reptiles, awesome pterodactyls and more than 30 other stunning prehistoric creatures. Your Dinosaur Safari will take you through 4 ages, over running streams and even behind a living curtain of water. Sound effects and thousands of authentic living plants and trees bring the prehistoric world vividly to life. From : https://www.blackpoolzoo.org.uk/exhibits/dinosaur-safari

The ‘safari’ is a walk through track filled with life size models of over 30 species of Dinosaurs, some of them even move (which did scare Holly a little bit!) There are fact cards on each one telling you information on where they were located etc.

There is also a small coffee shop located at the entrance to this with seating both open air and under a canopy so you can grab a coffee before starting your day.

Next we found some Flamingos (Holly LOVES Flamingos) and here she is showing you all her best Flamingo impression. Did you know? Flamingos are actually white but as it feeds on algae and brine shrimp, its body metabolizes the pigments — turning its feathers pink! Thanks to the hubby for that little nugget of information. We found a telescope (is that the right word for it??) and they were all looking at the flamingos through it (it’s 20p to use it so have some change ready!)

Before stopping for some lunch we found a Red Panda : another fun fact, they aren’t actually related to Pandas but are close relations to Skunks, Racoons and Weasels! Zebras, Wallabies, Wolves, Guinea Pigs, Ostriches and we encountered a small Wren sneaking into the monkey enclosure but we don’t think he faired very well even though the staff acted very quickly to distract the monkeys and go in and rescue it.

Lunch – Cafe & Play park

We stopped for lunch at the cafe in the middle of the zoo which again has open air seating and a limited amount of umbrellas available should you need a bit of shade. It serves hot and cold food and drinks. If you would prefer indoor seating this is available at the Lake View Cafe close to the main entrance. Just a warning : the seagulls are relentless, we watched them swoop down and take food straight out of peoples hands on several occasions! The play park here is great and they all loved playing while we got to eat in peace (Well apart for the crazy seagulls!)

Over this side of the park you’ll also find the Children’s Farm, which looks like it would normally allow the little ones to hold various animals but it was empty apart from the miniature donkeys and another smaller play frame.

It also looks like there is usually a mini train, but again this also wasn’t running, I couldn’t find any information about it on the website so not sure when it will be back up but ours would have love to have been able to have a go!

Next we headed off to the Orangutan outlook and Gorilla Mountain. The girls found one of the Orangutans was sat right up against the glass and they decided they were going to blow him (or her?) kisses through the glass.

Next up were the penguins! I do like penguins, I like that they will interact with you through the glass! Holly loved watching it swim up to her. These viewing windows were great and this little penguin kept coming back to us. Holly has decided penguins are now her second favourite thing, after Flamingos of course!

We headed off over to the big cats section and on the way passed these Otters who were playing together on the rocks.

We timed it just right and got to watch them feeding the Lions and Tigers, we loved watching them run out and hunt down where the food had been left (not that it took them very long to find it!) There was also someone having an Animal Experience feeding the Giraffes – There are 15 experiences available you can find out more here. This area was the busiest of the park as everyone gathered to watched them be fed.

Lastly we headed over to the Elephants, Holly was telling us not to get too close because they will spray us with water from their trunks!

Overall we had a nice trip here, every thing is well spaced out (apart from by the Giraffes/Lions) for those who are still wanting to socially distance and hand sanitiser was available all around the Zoo – we were here for around 3 hours and this was more than enough for what is currently available. If the Children’s farm, train and play barn were open we probably would have spent another couple of hours here.

Parking

We chose to get a taxi as we didn’t want to risk losing our spaces in the long stay car park we were in. If you choose to drive it is £3 for the whole day – you can pay by cash at the machine or by card at the Visitor Services or retail shop by the entrance. Disabled bays are available but are also charged at £3 for the day. We used Premier Taxis and they were really helpful and got us 2 cars very quickly both in the morning and on our return.

Ticket prices for Blackpool Zoo

Full information is available here

Individual Tickets;
Adults : £19.99
Senior 60+/Student : £17.99
Child 3-15 : £15.50
Disabled Adult : £11.50
Disabled Child : £8.99
Carer £8.49

Family Tickets Max of 2 adults;
Family of 4 : £63.99
Family of 5 : £77.99

Coral Island

Once we got our taxi back home, we headed out for dinner at Coral Island, not only is it the largest arcade in Blackpool, it also has kids eat free all day, every day! (and you know I love free!)

Firstly, it is NOISY, which is great because Oscar is also very noisy at the moment, as it is located inside the arcade. It was also very busy, but we managed to get a table for 10 within about 15 minutes. It’s pretty standard pub food but the portions are pretty generous, I had a carvery and you could have all 3 meats (Gammon, Beef and Turkey) and help yourself to the 3 different style potatoes and 5 vegetable choices plus sauces and gravy.

The Kids eat free deal is, for every adult meal purchased you can choose a meal off the childrens under 10 menu for free – with choices including Nuggets, Burger, Fish fingers, Sausage & mash and Pasta. This offer is valid in all 4 of the restaurants including for breakfast in Peggy’s – where a family of 4 can eat breakfast for under £10. They were also happy to just give us a bowl for Oscar to have some of our carvery.

The food came out super quick (before Gaz even came back to the table with the drinks as you have to order these separately at the bar) great if like us you have hangry little ones.

Lastly we headed over to the beach for a little run around before home time. The tide comes in around lunchtime and leaves just enough sea water for Oscar to be able to play in without me worrying he will be washed out to sea.

They loved having a splash about, although Oscar decided to fall over face down in the water and was soaked head to toe. Needless to say a bath was required before bed!

Last day tomorrow and it’s a busy one!

ChrissyJ xxx

Find out more about our trip here

Find out what we did on Friday here

Find out what we did on Saturday here