Brickosaurs at Marwell Zoo, Hampshire
Disclosure: We were invited on this day out for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own.
Last week Little Man turned six and to celebrate his birthday Marwell Zoo, near Winchester in Hampshire, invited us to visit to experience the Brickosaurs tour – an interactive expedition that has been added to the zoo until September 2019. It took a specialist team 969 days and more than two million bricks of Lego to create the attractions so we couldn’t wait to see what it had in store.
We arrived at Marwell Zoo and parked easily. There’s free parking on site and the park is well laid out so that once you’re inside the zoo you can follow pretty much one path all the way around the park without missing anything. The children were given Brickosaurs trails to complete as we walked around and I was pleased to see that they had Marwell Zoo maps on the back, letting the children have fun whilst saving paper too.
Right near the entrance to the park was our first experience of Brickosaurs, where there were Lego dinosaurs in cages, trying to escape. Signs said that one of the dinosaurs, Colin, had escaped and we had to look around Marwell wildlife park to find him. And so our adventure began.
We walked around the zoo, seeing zebras, cheetahs, leopards and so many smaller animals whilst spotting Lego dinosaurs too. It created a fantastic mix of animal park and Lego fun which the children really enjoyed and having the dinosaur trail to follow helped the children to get excited about exploring every inch of Marwell Zoo. The dinosaurs were incredible. Made with just Lego bricks and with fantastic bright colours too, they really were a sight to see.
One of our favourite parts of Marwell Zoo was the giraffes. We haven’t visited the zoo in a few years and last time we came the giraffes were sheltering from the rain and not very interested in company. But this time they were really inquisitive and it was lovely to see them both eating inside and relaxing outside in the sun.
We were really impressed with the number of picnic areas and tables there were around for picnics as well as the number of refreshment stands and play areas for the children. Marwell Zoo has a great mix of animals, fun and downtime which the Brickosaurs attraction really adds to.
After lunch we found the Brickosaurs Base Camp which really introduced us to Brickosaurs – with so many staff dressed as explorers, a dinosaur head to take selfies with and the biggest pools of Lego we have ever seen! It was a great place to stop and relax for a while whilst building Lego models.
Outside Marwell Hall, in the centre of the park, we found the whopping eight metre long Tyrannosaurus Rex, the largest touring LEGO brick dinosaur model ever made. He was really impressive and like all of the Brickosaurs dinosaurs he had facts about how he was made too. The children were in awe of the dinosaurs – especially the really big ones.
Marwell Zoo has so much outside space around all the enclosures. It feels like you’re in a country park with so many places to explore, space for the children to run around and so much to look at too.
After we’d played with Lego for a while we carried on around the zoo, spending time in the Tropical House and spotting a sloth in amongst the trees. This was such a great space to spend time in and with a really tropical temperature too.
We had another pit stop in another play area and then ventured to the Life Among the Trees exhibit where we got to see gibbons playing together and otters being fed. The Marwell Zoo animals and wildlife range is fantastic and we all had our favourites from the trip. There were so many activities for the children to do and events like Brickosaurs really do add to the day out.
Our day finished with a trip into the gift shop – to spot the last dinosaur on our trail – and then seeing the penguins before heading home. We’d skipped the penguins at the start of the day as they do get busy but they’re easy to pop back to before going home.
The children loved their Brickosaurs trail and if you visit over the summer – from 19th July – five more Brickosaurs are going to be on display too. It’s not just for dinosaur enthusiasts or even Lego fans, it’s something that will excite families and all visitors will love. LP and Little Man ticked off all 16 Lego dinosaurs and had a great time spotting them around the park. They really do add something extra to an already fantastic family day out and I know we’ll be heading back to Marwell Zoo just as soon as we have the time.
You can find out more about Brickosaurs as well as Marwell Zoo opening times and ticket prices over on the Marwell Zoo website.
This looks so good. They look like they had a lovely day. Think we’ll add this to our summer list
Cat x