Marwell Zoo After Lockdown – Supersized!

Disclosure: We were invited on this day out for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own.

Last weekend we had a day out at one of our favourite places – Marwell Zoo. They’re open again to pre-booked ticket holders and have measures in place to ensure a safe and socially distanced visit as well as a brand new Supersized event on until November.

When you book tickets to Marwell Zoo they give all day admission and you can arrive at any time you like. This does mean that early in the day there will be a queue to get in but it’s well managed, socially distant and moves quickly.

Once inside the zoo we picked up Supersized trails to follow and the children loved shrinking machine we walked through and the giant groceries that followed – making us feel like we really had shrunk, ready to see the super size creatures around the park.

Supersized features 30 models of real life creatures in around the park, from predators like the venomous blue-ringed octopus to the assassin bug, that have been magnified to an incredibly size.

Each brick creation has a fact file alongside it, showing the children how much it had been magnified, how many people built it, how long it took to build and how many bricks were built. This sort of thing blows their minds!

The creatures included a huge three metre tarantula and a two metre spitting cobra! Each one had a normal sizes Lego model alongside it, giving children inspiration for building more at home and so much information about each creature too.

Many of the models were more obscure creatures that the children hadn’t heard of before which made it even more exciting for them, learning about completely new creatures whilst following the trail around the park.

In between hunting for brick creatures the children loved seeing the animals. The penguin area is a fantastic place to start the day and the penguins are always so friendly too.

We then went through the cheetah area, saw a lovely friendly warthog and got incredible views of the giraffes. The zoo route has changed slightly to incorporate a one way system in places and with a few minor areas closed but that didn’t affect our day out at all – we still got to see so many animals.

There were zebras, rhinos, meerkats and we even managed to spot a tiger this time too. All of the animals seemed to be out and about enjoying the nice weather which is always lovely for a day at the zoo.

The children were so excited that the play areas were open too. One of Marwell’s play areas is being redeveloped and looks like it will be incredible when it’s finished and LP and Little Man both loved playing in the other two play areas dotted across the park.

There was plenty of space for a picnic and a few takeaway food and drink stations too – as well as ice cream stalls too! Days out for us really are about the simple things – being able to spend time together outside, have a nice picnic and grab an ice cream. It was lovely.

At the end of the Supersized trail the children had to guess how many bricks made up the tarantula exhibit and post their entry into a giant post box. The winner will get a 20cm bespoke brick frog which the children were quite excited about.

Our day at Marwell Zoo was fantastic. We were able to keep away from other people whilst enjoying the animals and Supersized trail. There was hand sanitiser everywhere throughout the park and the toilets had a good queue and cleaning system in place.

We loved our day at Marwell Zoo and are so pleased that we were able to have a pretty normal experience there – and the Supersized event was amazing too. You can find out more about the event and book Marwell Zoo tickets over on their website.

We’ve also been to other events at Marwell Zoo too – at Boo at the Zoo at Halloween and the Brickosaurs event too.