Where Grayson Goes // Howletts Wild Animal Park

As a family with not only Grayson who has additional needs/disability but his two siblings means we are always looking for places to visit that suit everyone’s needs.

Although there is probably no perfect place for all 3 children, there are places which tick 90% of the boxes.

As a family we love trying new places and sharing them with you all, here at Raising a Superhero in particular we love sharing how places work for children with additional needs so that other families like ours can have a better idea in advance.

When Howletts Wild Animal Park asked us to come and check out their new exhibition Animals of the Ice Age we were so pleased as it would give us the opportunity to share how Howletts works as a whole for us.

Before heading anywhere I look at their website to check out their accessibility section and I was so pleased to see Howletts have a downloadable Accessible Statement full of everything I would want to know, including info like parking, ticket prices and facilities.

Howletts has disabled parking right by the entrance/exit which is on hard standing and there is plenty of it.

Although we have visited Howletts before it has been many years and before the Animals of the Ice Age exhibition, I was so pleased to see that the animals not only due to their sheer size but also where they had been placed are able to be seen with ease from a wheelchair position.

The Animals of the Ice Age outdoor exhibition is now a permanent feature for Howletts and takes you back 2.6 million years ago sharing life size beasts from the prehistoric period.

Some of them certainly caught Grayson’s attention and as it is set in a nice quiet section of the park in the Woodland Walk we could take our time looking without causing sensory issues.

As mentioned on my main review at Innocent Charms Chats,the signs and facts for each animal are fantastic and very visual for children who maybe more mentally capable that Grayson.

The whole park aims to be an inclusive environment for all and I actually have to agree with that. The paths are all tarmac and well maintained, with ramps into all restaurants and shops. There is one killer hill but we always manage it, but when checking out their website I noted Howletts staff can be asked to help make this easier.

As much as possible I feel Howletts has made their enclosures easy for wheelchair users to see the animals up close, Grayson in particular loved seeing the Tigers through the glass and watched them for over 10 minutes.

Although it is not of huge importance to us we would love for the play park to have equipment that would suit Grayson, for example his favoured nest swing which all children enjoy. But there are pieces which would suit many additional need children.

The whole environment of Howletts is very relaxed and as I said before even on a busy day due to it being so vast there are always places you can be in the Animal Park that feel more secluded for a child like Grayson who can need quiet. So much so towards the end of our trip Grayson managed a nice nap.

Howletts does have many disabled toilets situated all over the park which is brilliant but we would love for them to install an adult changing facility to really make their site a perfect day out for all our children, but this wouldn’t stop us going back.

I was pleased to read Howletts offer free entry to Grayson’s carer and discounted prices for the disabled to. 

All in all we loved our trip to Howletts Wild Animal Park and feel it really offers a great day out for all our family including Grayson. Howletts clearly state on their website that they are always looking for customers to share any concerns or ways they can improve to make a day out even more inclusive.

*I was not compensated for this post to be written, I just felt it would be a great view to share.