Paradise Valley Springs product reviews

Rotorua has two nature parks and we decided to go with this one because you get to have the 'Lion Cub experience' and play with and pat them. Having done previously we have had so much fun watching these big cats play and eat my hand bag. I was a little upset that they did not disclose that there were no Lion Cubs available to play with and did not find this out till after paying $83 and visiting the rest of the park.

It is a beautiful drive to the park and is well sign posted. The car park is massive and when you enter the reception area it is also the souvenir shop. This is rather dangerous especially with 7 adults and 4 children who all love to shop around. We arrived just before lunch time and walked to the Big Cats and watched them lie around, Lion feeding is not till 2.30pm so we unfortunately missed this.

We brought lots of food for the trout and animals and all the children had great fun feeding everything they possibly could. The park is beautiful and its lovely to walk around. My daughter enjoyed drinking from the magical water which is said to have 'healing abilities'. I I loved walking along the rainforest treetops walkway, its amazing seeing it from this height. It is the sort of place that has something for everyone.

Even though we all enjoyed it we all agreed that if we had known there were no lion cubs we would of checked out the other park as it has rides and we have never been to it before. This is still great for anyone who loves nature, animals and getting up close to them and feeding them.

I too absolutely love this place we haven't been in about four years but have visited a number of times. I can't wait to take my son when he is a bit older as when my daughter was young she really loved it and loved seeing all the animals including the lions and getting to feed the deer and fish.

My favourite time going there was when we went when the lion cubs were still young and we got to pat them it was such a cool experience for my daughter who was 5 at the time. She always remembers getting to pat the lions and it is not something you get to do to often.

It is such a beautiful place to walk around with the beautiful trees and the streams with the amazing trout to look at. You can spend a whole day there and have a nice picnic with the family. The best thing about it is that out of all the tourist type attractions in Rotorua for families it is really well priced which makes it an affordable day out for the family.

I love this place. The last time we went was about 2 years ago. The cost of going was about $26 per adult last time I was there. It seemed pretty steep, but once we went to a couple of other attractions in the area we realised it was in line with everywhere else. We got a little turned around trying to find the place, even with a GPS on us. Not sure if it was just a fluke we got lost, or if its really hard to find. I guess if you were a local it would be easy!

You can buy animal food at the door. We bought heaps and heaps because I know my daughter very well. She could not let any animal go without! The site is very easy to walk. I would say its good for most fitness levels. The cafe on site is excellent. We had lunch there and it was very nice food and the drinks were great too. You could bring a picnic, but we hadn't brought anything with us that day.

The animals were all very friendly. In some parts they were a bit too friendly, leading to bags of food being devoured before our eyes and a little girl running/being chased around the farm part. This was okay though as it gave us a teachable moment about standing your ground with the animals. As far as the lions - WOW. We got to watch the feeding time which was action-packed. Then we got to line up and go into an enclosure where a keeper was holding a 9 week old cub. We each got to go up to the cub and pat him. His fur was so soft and warm. It was obvious that he was well loved and cared for.

The friend we took with us was so stoked about touching a real lion that she couldn't stop raving about it all weekend. But really we were all on a high about it. Its such a special place and that one moment with that cub made the whole thing magic.

Now, just to be clear, I've given it an 8 in accessibility, only because it's so far away from us, but it's still really easy to get to, if that makes sense.

The last time I went here was back in 2007 whilst on honeymoon with my husband and our 8 week old son. The key thing that I remember was that it was so easy to get around and about the park with a bulky pram, which for anywhere you take a child, is always a very big plus.

My husband and I were lucky enough to be there at the right time and place, and so were able to each have a turn at patting one of the cubs. OMG! Freaky but so awesome at the same time, and their handler was very friendly and more than happy to answer all of our questions.

It's such a lovely place to walk through, pick up a small bag of feed and wander through. Just make sure you don't give away all the feed to quickly, try and pace yourself as there are so many animals that you'll want to feed.

I can't wait to have a chance to go back again, and this time our son will really be able to enjoy himself rather than just sleep in the pram.

My husband and I had been talking about taking the kids to Paradise Valley Springs for a while. When I saw a half price deal on Treatme we decided to grab it and make it an outing for the extended family. Our group consisted of six adults, a nine year old and three pre-schoolers.

I showed my girls the Paradise Valley website before we went and they were really looking forward to patting a lion cub. The photos made it look like you would have one sitting on your lap but what actually happened it they were sitting against a mesh fence and you could stroke them. There was plenty of chance for photos and a keeper was with the cubs to ensure both visitors and cubs were safe.

One of the highlights for me was the kea enclosure. We walked through it and one of the keas walked close enough for my two year old to touch. The kea wasn't intimidated by the noise and movement of our group. It was great for us to be so close to a kiwi icon.

When walking around the farmyard several of the animals came over to the fence to greet us. They knew that we would feed them with the little bags of pellets we purchased when we arrived. What we didn't expect was for some tiny ducklings to come under the fence and allow us to stroke them. My husband even picked one up so our littlies could look at it safely.

We saw the whole park in 90 minutes. Everything was very clean and the animals were in good health. I am pleased I went but it would have been an expensive morning if we had had to pay the full price of $30 per adult.