A giant Tyrannosaurus Rex is swinging his fearsome, teeth-filled jaws and roaring at my two kids who scuttle past his imposing form. A small wooden gate is all that keeps the looming beast from them, but they boldly sneak past to meet some more of the incredible moving, roaring and even spitting dinosaurs inside Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
We are here at Pangea - The Discovery of Dinosaurs - the newest attraction to open at this vast wildlife park in Doncaster. Visitors over the years may know it better for its living creatures like tigers, polar bears, lions, monkeys and giraffes across the sprawling nature reserve.
But now, after a significant £50mn investment at the site, they've also got an entire, immersive parkland dedicated to a whole army of pre-historic beasts too.
Read more: Family days out worth the drive from Manchester
No, they're not quite living and breathing. But for younger visitors, these brilliant dinosaur models make for a convincing display that they really are - with nodding heads, waving arms and booming roars as you walk around a landscaped trail next to a large lake.
I visited with my two dinosaur-mad sons - aged 7 and 3 - and my kids were in paradise here, never mind Pangea. And it was heaven for me too, as it happens, as the park had so much to see and do which made for a brilliant day out for the whole family.
There are 35 animatronic dinos across the park's representation of Pangea - the name of the supercontinent when Earth had one huge land mass, before it began to break up during the Jurassic period.
The kids loved seeing everything from a spiky spinosaurus to giant necked brachiosaurus. Every dinosaur had an information board too, with its modern-day animal descendant that you can then go and visit in the main wildlife park.
And, what's brilliant here is there's so many more dinosaur features to discover across the development - as we were soon to discover...
The dinosaur restaurant
What made our stay even more magical was being able to book into the Evolution themed restaurant for our evening meal. It's a truly extraordinary space - complete with a full-on pirate ship at its heart, moving stone monoliths from Easter Island and yes, lots more dinosaurs.
No sooner had we taken our seats than thundering footsteps, unmistakably from a T-Rex, rang out across the restaurant. As the kids gasped, the large toothy head of the beast poked out from caves at the very top of the vast dining hall, it was hilariously brilliant.
And that was only the start of the entertainment. The staff here, dressed up as pirates, are soon dashing over to encourage the kids to find their "pirate name" to draw on a hat.
Then one wheeled over an adorable little dinosaur baby for us all to meet. And the kids got to become baby dinos themselves by posing up in a giant pre-historic egg at the heart of the restaurant too.
I don't think I've enjoyed a meal out with the children as much as this in my full seven years of motherhood. The sheer amount of distractions meant they actually sat still, quietly in awe of everything around them, a rare thing indeed.
They even ate every last scrap on their plates, which for two picky eaters was nothing short of a miracle.
The menu was firmly of the pub grub variety with our options being scampi and chips and burger and chips, but we enjoyed everything we were served. And best of all, I felt it was pretty reasonably priced considering the setting, with two adult meals, two children's meals and a pint and glass of wine for the grown-ups coming in at £70.
A dino playbarn too
We also decided to give the indoor playbarn called Uproar! a try - and yep, you guessed it, there were even more dinosaurs to meet here too. It's a huge play park within The Hive complex that you can book in for two hour slots.
It certainly gets the youngsters using up some energy before another stroll around the main dinosaur park outside. There's also a large cafe area here with snacks, drinks and ice creams.
Tickets for the playbarn need to be booked separately from the wildlife park entry, and cost £8 for ages 3-12, £4 for ages 1-2, and £1 for adults. Uproar! Is open seven days a week.
If that was not enough of a dino fill, there is also a full dinosaur toy shop on The Hive site, a couple of doors along from the playbarn.
The Hex hotel
We made a night of it by checking into the newly-opened Hex Hotel on the site, which is just metres away from the wildlife park entrance, with many of the rooms boasting views out across the zoo. The name is a nod to the hexagonal shapes of the Hive complex in which it sits, which has a range of quirky independent boutiques on the site.
The hotel itself boasts a selection of family rooms, suites and standard rooms. And as it has literally just opened everything is bright, shiny and sparkling when we visit.
We stayed in a family room with a stunning balcony which looked out right across the wildlife park. We were able to spot a pack of hyenas howling and prowling as we watched the sun set over the park, which was a pretty special moment.
The Wildlife Park
With all the shiny new elements of this site to visit, we mustn't forget the main attraction here and that's the original and vast 175-acre walk-through wildlife park. There are lions, tigers, giraffes and camels to admire, while there are also walk-through forests of ring-tailed lemurs and wallabies.
It offers an up-close and personal experience with some of the world’s most beautiful and rare species. For those wanting an even more hands-on experience, you can book a 'Behind-the-Scenes' package for £130 for two people, where park rangers will help you feed some of the animals while talking about their aims of raising awareness of animal conservation.
The park is home to England’s only polar bears, with eight individual animals housed in the largest polar bear conservation centre outside of Canada. It's an incredible experience to see the magnificent beasts bathe and play in their sanctuary.
The wildlife park is set amid an extraordinary landscaped site, although be warned there is a LOT of walking involved that even the fittest amongst us may find tiring. There are fully wheelchair and buggy accessible tracks across the park though.
Travel file
Dianne was a guest at the Hex Hotel at the Yorkshire Hive, staying in a family room with balcony. Hotel prices start from £50 per person based on two adults and two children sharing a standard family room.
You can also book packages to include two day passes for entry to the Wildlife Park, with rooms starting from £200. During the Easter Holidays there's also a special offer where kids go free from 1st to the 10th of April.
The hotel sits just metres away from the entrance to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which is in the village of Auckley near Doncaster, with the postcode DN9 3HQ, and is around 60 miles from Manchester. It is located less than a mile from Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and six miles from Doncaster train station.
Admission prices for Yorkshire Wildlife Park are from £19.99 for children and from £23.99 when booked in advance online here. On the day prices start from £24.99 for children and £28.99 for adults.
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