Looking for some where hot, exotic and cheap to visit over winter without having to leave Oxfordshire? Look no further than Crocodiles of the world, Bride Norton.
For years we’ve seen signs for this place But never actually gone in. After Saturday’s fete worse than dear experience and nearly losing our didgets to frost bite we wanted something indoors that wasn’t too far away because of the tight squeeze in the car with Granddad visiting.
We decided on here which I’ll be honest I didn’t have high hopes for. There’s only so many crocodiles and alligators you can see before it gets boring right? Apparently not there’s bloody tons of the scaly buggers! The place is a lot bigger than I thought too!
Another great bonus is its bloody cheap for what you get! £8.95 for adults £6.50 for kids and under 2’s are free! Those are the gift aid prices because only twats don’t pay gift aid when its that cheap. I can promise you now this is 100% worth it too.
Now this place is bloody hot so even if its a blizzard outside you won’t want to drag your hats and scarves round. Glasses steam up and I’m pretty sure if I had balls they’d be stuck to my legs too!
The place is ram packed with loads of scaly critters big and small so much information and fun facts too. The kids and the adults really enjoyed every second of it.
Our favourite parts were feeding time! We watched some lad do a keepers experience. If you’re vegan of vegetarian you might want to skip this bit and pretend they all just eat grass and pond weeds. Clark however “mummy whats that?” Pointing to the dead chick being fed to the croc. Literally froze my brain went blank and I blurted out in front of the crowd who was clearly awaiting my response “it’s a chicken nugget” as soon as the words left my mouth I was kicking myself as the crowd of people sniggered. “Is it dead mummy” erghhh yep! This part was the hardest part he seemed a bit upset bless him but i couldn’t lie. (Elliot couldn’t give 2 shits)
After this we went to the croc house and watched the feeding in there. Luckily no more explaining was needed the food for the next lot were just clumps of meat.
Now the croc house is even hotter than everywhere else but it’s bloody awesome. Absolutely load of crocs in the main tank you can see them under water and above water because of the type of enclosure.
Now this is going to make me sound more stupid than usual but there were loads of fish in the water with the crocs and I found it odd that the crocs didn’t eat them!
Outside there are 2 play areas 1 for older kids and one for younger kids. Now they aren’t anything special but they were an added bonus. Around the play areas you’ll find the picnic areas too. Loads of benches which is great if its sunny but flipping freezing in the winter so maybe you’ll want to take the hat and scarves after all. If you don’t fancy a picnic there is a cafe on site, however we didn’t use it so I can’t comment on price and quality.
If you think you’ll get bored of looking at the crocodiles you’re wrong. However there are other animals too. Meerkats, Tamarin’ s (adorable little monkeys) lizards, birds and otters. Ahhh everyone loves cute otters don’t they! Let’s not forget they still rape baby seals to death in the wild! Not so cute now are they!! Horrible little bastards!
We visited the alligator house a couple of times because the alligator they have in there is one big ugly mother! This guy/girl is exactly like the one from Peter pan! It’s creepy as hell. In fact most if the crocodiles and alligators were creepy. Spent half the time wondering if they were real or statues until they moved suddenly and scared the shit out of me!
They have a photo corner where you can hold a baby one. We were about to force Clark to hold one until we saw it was £30 for a photo. Sod that! (There are apparently cheaper options I’ve just found out)
We headed over to the shop and granddad bought the kids a toy each. They were reasonably priced but unfortunately Elliot chose a crocodile grabber. He really loves swinging that fucker around and twatting us all over the head with it!
Distance from Bicester: 40mins
Sat nav: Burford Rd, Brize Norton, Carterton OX18 3NX
Wheelchair friendly: Yes! Very well equipt
Equipment upkeep: 10/10
Cleanliness: 9/10
Facilities: 10/10
Age range: All ages
Safety: 10/10 don’t think anyone’s been eaten
Fun factor: 10/10
Dog friendly: Nope
Bottom line if you haven’t been go! It me a great day out and perfect for shit weather. The place does so much conservation work. Even heard that when they lay the eggs the eggs themselves are sent back to the wild to help the numbers rise again!
Only up the road you’ll find Kilkenny lane country park too which is free and has an awesome play park. So if you have spare time head over that way too.
You can find their website HERE
