The Ice Age walk-though experience begins inside a volcano with sound and light effects, before you enter the Oligocene Epoch (38 - 24 million years ago) and encounter the first of many animatronic creatures. We were amused to see an animal keeper looking after the various extinct mammals.

From here you enter a sheltered woodland area representing the Pleistocene Epoch (2 million - 10 thousand years ago) where the highlights are a sabre-tooth cat and a giant ground sloth.

The next section is the Holocene Epoch (10 thousand years ago - present day) where all the biggest stars of the attraction can be found, including woolly mammoth. The final part of this new experience is a cool ice cave with replica archaeological discoveries.

We were really impressed with the high quality animatronics with motion activated movement and sound, and what makes it so effective are the realistic settings with real trees and plants.

Located next door is a similar attraction that opened in 2015, Land of the Living Dinosaurs, with life-size animatronics of creatures from the Permian, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It is presented in a very similar way, with excellent landscaping, theming and sound effects.

We stopped for lunch at the Dino Diner, and ordered the Ice Age Volcano Burger; a spicy chicken fillet, Asian chilli sauce and sour cream in a black charcoal bun served with corn on the cob, coleslaw and chips. This restaurant is one of two excellent places to eat in the park, the other being the Burger Co., which both offer high quality food and drink in well-themed surroundings.

After this we went to explore the African Village with meerkats, lemurs, goats and hippos. It was nice to see the animals enjoying their large themed enclosures. For families with young children there's also Boj’s Giggly Park next door, based on the CBeebies animated show Boj.

It was now time for some rides in the Adventure Theme Park including the Disk'O ride Kong, Rhino Coaster, Twister Coaster, Venom Tower Drop, Black Fly thrill ride, Wild River Rafting rapids, Zambezi Water Splash log flume and Dr. Umboto’s Catacombs ghost train.

The collection of rides and attractions are presented much like a fairground but most have been given a safari theme so it has a lovely atmosphere. There are wristbands (£14 adults, £12 children) for all-day riding, but ride tickets are available if you prefer to pay as you go.

Our next hour or so was spent exploring the Discovery Trail which is made up of a series of walk-through animal attractions; Penguin Cove, Sea Lion Theatre, Lorikeet Landing, Reptile World, Twilight Cave, Creepy Crawlies and SeaQuarium.

The last part of our visit was the Safari drive-through, a sprawling parkland and woodland with a vast number of species including lion, tiger, cheetah, elephant, rhino, zebra and giraffe. Make sure that you allow a full couple of hours for this part of the park, and we found that all of the animals were very active towards the end of the day.

West Midland Safari Park is located less than 1 hour from Birmingham. Tickets for the park (excluding the rides and attractions in the Adventure Theme Park) are £24 for adults or £19 for children. It is open daily until 9th November 2018.