Emerald Park

Emerald Park, formerly Tayto Park, is an amusement park with rides, a zoo, a show and events. It runs at a limited ticket capacity and sells tickets online only, so buying ahead is how you avoid arriving on a sold-out day.

Choosing the ticket is about your children’s height. Many rides in the All Access Zone and Tír na nÓg have minimum height requirements somewhere between 1.1 m and 1.3 m, while the Junior Zone ticket leaves out the All Access Zone rides, Na Fianna Force and The Quest. Standard prams and buggies are welcome; pull-along wagons are not, although exceptions such as sensory wagons for guests with additional needs can be discussed with a team member at the entrance.

Restaurants, a café and kiosks across the park serve burgers, chicken, pizza and roast dinners, and the Pizza Place has outdoor all-weather seating beside the lake. In the Lodge, Chicken Shack, Grill, Dino Bite and Pizza Place, the kitchens are nut-free and all chicken is Halal. Accessible toilets are found throughout the park, there is an accessible changing room with an adjustable bench and a hoist, and the two first aid centres are behind the Sweet Station and in the 5D Cinema building. The park takes cash and most debit and credit cards, but not Diners or American Express. Parking on site is free, and Bus Éireann Route 105 runs daily when the park is open.

The trade-off is the Irish weather: tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable, and the park does not refund for bad weather, so the day you book is the day you go.