| Product: |
Crealy Adventure Park |
| Date: |
16/08/04 (369 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Plenty to Do, Lots of Space, Variety
Disadvantages: Less for the older teenager
Went for fun and came home with a rat!
Crealy Adventure Park is a good family day out.
It seemed a great idea to all go as a family (4 school aged children), but I didn?t anticipate collecting a new family member ?. Millie the baby Hooded Rat (more on this later). First some practical details.
Access to Crealy is good and simple. It is located in the South West, very close to Exeter. It is only 5 minutes from the Exeter M5 Junction (J30 then A3052) and it is well sign posted.
Crealy looks like it has originated from a farm and it has been opened up to the public It has continued to develop and now looks like a nice rural theme park, with a good country feel.
It opens at 10:00 a.m. and closes at 6:00 p.m. (rides stop at 5:30). It has an ?early birds? car park right outside the entrance. This is useful, if like ourselves, you need to access your vehicle throughout the day to retrieve picnics, clothing etc. This car park fills up quickly so you need to be an ?early bird? to benefit (at 10:15 it was 75% full). There is also a much larger car park which is a short walk away.
Tariffs:
Individual: £8.95 ea.
4 - 19: £8.70 ea.
20 or More £5.50 ea.
Senior Citz: £6.20
Annual Membership £29.95
We went with a group friends and totalled 21 people so we had the reduced price of £5.50 each which is a significant saving on the individual price.
The first impression of Crealy is space. There is plenty to do but there is also plenty of open space.
If you arrive early and like the rides then ?turn left? and head for the Roller Coaster area (you will probably hear the screams as you?re entering).
Below is a list of the main rides:
Bumper boats ? 1 or 2 people spinning, bumping & splashing ? you will get a little wet
Roller Coaster ? Tame compared to Alton Towers, but good enough to get you screaming
Log Flume ? 1 to 4 people with a small
and big drop ? good ride and not too wet
Pirate Ship ? Big Swing boat that leaves your stomach behind
Victorian Carousel ? gentle traditional ride
Techno Race Karts ? Good Karting race track (Note these cost £2.50)
Most rides operate a strict height measuring system to establish the suitability for smaller children.
Below is a list of other outside activities
Panning for Gold
Drop slides and action adventure play areas
Bridge walk (keep crossing a stream on all sorts of challenging bridges)
Train Rides (various)
Pony Rides (£2)
Children?s Village
Sunflower Maze
There are two large indoor adventure areas. The Magical Kingdom features various rides and play areas generally aimed at the younger children (toddlers to about 7/8 Yrs). The adventure zone has a wide range of slides, drop slides and padded adventure areas mainly geared for the 5+ (adults can join is ? as I did!)
Throughout the Park there are plenty of coffee and snack bars and there is a full licensed Diner serving a range of meals throughout the day.
Although there are plenty of eating facilities Crealy encourages the picnic and there are picnic tables dotted throughout, plus a Picnic barn incase the weather turns.
Crealy isn?t, and doesn?t attempt to be an Alton Towers. What makes it a bit different is the keeping of the farm features. On entry you are given a leaflet that details the various animal related activities at different times throughout the day. A sample of these are shown below:
Meet and bottle-feed calves, goats and lambs
Pony Grooming
Meet and handle a Pygmy Hedgehog (all 4 of my children did this and were fascinated)
Animal Showtime in an arena
Handle Chicks
Be warned! certain animals are available for sale as pets, and after a serious amount of pestering (from the kids .. not me!) I succumbed and we now have the wonderful responsibility of looking after Millie th
e Hooded rat (probably for the next 6 years or so).
In summary, Crealy is a great family day out, however I would say that there is not a lot for the older Teenager. It is worth arriving early as there is plenty to see and do. I will happily return next year ?. Only next time I?m not coming home with a Rat.
Summary:
|
|
