Theme Parks / Zoos National
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Lightwater Valley (North Yorkshire)
by emmad5689 ==Location== Through the summer months we generally exchange our Tesco Clubcard vouchers for days out to treat the children and keep them amused, in previous years we have used them for tickets to my favourite local theme park which is Flamingoland but as that venue had been taken off the list we decided we would give ... Lightwater Valley a try instead. Lightwater Valley is situated just North of Ripon which is in North Yorkshire, we are lucky that it is only about a 45 minute drive from where we live in the North East. ==Costs== The price to get into the park was vastly reduced for ourselves due to using the Clubcard voucher which made it a great value day out. If you are paying full price the prices are, Over 1.3 metres - £28 Over 1.0 metres - £23 Under 1.0 metres - £5 OAP - £12 Concessions - £17 Disabled with 1 free carer - £17 Babes in arms / pushchairs - no rides - Free There are many other price options which you can find on www.lightwatervalley.co.uk if you are interested but there are tickets for different sized families and also tickets to include food and queue jumper passes which would probably be worth it if you were going to ride the big rides. If you book your tickets online and specify which date you are going to go then you can save 30% the only issue I have with this is if you wake up and it's pouring down you cannot change the date. Personally I think middle tier should be less, our eldest is 5 years old and obviously not going to want to go on the big rides and infact she wasn't tall enough for the really big rides yet we would have had to pay £23 for her and a full £28 for us to not even go on the rides. I really think theme parks should have a rethink and do some sort of offer where an adult coming in with a young child is not charged as much but is limited to how many big rides they can go on, we actually didn't ride any big rides so literally would have paid for the privilege of walking around the park really. The attraction is cheaper than the nearby Flamingoland by £2 per person which is not a huge difference however Flamingoland doesn't charge for age 3 and under at all and also has the zoo which is where this theme park is lacking in my opinion. Car Parking on the site is free which is great as we have found at previous attractions that the already extortionate prices are bumper up even further by a car park fee. ==Visiting the Park== We found the park very easily, we were using a sat nav but once we got close it was sign posted anyway so we could have easily managed without the sat nav system. The car park has plenty of space and even though we visited in August it was a pretty cool day and we ended up right near the front. The park is built in the countryside and it was a really nice setting and quite enclosed, you actually couldn't really spot the theme park from the roadside. The park opens the gates at 9.45am, the fairground rides start at 10am and the big rides don't start until 10.30am although I can never understand why there is a range of starting times. The park closes anywhere between 4.30pm and 6pm depending on the time of year but we ended up that we had done everything we wanted to and the girls had had enough before the park actually shut. ==Rides== There are a decent amount of rides however if you compare to the other theme parks in the area there does seem to be less rides here. I tend to think that rides are pretty standard in most theme parks and this one is no different, when we were there you had a Ben 10 themed rollercoaster and then there was a pirate themed area with rides. You have the big rides such as rollercoasters, a pretty monster sized log flume and a giant pirate galley ship which Sophie really didn't like and she was sat in the middle of it, I have never seen such a look of relief on her face when she got off the ride. There are plenty of rides for the little ones and we found that we barely had to queue all day for any rides which was great, there is a small young childrens area hidden amongst the trees where there was a mini rollercoaster which was Sophie's favourite ride and a couple of merry go rounds. There was some really lovely rides such as dragon boats which just simply went round in a circle on the water with one little bump and then there was little ladybugs which Emily really enjoyed and the usual little teacups which are at these sorts of places. All the rides were in a great state of repair even the really old ones that I remember being there when I went to the park as a teenager, the whole place gave the impression of really being looked after. There is a lake where you can go on pedal boats which are in the shapes of swans and real swans actually frequent the lake to which is nice but with a 1 year old in tow we didn't fancy a go on there. One of Sophie's favourites was the train which takes you from one side of the park to the other or just round in a complete circle if you prefer, the train has room for pushchairs however you have to sit separately from them so if your little one was sleeping you would have to disturb them which I didn't think was very good. The main attraction at the park is the world's longest rollercoaster "The Ultimate" we didn't ride this whilst there last year but I rode it as a teenager and it is mega fast it is literally over in under a minute. The rollercoaster is loads of fun as it weaves in and out of the trees but I really didn't find it as scary as some rollercoasters I have ridden. ==Shows== On the day we went there was a magician show on which Emily slept right through but Sophie really loved. The magician really interacted with the children, was very entertaining and made fun of himself. I was really impressed as his last trick was to produce a rabbit which was a really lovely little creature and he let the children all come and have a stroke at the end of the show but made sure he told them the importance of washing their hands afterwards. ==Facilities== We found that finding the toilets was really easy and the park has lampposts with signs all over the park so it is really easy to work out where you want to be. Like I said we went in the summer months but it was a pretty cold day and one thing I did find disappointing is that there was no heating on in the toilets, I found this pretty poor as I had to change Emily's nappy in the cold. The toilets were all nice and clean apart from the floors where people had walked mud in and this didn't seem to get better throughout the day so I would say that cleaners were probably coming in through the day and ensuring sinks and toilet were clean but not ensuring the whole facility was clean. ==Eating== As with all these types of places there were plenty of places to eat, you could get hot and cold drinks from little stalls, full restaurants and even drinks machines through the park so you never needed to go thirsty. The prices were of course ridiculous and we had too a picnic with us to avoid having to spend too much but we didn't come across a picnic area as we wandered around the park so we ended up eating back at the car which wasn't parked far away so that wasn't a problem but it would have been nice to have seen a proper picnic area to make it obvious that you were welcome to take your own food in. ==Shops== The park actually has a little shopping village in it, the shops apparently change with the season but when we had a look they there were gift shops, a craft shop and some clothes shop all of which were rather expensive. Aside from the shopping village there were a couple of little gift shops and a sweet cart which was the sort of sweets you used to buy by the quarter in little plastic boxes. Both the girls managed to buy something to bring home as a momento of their day out so that kept them happy. The gift shops are very cleverly situated on your route out of the park so that there isn't much avoiding them and with a 5 year old jumping up and down at every shop we ended up saying she could look in the last one and then that way she wouldn't want to buy something in every shop. ==Opinions== We did enjoy our day out in the main and our children loved the rides, there of course is plenty of opportunity to spend money you don't intend so you should be aware of that but then I think that is generally expected in these places. The staff were all very friendly and we found as it was quiet one member of staff was often working 2 rides but they would happily shut one ride off and start the other off to keep the children happy. There was a crocodile dressed up character appeared at the end of the day when the sun started to shine a little so I'm not sure if they would have been out all day if the weather had been better but they were really good fun and they were dancing around with Sophie in the middle of the park. This park is fun and would have been nicer on a warmer day however compared to what is nearby it is too heavily charged and in comparison not worth the price. Read the complete review |
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Chessington World of Adventures
by MollyWH My partner and I tend to visit Chessignton World Of Adventures a couple of times a year. Location Chessington World of Adventure's is located just off junction 9 on the M25 and is very well signposted so finding this attraction isn't an issue at all. Price If you plan to purchase tickets when you arrive then you ... will be charged the following prices: Adult (12 years and over) - £31 Child - £21 Under 1 metre - Free Family of 3 - £66 Family of 4 - £86 Family of 5 - £104 There are certain discounts you can get if you book through their website before you visit and they also accept vouchers such as Tesco Clubcard and the Walkers Brit Trips. We used vouchers from the Brit Trips which meant that for 2 adults we were charged £31 which I thought was fairly reasonable. Opening Times For 2008, Chessington opened on 15th March and will close again on 29th December. Opening times are seasonal with the park being open from 10am - 6pm during peak season and 10am - 5pm off peak. The park is open between 10am and 8pm during Halloween and over Christmas it is open between 10am and 3pm. The Zoo and Sea Life Centre is open between 10am and 3pm but the opening hours are also seasonal. Your best bet is to check the website before you travel to make sure that the park is open. Parking The Car There is a massive car park at Chessington. Each section of the car park is labelled so it is very easy to find your car among all the others that have also parked there. You are charged £2 for all day parking. Chessington World of Adventures Chessington is laid out in different areas and maps are available free of charge when you first enter the park. We found the map very useful when finding our way between the different zones so I would highly recommend getting one although having said that, the park is very well sign posted and there is always a member of staff available to ask if your lost. As you first enter the park, you will see Chessington Zoo on the right hand side which is also in the ground of the theme park. Chessington Zoo In the zoo area there area several sections which include a children's zoo, a creature features section and a monkey and bird garden. There are many animals held here and Chessington actually take part in an International Breeding programme which helps to breed endangered species such as gorillas and tigers. All of the enclosures were large, clean and obviously well looked after. Each enclosure has been designed to look like the natural habitat of the animal inside and all the animals look happy and healthy. Some of the animals that can be seen here include Tigers, Lions, Gorilla, Meercats, Otters, Goats and Ostriches just to name a few. The zoo is actually split into two sections, with some of it being just inside the entrance (like the children's zoo and the monkey and bird garden) and the rest being a short walk away (like the Tigers, Lions, etc). There is also a large Sea Lion enclosure which includes a lovely deep pool for them to swim and play in. The animals are fed at various times and visitors are invited to come and watch and learn a bit more about each animal as the keepers give a speech. The feeding times are displayed on a board as you enter the zoo and at various points inside the zoo so it is really easy to find out the various feeding times and make sure you don't miss them. In the middle of Chessigton World of Adventures, there is a large green area and twice a day, some of the animals are taken to this area and the keepers put on a display with them. We caught the tail end of a Bird display which included parrots and a beautiful Kookaburra. On the left hand side as you walk into Chessington World of Adventures, there is the Sea Life Centre which is brand new for 2008. I liked the fact that you paid one entrance fee and that got you into the theme park and you can also visit the Zoo and the Sea Life Centre. Sea Life Centre As I already mentioned, the Sea Life Centre is the brand new attraction of 2008 and this certainly shows. Inside it was absolutely spotless and the aquariums had been well designed in all different shapes and sizes. There are various species of fish and crustaceans to be seen in here and all the aquariums are sign posted meaning you are able to identify each fish you are looking at and read a few facts about them. Inside the Sea Life Centre, there is also a large walk through tunnel which is part of the largest aquarium here. When you walk through the tunnel you can see a wonderful array of fish swimming over the top of your head including rays and sharks. To be honest, we didn't spend very long in the Sea Life Centre as it was the last place we visited and we were running out of time although I would have liked to have spent a bit longer in here. One downside to the Sea Life Centre was that it was quite busy (even though the theme park itself wasn't) and there were quite often large groups of people crowded round an aquarium which meant there was quite a bit of waiting around if you wanted to get a good look inside the aquarium. I assume that because this is the new attraction for 2008, every man and his dog wanted to visit it. Transylvania In the Transylvania section there are two of the big attractions which are the Bubbleworks Ride and the Vampire Ride. There is also a Fangtasia gift shop which sells a variety of souvenirs which are mostly based around the Vampire Ride. Bubbleworks I would describe this ride as a children's ride and I remember absolutely loving it when I visited Chessington as a child. My boyfriend has never visited this attraction so of course I dragged him onto this ride. Bubbleworks is a water ride where you can seat up to four passengers in a little round boat. You travel around the ride and the idea is you learn how bubbles are made by watching a number of moving displays as you make your way round. There is a small slope at the end of the ride but you barely get splashed so there's no need to worry about getting wet. At the very end of the ride, you travel through a tunnel of water (where the water shorts over the top of your head and down the other side). In here, there is also strobe lighting and I have to say it makes the end of the ride really beautiful. This ride isn't anything earth shattering to someone of my age (24) but it is a wonderful children's ride. Vampire The Vampire ride is a fast roller coaster where you are strapped into your seat and your feet are left dangling. The ride consists of you shooting around the track (which is above you) and you go through dark caves and around very tight corners on the way. This roller coaster is set quite high within the park so the idea is that you feel like you are flying. Pirates Cove In this area you will find another two rides which are the Sea Storm and the Black Buccaneer. There is also a Chips Ahoy eatery where you can get Fish n Chips. Sea Storm The Sea Storm consists of about 20 boats which can seat up to four people, two in the front and two in the back. The ride is meant to simulate a sea storm so you basically travel round on a sort of carousel while being lifted up and down. I must admit that I though this ride looked quite tame but as the boats travel up and down and over the bumps, it certainly makes your stomach drop. Black Buccaneer The Black Buccaneer is a large boat which can probably seat up to 50 people (at a guess). The boat has rows of seats that all face towards the middle which means that you are facing all the people in the other half of the boat. The boat travels back and forth over and over again and it actually goes pretty high. Again, I thought this ride looked pretty tame but it was actually the ride which made my stomach lurch the most. Land of The Dragons The Land of The Dragons is mostly aimed at children and I currently don't have any so I am unable to comment on any of the children's rides. There were several children's ride in here as well as a water squirting station where water shoots out of the floor and you can choose to try and dodge the squirts. There is also a Dragon Theatre where children can watch a show about Dragons. There is one adult ride in this section which is called Dragon's Fury. Dragon's Fury Dragon's Fury is basically a roller coaster although you are actually seated in little carts which can seat up to four people, two in the front and two in the back. The cart you are seated in actually spins as it travels around the tracks so when you hit a sharp bend, the whole cart spins. There are several severe corners on this ride where it almost feels like your cart is going to fall off the tracks (the ride is designed like this!). Beanoland Beaonland is again aimed at children and includes a numbers of children's rides. To be honest, we didn't spend much time here but we did have a quick walk through and had a look at the miniature rides. There are also a couple of places to eat and a Beano gift shop in this area. Mystic East In this section there are two main rides which are the Dragon Falls and the Peeking Heights. There is also an Extreme Games Zones where you can pay extra to take part in a number of activities such as trampolining. There are also several places to eat and drink in this zone (more about that later). Dragon Falls Dragon Falls is basically a traditional log flume ride where you get absolutely soaked at the end when you come sailing down the massive drop. Parts of this ride are high up which means you get some great views across the park as you travel round the various streams. Peeking Heights Peeking Heights is basically a big wheel which travels round slowly. The idea is you can get some lovely views across the park while you are at the top of the ride. I would say that this is one of the calmer rides at the park and isn't designed for thrills but just for people to take in their surroundings. Forbidden Kingdom There are another two rides in this section which are Rameses Revenge and Tomb Blaster. There is also an amusement centre in this zone as well as various places to eat and drink. Tomb Blaster For Tomb Blaster, everyone is seated on a large train which takes you deep into an old tomb. Each rider is armed with a laser gun and the idea is you have to shoot the targets (which are lit up) as you go around. I really enjoyed this ride and found it great fun trying to shoot all the targets. Each rider has a little screen in front of them which shows you your score and I have to admit that my boyfriend and I got slightly competitive trying to beat each others scores. At the end of the ride, the train stops and everyone's photograph is shown to you, along with your end score. The train journey itself is very calm so this ride is perfect for people who don't enjoy the fast rides. I thought it was a really great idea to have a ride where each person has to get involved. Rameses Revenge On Rameses Revenge, you are secured to the ride with a shoulder bar as well as a lap bar. This ride consists of two rows of seats, each holding approximately 25 people. On this ride you are spun round and round and eventually lowered head first into jets of freezing cold water!! It wasn't our best move going on this ride first, especially as it was a fairly cold day when we went. Be warmed, you get wetter than you think you will! Mexicana In this section there is the Runaway Train and the Rattlesnake ride. Again there are also various places to eat and drink. Also in the Mexicana section, there is a photography studio where you can get dressed up in fancy clothing and have your photo taken with various backdrops such as a bar and an old fashioned style living room. The photos are printed in sepia which gives it the effect of looking really old. My boyfriend and I decided to have our photo taken and it cost us £30 for two photos and a key ring, or you could choose the option to have one photo for £20. Runaway Train This ride is obviously a train which seats around 50 people. The train follows the tracks and you travel through caves and underneath large rocks on the way. To be honest, I found this ride quite tame and pretty short even though the train actually went round the tracks twice! I am glad it wasn't very busy on the day we visited as I think I would have been very disappointed with this ride if I had queued to get on it for a long time. Rattlesnake The Rattlesnake ride is very similar to the Dragon's Fury and you are seated in little carts. You travel around the tracks and up and down hills on the way. There are some harsh turns on this ride and you will find that you end up squashing the person next to you each time you turn a corner. Food and Drink There are food and drinks outlets literally everywhere throughout the park although there is a main area called the Market Square where most of the outlets are. I have never been more spoilt for choice as far as food and drinks are concerned. There is literally every single item you can imagine available such as Hot Donuts, Waffle and Ice Cream, Jacket Potatoes, Mexican Food and all the usual fast food shops such as KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut. We had a jacket potato for lunch and each potato was £3.25 with one topping. If you wanted more than one topping, it was another 25p. I was surprised at how cheap it was to be honest as normally I find that places like this really bunk the prices up! Summary In summary I would definitely recommend a trip here as we did have an enjoyable day out. However, I haven't been to Chessington for about eight years before this visit and I must admit that I was slightly disappointed at the lack of fast ride they have to offer. I have visited Thorpe Park and found that this probably has more rides to choose from. However, having said that when you consider that you can also visit the Sea Life Centre and the Zoo as well as all the rides, then there really is something for everyone. I felt that Chessington World of Adventures has been designed as a family theme park, there are so many areas for children to play and so many rides aimed at smaller children. I was pleased to see a theme park that caters for the entire family, the faster rides for adult and older children and the smaller rides for the little ones. Then you have the Zoo and the Sea Life Centre which the entire family can enjoy. Read the complete review |
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Alton Towers (Staffordshire)
by Seven17 Having been to this place many times over the years I can honestly say i've had my fair share of the Merlin Pass offer. It's around £100 to get one, and you can come back all year as much as you like. You even get discounts on food in the park and if you upgrade to the next level you even get priority parking for free. The ... park has a wide variety of rides for all ages, but for the adults there are very few thrill coasters. You have Rita and Air but 13 and the rapids are only small rides which aren't really that big. There's a lot of stuff for the kids like the Ice Age cinema, the teacups, miniature swinging ship and theres even a charlie and the chocolate factory ride which is split into three separate mini rides which include a river log ride, a movie and a ride in the glass elevator. This ride is the longest in the park and takes 10-15 minutes. Be aware that prices in the park are massively inflated and they even had a cheap made in china ice age toy for £40. It was filled with polystyrene balls and of poor quality, no bigger than a foot high and a foot wide. There are plenty of toilets dotted about the park and most have double entrances and exits to make them easier to access when approaching from either direction. The food in the park is not great, it's all fast food. There is a Halal meat counter called Eastern Express but I was disgusted to find this was Halal, as it is not marked on any signs other than in Arabic which I can't read, so i'm going to knock a star off for this alone. It's disgraceful that they aren't honest and Alton Towers allows this!! The staff operating the sky ride are completely incompetent. They ask to stop the ride (which makes the thing swing about wildly and causes the journey time to increase) to pretty much everyone even if they don't need it, and the ride stops regularly for no obvious or good reason, it honestly would be a lot quicker to simply walk across the park at a very slow pace. I'm not even exaggerating! Overall it's an OK place, I don't particularly enjoy it myself as a grown man but theres a lot of stuff there for younger people, and primary school children will particularly enjoy it. Read the complete review |
Theme Park / Zoo National |
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Address: Riverside Walk / Theme Park / Zoo National / SE1 7 London / SE16 5RE / United Kingdom / Tel: 020 7967 8000 |
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5 reviews Address: Barton Square / Theme Park / Zoo National / The Trafford Centre / Manchester M17 8AS / United Kingdom / Tel: 0871 222 2662 |
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1 review Address: Chestnut Avenue / Theme Park / Zoo National / Torquay / Devon TQ2 5LZ / United Kingdom / Tel: 01803 299 992 |
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1 review Address: Marine Parade / Theme Park / Zoo National / Weston-Super-Mare / Somerset BS23 1BE / United Kingdom / Tel: 01934 613361 |
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Address: World of Golf / Theme Park / Zoo National / Beverley Way / New Malden / Surrey KT3 4PH / United Kingdom / Tel: 020 8949 9200 |
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1 review Now closed. Address: 65a Renhold Road / Theme Park / Zoo National / Wilden / Bedfordshire / England / MK44 2PX / Tel: 01234 772 770 |
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1 review Address: Wooburn Common / Theme Park / Zoo National / Wooburn Green / High Wycombe / Buckinghamshire / England / HP1 / Tel: 01628 520 188 |
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1 review Address: Coast Road / Theme Park / Zoo National / Town Centre / Burnham-On-Sea / England / TA8 2QY / Tel: 01278 752113 |
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3 reviews Address: Lodmoor Country Park / Theme Park / Zoo National / Weymouth / Dorset / DT4 7SX / England / Tel: 0871 423 2110 |
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2 reviews Rare breeds, greenhouses, Reptile Room and lakes. Address: Ponderosa Park, Off Smithies Lane, Heckmondwike WF16 0PN. Tel / Theme Park / Zoo National /Fax: 01924 235276 |
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