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For your chance to win a family ticket to Gullivers Land this summer, tell us here on this thread your favourite places to visit with the kids. For more information visit http://www.gulliversfun.co.uk
Competition closes 23rd July and winners will be announced here and on the competition page.
OK. Well I am going to make a case for Odds Farm Park:
nr High Wycombe, Bucks, HP10 0LX
http://www.oddsfarm.co.uk/
So, first of all, the bad bit. I think it is a bit pricey for an Open Farm. With four children, it costs us £50 to get in ...and at the end of the day, it is just a farm. "So why would he possibly be promoting it?", I hear you ask, "the man is obviously of sound judgement, I've read his World Cup Predictions". Well if you give me a chance to speak, I'll explain.
First of all, you need to get over the fact that it's 'just a farm'. It's actually a really good day out.
1/ There is a covered area stacked high with hay bales; complete with little tunnels running through. This feature alone will keep my children entertained for almost an entire day ...and because it's such a solid structure, I can climb to the top too ...although I'm a bit too fat to go running through the tunnels 😳
2/ Next to the hay bales there are tables laid out where you can enjoy your picnic AND keep an eye on your 'hay monsters'. Also in the same area is a small soft play area, a little room where they do demonstrations: sheep shearing, cow milking ...and stuff like that ...and they have skilled people talking you through what they are doing. It really is genuinely interesting.
3/ There are loads of toilets (unisex, as I recall) and a sizeable cafe; all in the same area.
4/ Animals: All the usual pens and barns that you would expect on an open farm, full of four legged Sunday lunches
5/ If you can drag yourself away from this central covered area, you've then got all the other stuff: a little field/track with some manual go-karts (free); opposite that there is another area with ride on toys; there is a maze; tractor rides; sheep racing; opportunities to feed small animals, ... ... ...etc
6/ AND, just when you thought you'd run out of stuff to do ...keep on walking ...way past all the rest of the stuff and, lo, there is an enormous field full of footballs and frisbees and nets and bats ...and an ice cream shed; where you can sit and have a picnic or ice cream or just beat your children at various sporting activities (including, I think, crazy golf).
My children are all between 2 and 9 and it is a good (full) day out for us (rain or shine). We go once or twice a year and haven't tired of it yet. Google for vouchers before going. There are occasionally deals which make the entry fee more palatable.
We love Longleat Safari Park. Lots there to do inside and out. If you get a passport ticket you can visit each attraction once but no rush to do it all in one day as you can go back on another day. Live far away but going in August.
Knowsley Safari Park, never get tired of watching Baboons rip someone's car apart! Lions make you pay attention as well.
I obviously haven't quite got the hang of these competitions yet 🙂 . OK - I am going to continue to treat this as a review thread.
...and next up is The National Space Centre
Leicester, LE4 5NS
http://www.spacecentre.co.uk
This trip was a fair hike for us, but it is spitting distance from the M1J21/J22 ...so not too difficult to get to.
Cost = £48 for my family of 6 (under 5s free - yippee 🙂 ) ...and the nice thing about it is, if you sign a form to say you are a tax payer and donate the entry fee as gift aid, they get to claim back the tax AND upgrade your tickets to annual passes ...come back as often as you like.
From the outside it looks like a rocket (a bit like a poor man's Gerkin). On the inside it's basically an interactive museum, with loads of hands on stuff with a space theme. They do special exhibitions (a quick look at their web site just now and I see they are doing 40 years of the Daleks in September). There is a big 360 degree theatre, where we watched a planet and star show. And just loads of sciency, spacey things, like pumping up rockets and firing them and moon walking and stuff. You can buy food and drink there or take a picnic and the facilities are good.
We spent a whole day there, no problem at all ...and came home with some very tired children. Job done!
my son and i aren't keen on structured visits. we prefer to go and have a wander in london to see what we come across!
I obviously haven't quite got the hang of these competitions yet . OK - I am going to continue to treat this as a review thread.
No you have the hang of the comps, actually giving details is good. I haven't visited either of your suggestions and now would like to go to both.
Keep them coming.
Gooner
We love Legoland Windsor and Chester Zoo - time just flies at both places - never enough hours in the day! And always go during school term time to avoid queues!!
When we went on holiday to haven hafan y mor in wales,whilst there we decided to go to canarveon castle,we walked round the castle and decided to go for a wander round the town,we found a childrens play centre called Caernarfon's Fun Factory Yr Hwylfan,boy oh boy was it fantastic.
The building itself is a church,in it they had a 20 foot vertical slide,a bit like the old unhouse in blackpool,they also had a huge wavy slide,with a ball pit at the bottom.
like a wacky warehouse it had all the normal stuff,in the baby/toddler part they had one of those ride rides that go round,that was free of charge.
The children had an absolutely fantastic time,and so did the adults! as we were allowed to go on it too,and boy did i have fun lol.
from what i remember it was just under £20 for a family ticket and you could stay in as long as you wanted.
heres the link if anyone would like to visit.
http://www.northwales.co.uk/family-days ... r-hwylfan/
I also luv gullivers world warrington,its fantastic value for money and has a fantastic range of rides.
Stanley park in blackpool is also a fantastic free day out,its a huge park,always has something going on,it has a boating lake,a lovely swingpark,nice cafe,tennis courts,it has a train that goes around the park,trampolines,bouncey castle,skateboarding park ect,it has tonnes to do for all the family.
Recently took the kids to Houghton Mill near Huntingdon.
It is a working water mill dating back from the 18th century - on certain days it makes flour and you can also make bread. The flour is also for sale.
Upstairs you can see how the mill works and the kids get a chance to touch and feel some of the workings.
It is run by the National Trust and well worth a trip. It is £9 for family ticket so quite reasonable.
There is also a working Lock there for the Great Ouse so we sat and watched the boats go through for over an hour.
Paultons Park in Hampshire!
Great place for kids. There are rides for all ages including adults! Cobra and The Edge for big kids and grown-ups, Frog ride and Giant Slide for small ones, you will get wet on Raging River and if you want a splash there is the Water play. We got a season ticket last year so went there once a month-great value . What I liked about it: there are 2 opposite parts of the park, lots of rides on each and they are situated not too far from each other like in Legoland plus the animals park and lots of green and places to have a picnic.
Chester Zoo for my cherubs...Great day out. Need a full day at it though to cover the majority.
My grandson is not quite two so everything is new and exiting but one place he truly loves is The Deep on riverfront in Hull. Lots of brightly coloured fish and quite a few interactive exhibits and of course the shark tunnel.
For kids aged 5 and 7 Gullivers world is brilliant. Have tried Alton Twrs but that is geared towards older kids.
The Yellow sub in otterspool is also a good way to spend a day.
A cheaper alternative would be Acorn Venture Farm, Kirkby.
We have a couple of favourite places to take our daughter. She loves animals, so we often take her to Mead Open Farm near Leighton Buzzard, there is a fantastic assortment of animals and activities like Lamb racing, tractor ride, an indoor activity play area called Shaggys where you can also get a meal.
You can feed the animals, play with and stroke rabbits and guinea pigs, milk the cows and there is even an outdoor adventure playground and ride on go-karts.
If you want something a bit slower you can play crazy golf or watch the sheepdog herding the sheep.
Its a fantastic day out for all the family.
We also love gullivers in milton keynes, as its only 2 minutes away from us, we have been a couple of times and its great fun for younger children.
What we enjoy about that theme park over the bigger ones like Alton towers etc.. is that the queues are much shorter, and the younger children are not overwhelmed by all the teenagers you get dashing about. Its a much slower pace and the rides are all suitable for young children, so they hardly ever have to miss out on the rides like they do at the bigger theme parks.
I'm a big rugby league fan so I'm really chuffed that my three year old son is following in my footsteps. We love spending an afternoon at a game.
Something a little different to the general theme as one of our favourite places to visit with the kids is the rockpools at low tide. We go to Peacehaven as that is near us but obviously any will do! All you need is a bucket! The kids love it and have such a fantastic time hunting for crabs and sea creatures etc amongst the rocks (needless to say all are returned, don't fancy taking those home lol). We can spend a whole afternoon there and the kids need to be dragged away at the end. Good harmless fun and best of all it doesn't cost a bean!!!
We like Flamingoland. It has rides for me and ed, and lots of wild animals for mum and yd to watch, while they're waiting for us to finish the ride
The Hawk Conservancy at Andover. A fantastic day out with stunning bird of prey displays.
My kids really enjoyed the Natural History Museum - didn't manage to get round it all in a day and the life-sized moving T-Rex scared the beejeesus out of them! Best thing of all is it's free, so except for the travel (if you live outside London) and the obligatory icecreams it's a pretty cheap day out ( and educational, obviously, which keeps the other half happy...)
The Natural History Museum is probably mine and my sons favourite day out, thier is always something interesting, fun and although he doesnt know it, educational. add it to the excitment of going on the underground and a ride on a bus and my sons always asleep as soon as we get on the train to go home 😀
The Crocky Trail (See http://www.crockytrail.co.uk ) is fantastic fun for kids.
If your kids are the adventurous messy types then this is for them. A full day of fun on mixed things to play on - often converted from farm machinary. Its excellent fun and I just join in myself.
A tip - Take a change of clothes for everybody. You can just get stuck in then without a worry.
we love spending as much time as we can at the local beach great fun as long as the weather is good!
I'll agree with JKraider - Knowsley Safari Park
Lovin the monkeys - but from behind the fence watching the victims 😆
Also the sea lion show - bit stinky with all the fish but fab show.
Kids love having a picnic and fair rides too - cant beat the place - love it!
I would opt for Legoland, take a picnic as its cheaper and head to the back of the park first as its quiet and you can get on the rides with out too much waiting.
Its a great day out and theres lots of two 4 1 offers at the moment. My 10 year old and my 6 year old both go back year after year.
The mini lego villages are fab!!!
Stockly Farm in Cheshire
We have a 3 and a 1 year old and they love it! They can feed the lambs and goats and they allways have loads of activities on. We're having our little man's birthday party there, its the same price as the play centres but i think its going to be great as its something a little different.
We love the Think Tank in Birmingham. It has educational value and kids of all ages love it 😀
West Midlands Safari Park is great and this year they are offering a free return visit. So you pay once and get in to see the animals twice. 🙂
It's a bit scary to be so close to a massive rhino though....when we went, the rhino stood right in the middle of the road munching on the food which had been dropped from cars.
Funnily enough no-one hit their horn to get him out of the way! 😯
Sometimes, less is more.
We all love going to the Farm and Disneyland but sometimes the simplest things are great.
Our little one is only 5 and loves going exploring in the woods.
There's always new creepy crawlies to discover and all sorts of weird and wonderful things growing all over the place.
Chances are there's somewhere within 10 mins that you can go.
If you've time, take some food and drink for a picnic.
If your kids are of the right age then you could be really surprised at how much they enjoy it!
Of course, Gullivers and the Eco Park is great and and is our favourite park.
They even have a Splash Park now too!
We are quite happy to go anywhere as a family but favourites are:
Southend Seafront - proper cheesy seaside day out with jellied eels for good measure!
Legoland - fab rides for little ones
Barleylands Farm - brilliant for little ones, tractors rides, animals to feed, fab playthings
Never been to gullivers but sure we would enjoy it!!!:)
Me and my girls love going to the Riverside Park at Newburn. You can have a relaxing walk or cycle alongside the river, have a kick about on the grass, a picnic, and a play in the park. And we always get an icecream to round the afternoon off nicely. There is even a little bit of culture - George Stevenson's cottage is on the cycle track. It's a local park so we can go anytime we like, it's beautiful, lots of fresh air and, of course, the kids love the swings!!
And it costs nothing - except for the icecream!
CONGRATULATIONS to the following 6 users who win a family ticket to Gullivers - Happy Summer Holidays !! 😀
aboooo, Dopelganger, Simsik, Simongraham, Jesdads1 (great free idea from him!) Sweir1
Once again well done to them, but if you didn't win try again with one of our other A-MAY-ZING prizes ..
( i really want the Tipi Holiday shame i can't enter 🙁 )
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