Wicksteed Park 2021

We visited Wicksteed park last week! We visited the year before last and absolutely loved our time there and was really excited to be invited back again. The one thing we love about Wicksteed is that you can make it a cheap/free day out or spend a bit of money. Entry is free, the playgrounds are huge and there is plenty to do for everyone.

Wicksteed Park is the UK’s first playground for children and offers a wide range of activities for all the family across the park. From meerkats, birds and other animals to several playgrounds, rides, a boating lake and theatre there is just so much to do at Wicksteed. Activities and rides change occasionally and this visit there were some new rides, an update to the meerkat enclosure and a theatre is being finished!

Our first visit had to be the meerkats, Izzy absolutely loves meerkats and was so excited to discover they had a brand new enclosure that allows you go get much closer and watch the meerkats play in their habitat.

Whilst at the Meerkats enclosure we heard some music and discovered a little area we either missed last time or has recently been installed with musical pipes which the girls really enjoyed creating music with.

We also stopped at the bird aviary looking at all the different colourful birds flying around us. We love this area, it’s so lovely to get up close to the birds although you need to watch your step as there are often little ones on the floor.

Next we headed to the main playground, last time we visited during a heatwave so the metal was too hot to play on, this time however the weather was perfect. The girls spent a good 30 minutes running around trying out all the different climbing frames, see-saws and swings. There’s something there for all ages and its absolutely free to play here.

Next up we had to do the train ride, we love a train ride and the scenery around the park is stunning! After our train ride we returned to reception to collect the £40 meal vouchers we were gifted in exchange for blogging about our visit. The girls decided to have a hot dog from the cafe and we had chips, cheesy chips and burgers from Franks which were lovely and great portion sizes too.

Once we had eaten we decided to have a slow walk down to the lake where we discovered a smaller play area and a sand pit for the kids to play in.

We stopped there for a bit then headed inside the mini theme park area to have a go on the rides. There are several rides to choose from including their latest, Galaxy Invaders!

The girls are still getting used to rides, especially Eva with her sensory sensitivities however she managed to ride a few rides in the end including the dinosaur rollercoaster, lady bug rollercoaster and the paraglider rides. Izzy even managed the lady bug rollercoaster although she said it was a little too fast for her still and the honey bear ride which she really loved, especially as she could make me really dizzy spinning us faster!

Next we headed to the land rovers for the girls to have a drive around the little course they have. These are so cool and I’m a little jealous I’m too big for a go haha!

Of course we had to visit the slides next where the girls had a few turns and really enjoyed themselves. I had to miss out on the tree top walk this time due to my mobility worsening but as our friends came with us, Eva was able to join them and do the walk while we checked out the goats below. Izzy and I decided to have a few cheeky goes of the clown rollercoaster ride while we waited too which she really loves. It’s great for the younger ones who don’t want to go too fast!

By this point we were all exhausted and couldn’t wait to head back to the ice cream parlour for a lovely ice cream to cool down with. We then headed to the gift shop but the girls have far too many teddies and we couldn’t find anything with the Wicksteed park logo on it which would have been nice as we love collecting things like that to look back on all the places we’ve visited. The prices are fair though and there are quite a few toys and teddies to choose from.

Finally we headed back for one last visit with the meerkats before heading home, finishing our day off nicely.

We were really glad to be asked to visit Wicksteed Park again as it is an all round lovely place with plenty to do, we still missed parts of the park where I slow us down a lot, a camping trip would be ideal to fit everything in next time!

A Day Out At Wat Tyler Park

Wat Tyler Park in Pitsea, Essex is one of my all time favourites from when I was a child. It’s changed a fair bit over the years but it’s still a beautiful place to go for a day out especially for kids. It covers 125 acres and sits within the South Essex Marshes,it is definitely one of my favourite places. There is so much to see and do there that I’m sure I’ll cover much more in a future post

I took Eva a few times when she was small but without a car we just haven’t had a chance to get over there in a good few years. Izzy hadn’t been yet & I couldn’t wait to take her, so when I heard the bouncy castles were back again this summer I knew I had to arrange a day at Wat Tyler for the girls.

We arrived around 12.30pm on Friday as the bouncy castles opened at 1pm but we had taken a picnic with us and wanted to get the kids sat down eating before they went off to play. The kids couldn’t wait to get bouncing so munched their food quickly and asked to go get their wristbands to bounce.

The wristbands for the bouncy castles were £7 for children over 3 and £4 for under 3’s, although you could pay for a full wristband for younger children as long as you keep an eye on them.. With the 3 older girls to keep an eye on Izzy I decided to pay for a full wristband for her so she could go on one or two of the bigger bouncy castles with them.

The bouncy castle days are run by Go-bonkers and I have to say I was quite impressed with the selection. There was a small area for the under 3’s which had 3 castles in, a tiny one, a slide one & a bigger slide & play area inflatable. There was also a pile of big soft shapes for the little ones to build & play with which Izzy loved, unfortunately I didn’t manage to get many pictures across the day as Izzy kept me fairly busy but I did get this lovely shot below of Izzy bouncing.

Bouncing at Wat Tyler Park

For the bigger children the inflatables included a basketball lane, gladiators ring, football court & climbing wall as well as 2 normal large bouncy castles and a play castle called the shuttle which all the girls really enjoyed and Eva was over the moon she managed to get to the top of the climbing wall! I wish I had got a picture but I was in the smaller area with Izzy at the time.

I normally find these types of events so pricey and stressful but I have to say for what was there for 3 hours bouncing I would happily pay for both girls to go again! Each inflatable was watched & children were timed by a member of staff, meaning there were no kids crying they hadn’t had a turn and Eva didn’t keep coming back complaining older kids were being mean or not letting her play which we’ve had at other places.

The whole thing was laid out really well, meaning we could take the younger 2 in the small play area and still see every other inflatable and keep an eye on where the older 3 were, without bothering them & panicking too much. Eva behaved amazingly and I think it was mostly to do with being able to just go and play without being followed around.

I took both girls into the visitor centre to buy themselves a little something to take home & Izzy chose a small ball I would normally only pay £1 for which cost £2, so a little over priced, however Eva chose a pen with pictures on (£1) & a small notebook (60p) which was quite reasonable.

The inflatables were in a field next to the large play area in Wat Tyler so the kids loved being able to go and play in there after they were done bouncing. Eva loved the huge tunnel slide and spider-man frame and spent ages showing off to her Uncle Alex who joined us halfway through the after.

The park can be a bit manic at times so I was relieved my brother was there to run around with Eva whilst I kept an eye on Izzy who spent ages playing in the tunnels and going up and down the slide on the smaller play equipment. I was a little gutted the roundabout and the hamster wheel were fenced off as my brother and I loved them as kids!

Once all the kids were well and truly worn out we popped by the little outdoor cafe by the visitor centre and got an ice cream for the kids before jumping in my friends car and heading home.

Minus our picnic I spent around £3o which covered both girls wristbands plus I paid for a small wristband for Izzy’s friend James, the bits the girls bought in the visitor centre & 5 ice creams.

I was a little gutted my friend who had driven us there suddenly had to leave early otherwise I would have loved to have walked down to the boats with the girls & shown them the miniature train amongst other things around the park!

With so much to see and do around the park that even without the inflatables it’s a lovely day out & doesn’t have to cost a penny with free parking & toilets/changing room in the visitor centre. It’s such an interesting place for all ages I would definitely recommend stopping by for a visit if you are in the area and next time I go I will make a point of taking more pictures!

* Please note this is not a sponsored post.