If you know my family well, you’ll know that we love a great day out. We have visited many places over the years. Some places have included nationwide popular attractions such as Peppa Pig World, Shrek’s Adventure and Legoland Discovery Centre. Other places have been what I like to call hidden gems perhaps more local and secluded to the public.
One place that isn’t to far from us in the Midlands is Wicksteed Park. Only 1 hour away from Birmingham, this great family day out is located in Kettering, Northamptonshire. We jumped at the chance to give this place a visit and share with you guys our thoughts!
Wicksteed park is a UK kids theme park set within 147 acres of parkland. What makes this place different from your mainstream popular theme park is that is a non-profit organisation. Anything you spend here with automatically go into the upkeep of the park. Wicksteed Park is wholly owed by Wicksteed Charitable Trust and is a Grade II English Heritage Listed Park and Garden. The park itself is open to the public, however to enjoy the attractions, activities and rides, you must purchase a wristband or individual tickets per ride.
Along with over 30 rides and attractions, there is so much on offer here for families across the UK. Two attractions that immediately stand out from the crowd was one of the longest zip wires in the UK – not for the faint hearted but looked so much fun! We opted out of this one and instead, chose to Clip and Climb.
Climb and Climb is an additional cost activity and is not included in the price of a wristband. This activity is open up to anyone over the age of 4. So this was perfect for Mr B, Missy and even Matt took on the challenge. So what is Clip and Climb? It’s a climbing zone featuring 28 different challenges across a range of colourful and adventurous climbing walls.
Before your 1 hour time slot, you’ll receive a mini briefing and time to harness up, followed by 1 full hour to take on any climbing wall you wish to! Each challenge provides a variety of difficulties and is a great way to test your skills!
Mr B loves climbing and completed a similar climbing challenge at Centre Parcs. However I wasn’t sure how Missy would manage. But mange she sure did, and reached the top on many of the walls she faced!
The kids (and Matt!) absolutely loved completing this and it was a great way to start off our morning at Wicksteed Park.
The price for the Clip and Climb is £12 per person and an additional £2 for the Leap of Faith. Book ahead of your visit in advance on their website.
Wicksteed park’s ride and attractions are split across several zones: Adventure Zone, Thrill Zone, Heritage Zone and Splash Zone. We began our journey around the Heritage zone as this was where the main house was located to retrieve your wrist bands. We found there to be a shop selling bits and pieces, several food stalls and the traditional playground. We began here and explored the huge playground and carousel.
Located next to the huge playgroup was adventure zone. It is also where the zip wire, clip and climb and the indoor soft play is located. We decided to check out some rides, such as Clarence The Clown Coaster and Mini Jets.
There was also a walk through Aviary and a Meeerkat Tunnel zone!
Within this Zone you’ll also fine the likes of Cups and Saucers, Crazy Golf, Tree Top Walk and Rockin Tug to name a few! Most of rides within this zone had a height requirement of 0.9m.
We then took a walk over to the Thrill Zone and took in the amazing views of Wicksteed Park. There really is so much space here, and we saw many families parked up for the day with their picnics ready to play cricket for the afternoon.
Within the Thrill Zone there was Rockey River Falls (a log flume) Pinfari Roller Coaster and the Dodgems. There was also several smaller rides that we throughly enjoyed. One of Missy’s favourites was the Ladybird coaster!
The older two also loved racing on the Wicksteed racers. The course is completed around the Thrill zone and you get to race against several other drivers.
There are many places to grab some lunch or dinner whilst exploring Wicksteed park. We decided to try out the Hexagon Smokehouse quick service restaurant opposite the Thrill Zone. We enjoyed chicken wings and chicken nuggets in the sun which was a real treat. The chicken wings were delicious and really flavoursome, however the kids chicken bites were lacking in flavour (and what seemed like chicken!) Prices were around the £6 per meal so reasonably priced.
We followed up our lunch with a scummy ice-cream sundae at the newly opened The Palour. There were plenty of choices of ice cream to chose from, including toppings! We have three happy kids!
Within the Heritage Zone there is the train strop for the Wicksteed Railway, known to be Britains most popular narrow gauge railway. This took you around the park, past Splash Zone. Before we headed over there we took a trip on the train and took in the sights. We also spotted the archery centre which is an activity to do whilst visiting (extra cost applies.)
Whilst in the splash zone the kids took advantage of the big sandpit and play area and we even took a ride on the pedal helicopters – the most exhausting ride I have ever been on! You could also enjoy the lake boats, shingle beach, paddling area and stand up paddle boarding.
We had a fantastic day here at Wicksteed and would 100% recommend it to anyone that not only wants a fun thrill seeking day out, but also one in which is relaxing and unwinding. This place is really suitable for all the family. What makes this place great is that there isn’t an entrance fee. So if anyone in your party doesn’t fancy any of the rides or attractions, they can simply join you on a day out without paying an entrance cost.
I think the food quality could be a little bit better however I did not try any food from the other stalls. This place is also accepting of picnics too so that may be an option for some. Overall, we had such a great time and as we love theme parks, this was right up our street!
If camping is your style, then you can take full advantage of the camping site on Wicksteed park and really make the most of your visit here. There was lots we didn’t get chance to do as we just didn’t have enough time. So I would love to make a weekend of it. Plus guests camping receive 50% off their second day wristbands. We will definitely be returning to try out the zip wire!
Thanks for reading xxx
Hi and welcome to The Willow Tree. I’m Michelle, also known as Shel and I am a mama to three beautiful crazy kids – I have two handsome boys and a wild and wonderful girl.
I really wanted a concrete place to share my love for travel, in particular Disney and offer my readers a chance to gain some knowledge around what we love to do as a family of 5.
I share our family adventures which include days out, travel advice and tips, holiday reviews, restaurant visits and of course, our love for Disney, including Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World.
Life is about creating memories, and here we are sharing them with you
xoxo
Looks like a great day out for all the family