Sundown Adventureland Theme Park for the Under 10s Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS EXPERIENCE WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST/S FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW.
Reviewed by Michelle M
I was delighted to be given the opportunity to visit and review Sundown Adventureland theme park near Retford, in Nottinghamshire but close to South Yorkshire too. My sat nav found it as a place of interest so I didn’t need the address. Once close there were signposts directing us too. This park is aimed at children up to ten years of age and is perfect for younger children, even babies. It Is a lovely theme park that is full of fun with plenty to explore and do. It is pram and wheelchair friendly although Cowboy Street is loose bark instead of paving so harder to navigate with wheels. There are plenty of toilets around the park, all of which have good sized baby changing areas and a toddler sized toilet and sink.
I chose to visit on a weekday because I knew it would be quieter and therefore easier for us to keep track of two three year olds who have their own mind about where they want to go! This did mean that the rides were not open constantly through the day but were operated at certain times. On arrival we were given maps and a card with the details of what times each ride was open so we could plan when to visit each area to coincide with the rides being open. We found some signposts pointing the way around the park but not as many as I’d have liked given my terrible sense of direction.
There are a total of ten rides available. Height wise the Monkey Mayhem driving school requires children to be 100cm tall and able to ride alone. The Ostrich Safari requires children to be over 85cm. All the other rides are suitable even for the smaller toddlers and just need an adult to accompany. The Jolly Pirate Barrel Ride was our kids’ favourite. It was a hot day in the low twenties temperature wise so the getting wet was pleasant but it’s one to waterproof for on cold days. All the information about the ride types, height requirements and accessibility is easy to find on the Sundown Adventureland website.
There are two indoor soft play zones, both located within cafe buildings. The largest “ Crash Landings” is always open for meals and sells hot food, snacks and drink options. We sampled the cheeseburgers, chips and a pizza here for lunch and felt the prices were pretty average for eating out and not as expensive as most theme parks. The soft play area is jungle themed and has three zones, a small baby area, a toddler area aimed at kids age 2 and above with a small slide and a larger area aimed at over 3s with a long ball pit, lots of slides and a target ball shooting area.
“Rodeo Corral” cafe and soft play was open with the cafe was serving snacks and drinks only. The soft play here is rodeo themed to fit its location on Cowboy Street and we thought the detail on the dragon slide was awesome. Other slides, a ball pit, ball shooter and everything you expect form a soft play were available here too. There are other options for snacks and drinks throughout the park as well, though some of the kiosks are only open on peak days. We enjoyed the ice cream parlour, there are plenty of picnic tables too if you want to bring your own food.
Outside there are plenty more play areas to find providing ample opportunities to climb, slide and swing. We spent time playing on the Angry Birds Activity Park, Captain Sandys Play Cove where we somehow brought sand home in pockets, and the Noah’s Ark under 5s play area which has awesome swings. These rank among some of the best play areas I’ve been to, but the metal slides do get hot in the sun.
There are a lot of interactive attractions with lots of buttons to press to make the animals or characters talk, sing or dance. Some, such as the memory game in the monkey mischief area are a great way to make these more interesting for slightly older children. We also took some time to explore the houses in toy town. Here Dr. Foster has an office, there’s a fire station and a butcher’s shop. The crazy mirrors upstairs in some of the buildings delighted my son. We also had a look at Lollipoppet Castle, walked through storybook village and down the yellow brick road. Humpty dumpy and Cinderella’s pumpkin also provided nice photo opportunities.
There was plenty more to see and do, with more interactive areas, more buildings to explore and more playgrounds to play in. It would be easy to spend at least another whole day there exploring everything that we missed the first day. There is also an accommodation village on site making it possible to stay the night. Annual passes can also be purchased allowing you to return as many times as you like. Sundown Adventureland is a fantastic family day out and perfect for children whether it’s their first theme park visit, a special day out to see Santa, or a firm favourite often frequented.
Rating: 5/5
Sundown Adventureland is located at Treswell Road, Rampton, Near Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 OHX https://sundownadventureland.co.uk/
RRP: Tickets start at £16.60 if booked online in advance. https://sundownadventureland.co.uk/tickets-and-prices/tickets/
Photos taken by reviewer