Diggerland Yorkshire 2018 Review
Reviewed by Emma Stubbs
I spent today (Sunday 30th September 2018) at Diggerland in Castleford, West Yorkshire with my husband (who is essentially a 5 year old boy trapped in an adult body) and my almost 4 year old daughter.
Diggerland has 4 locations throughout the UK – Kent, Devon, Durham and Yorkshire, and also a Worcestershire location on the horizon. The Yorkshire site was very easy to get to as it was five minutes off the M62. Car parking was extensive and there was no queue to get in, although we did arrive only half an hour after opening time!
On first impressions, it was a lot smaller than we expected, and we didn’t think there’d be enough to fill a whole day. Oh, how wrong we were! Our visit lasted almost 6 hours, and even then we had to drag our daughter away.
The park is packed with construction machinery that you can ride, use and drive in an assortment of ways. There are three rides that have a theme park vibe. Spindizzy was the only ride we didn’t go on as it was a bit too scary for our little girl as it involved sitting in a massive digger bucket and being hoisted and spun in the air! Dig-a-round was a less thrill-seeking version, which my daughter absolutely loved. One of the highlights of the day was being lifted 50 feet in the air by the Skyshuttle – the views of the park and surroundings were stunning. My daughter keeps saying that this was her favourite ride!
As well as the rides, we all loved driving round the various quads, tractors and dumpers. We had a ride in an SUV, the cab of a JCB, and an incredibly bumpy, bouncy, stomach-churning trip in the Groundshuttle (don’t eat prior!).
It was so much fun using the diggers – some had fun games involved such as hook-a-duck, knocking over skittles, or finding buried treasure, and others just gave you the opportunity to simply dig mud (my personal favourite)! We never waited more than ten minutes in any queue if there was one, which is very important when you are mainly catering for ages 3-8!
A huge indoor area housed a huge soft play area, mini bouncy castle, air hockey tables and a smaller area for toddlers. We spent a good hour in here warming up and escaping the wind.
The facilities were great – we never queued for toilets, and the cafe offered a good range of hot and cold meals, snacks and drinks – the kid’s meals are good value and we really enjoyed our burger and decent sized jacket potato.
Our daughter is around 100cm, and there was nothing she wanted to go on that she couldn’t for height reasons. Most of the ride-ons she sat on our knee, which she was happy to do. If I were a single parent with more than one small child, this might have made things difficult, so I would recommend bringing friends! Also, I would say definitely wait until kids are over 100cm, as there isn’t much for them to go on otherwise.
All in all, I would really recommend Diggerland for a fantastic fun day out, particularly for those with children aged 3-8. My daughter wants to know when we can go again!
Rating: 5/5
Admission prices:
Adults to age 65 & children 90cm or over – £19.95pp
Age 65+ (ID required) – £9.95pp
Children under 90cm – Free
Groups of 10 or more – £16.99pp
For more information or to book tickets visit www.diggerland.com.
Diggerland Yorkshire, Willowbridge Lane, Whitwood, WF10 5NW | 01634 711 711