Lowestoft, Pleasurewood Hills Review

Overall Rating

Good selection of rides for all ages, great layout, colourful, friendly staff. Fantastic circus show.

Ermmmm, the map is rubbish.

After a gap of 15 odd years, I thought it was time to revisit Pleasurewood Hills. All those years ago, I found the best thrill to be the large, almost vertical drop ..wooden slide. Over the years, Pleasurewood Hills has added some new rides and shows and the story this time is quite a different one.

On this visit, there were six of us, aged from 10 yrs to 35 yrs. We had booked our tickets in advance from the web site; two family tickets at £45 each, which meant a £2 saving. Hardly a great saving but it's still enough to buy a couple of ice creams. We arrived at 09:45 and the car park was almost empty. The gates didn't open until 10 am, so we collected our tickets from the Internet Booking window and waited patiently. The first thing that had struck me when we arrived in the car park, was the bright and bold colours of the main entrance. They worked well, in contrast with the well-kept and attractive garden areas and trees around the car park. We looked at our tiny maps and pondered where to go first. Slight problem, not one of the rides is named on the map! The decision was soon made as the shiny, red track of Cannon Ball Express honed into view. The queue lane was spacious and the queue nice and short as it was still early. The ride itself was a great piece of fun for all. It was short but nice and fast and provided plenty of laughter and thrills. A great start to the day.

Next up was the Pirate Ship. Some of the children had not been on one before and enjoyed it a great deal. Oddly, it had no effect on me as it would usually and soon we were off to the next ride, Wizzy Dizzy. Again, light queues and more importantly, spacious lanes. This ride I am familiar with (The one at Thorpe Park made me feel a bit sick) and we all had lots of fun, swinging round and so high, too. There was even a little air time at the highest apex of the swing. Nice.

It was time next for the Log Flume. A short ride but the drops are great fun and we got soaked. It was a great moment realising that the boat plummeting down the main drop, was about to soak us! Seeing that spray from the oncoming boat, was a top, fun moment.

Next up, we moved over to Mouse Trap. Again, lovely, spacious queue lanes and our first real queue. We probably waited over half an hour and as we reached the loading platform we all introduced ourselves to Mouse 2 and Mouse 1, much to their surprise!! (Hi guys, it was great to meet you.) I have been on this style of ride at Blackpool and the one at Pleasurewood Hills is pretty identical. The drops are great fun, it's faster than it looks and once you start spinning the fun doubles. A great, fun ride. We then rode The Rattlesnake. It's showing it's age now and it's not that smooth but it was more fun than I remembered and we all enjoyed it.

Slowing the pace down now, we moved over to the children's ride area and enjoyed the gentle change of pace. I apologise but I forget the names of the children's rides that we went on but they seemed well themed, especially the underwater theme. The art work was suitably impressive in contrast with the lighting used but the beginning of the ride as you drift around, looking at nothing but grassy mounds, needs serious rethinking. The models and puppets in the fairytale ride were impressive, too.

We caught the chairlift over the lake and then sauntered over to the Parrot show. It was pretty much like any other parrot show I've seen but it was still enjoyable and educational. Next we headed to The Cirque-Imagine show (enjoying our packed lunches in the queue) and this was the highlight of the day. A stunning circus (no animals) showcasing truly breathtaking talents. The clown was extremely funny (and I got picked during the bell ringing number Talk about nervous!) and the strongman, well, hugely impressive. All acts were world class and I cannot recommend the show enough. Come to Pleasurewood Hills, just for this show. You won't regret it. We then headed over to the Seal show, which was situated in a lovely amphitheatre, and we sat and chilled at the top of the grassy mound, enjoying the show.

Finally, it was time to repeat a couple of favourite rides before going. These were Wizzy Dizzy, Mouse Trap and Cannonball Express. All were lots of fun the second time round and bless Mouse 1 and Mouse 2 as they retrieved my sunglasses that decided to leave my person on one of the drops. Incredibly they survived their fall.

Overall, Pleasurewood Hills was a great day out for all the family and the Circus show just blew me away. It beat the Circus at Blackpool Tower and even the show, Splash at The Riveria in Vegas. A top day out and if you have children, then get them over there, now.

Members' Comments onbritcitchris's Review

• djeva1 on 19th Aug 2006

  When we went to Pleasurewood hills, there were hardly any good rides for thrillseeekers let alone children and it was expensive, but you were right by mentioning how good the sea lion and parrot circus was.