written by Kaylieh359 on 28/07/2014
Took my 5 year old and my 7 month old daughters to this place yesterday. Firstly, I would advise anyone who prebooks their tickets online on the same day they are going to visit to expect complications on the system when checking in. Surprisingly, with modern technology and internet it still doesn't update or doesn't seem to have a clue who you are, even with your reference number. despite this hicup, we were allowed in and the staff seemed pleasant enough (although the ladies in the cafe seemed shy/clueless) once in, i couldn't help but feel the place could do with a little clean up and refurbishing, but this isn't about my experience at all. this place is designed for kids and on that level alone, it is perfect. Its basically one extra large player area. There were so many different parks, jungle gyms, set pieces and play areas to wander about and my eldest daughter had a wonderful time exploring everywhere and playing. the rides were nothing special and (again) specifically designed for children - some of which my 7 month old was allowed on and obviously a few she was not, but even at her age, she seemed to enjoy the place. Overall, i would have given it 3 stars, but it has earned an extra star purely for the fact that my kids enjoyed it so much. To anyone from advertureland reading this, if you want my advice, i would say you need to make some of the set peices a little more interactive, rather than just being able to walk through and press a few buttons here and there.
written by TuckerSimmons on 16/04/2014
I took my 4 year old and Grandma here on 9th April'14 and had a great day. No queues at entrance or for any rides, yet there were plenty of people there to give it an atmosphere. My son loved the Angry Birds play area, and the indoor play area too. We went on all the rides at least twice, and had a great laugh on the water ride when Grandma got soaked! We took our own picnic food, but the food in the Crash Landings play area looked really good value. The staff were happy to chat with us, and the place was very clean. We were lucky to have a sunny day without April showers, but I would recommend a visit if you have young children. If I had to suggest an area to improve it would be the monkeys, as some of the buttons didn't work, but that is all I can think of!
written by kmlevy123 on 04/06/2009
Sundown Adventureland is fabulous day out for under 10s and highly enjoyable for the adults too!! Lots of rides plus areas for children to run, climb and generally have fun burning off energy. Definitely designed for the british weather too with lots to do undercover. My friends remember it fondly from when they were children (although supposedly there's much more there now) and I can see why they recommended it so highly. For a full day out the initial cost is well worth it.
written by val pickersgill on 25/05/2009
Sundown Adventureland is a fantastic day out for under 10's well thought out from the minute you enter the gate.A great deal of thought has gone into safety aspects.Very clean and tidy all round including the toilets.Some may say its expensive but spend a whole day out and it is worth every penny. Kiosks not a rip off 84p coffee, £1 ice creams and spades for sand 50p.
This was our second time and it just gets better. As grandparents taking 2 4 and 5 year olds out for the day we say well done to the organisors..Cant praise it enough.
written by on 06/05/2009
Sundown adventure land was a great day out me and my partner had just as much fun as our 2 year old daughter. We wouldnt have known about it if family hadn't told us. we would definately recommend it to anyone! All of it was good especially the little houses and shops you could go in. only bad point is having to leave your pushchair and belongings outside of the rides on a busy day things could go missing.
written by on 07/07/2008
It was fab, my 3 half year old loved it on her pre-school trip today and of course I did too. Definitely recommend to friends and will go again ourselves.
written by SUEBIE on 14/12/2007
Sundown Adventureland is well worth a visit if you have never been, no long hours of queuing for the rides.
I been going for the last 6 years and hope to keep going for at least another 4.
I will miss it when my boys have outgrown it.......... (as I love the all year ride-Santa's sleigh ride and the lovely smells as you go round)........
written by violetgreen on 03/08/2006
I can't believe I hadn't heard more about Sundown Adventureland!! I was looking for somewhere to take my 3 (nearly 4) year old for a day out. I vaguely remembered someone mentioning it and looked it up on the internet. It looked OK, so we decided to go.
We have had the most wonderful day. The park wasn't very busy and there was so much to do. We spent 5 hours there and didn't see it all. It was really magical for a child of this age, with all the rides being gentle and fun. Our daughter isn't very brave, but she went on all of the rides in the end, and then wanted to go on them again.
I've just asked my daughter what the best bit today was, and she has said 'lots of things'. That says it all really!
My only problem is that I wanted to go somewhere tomorrow, and I can't find anywhere that will top it for this age group.
I've already recommended it to a friend. If you want more details of what is there the other review on this site has more information.
I'd compare it to a mini-Disney for under 7's without the commercialism.
written by t4mof on 02/11/2004
Three months ago I hadn't heard of Sundown Adventureland and then in the space a week, 2 separate friends of mine recommended it as a good day out for young children. The park advertises itself as "the theme park uniquely designed for the under 10s" so don't expect thrill-a-minute white knuckle rides. However, if you're looking for a fun day out for toddlers and young children with gentle rides and lots of interaction, then it could be the perfect choice.
~ ~ ~ Entrance ~ ~ ~
There is an extensive free car park and an overflow, so even at busy times there should be no parking problems. There are two pay kiosks, one that takes cash only and one that accepts debit and credit cards. Queues to get in weren't a problem when we visited but I could imagine on a warm Bank Holiday, two kiosks may not be enough.
The admission fee is a flat rate £6.50 for all over 2 years of age, with no option to buy a reduced rate family ticket. It may seem like an expensive price to pay for a 2 year old but the park does cater for children of this age and they would be able to enjoy a full day inside the park. There is a group reduction for parties of 20 or more at £5.50 each and under 2s are free.
~ ~ ~ Market Square ~ ~ ~
Once in the park the first entertainment takes place in the Market Square. There is a market stall and when certain fruit and veg are moved, nursery rhymes are heard. So, for example, play with the oranges and hear "Oranges and Lemons" or open up a pie and "Sing a Song of Sixpence" will be played. There are also two birds trying to pull the same worm out of the ground and a yodelling goat.
The first ride can also be found here - Santa's Sleigh Ride. It isn't necessarily the ideal ride to be going on in August but it is still fun for the children. You are taken through various winter and Christmas scenes and see Santa getting the presents ready as well as Rudolph tucked up in bed. There isn't anything to scare children on the ride although it does get a little dark in places.
In the Market Square you will also find the Witches Cauldron. This is a slightly more frightening feature. It is just one room with several witches relaxing and making spells and potions. Again it is dark and at the age of 3, Jacob wasn't all that sure that he wanted to be there. There are several buttons to press which make different things happen - spiders come down from the ceiling, broomsticks bob up and down and things peer out from behind cupboard doors. I could imagine many toddlers wouldn't like this too much but for the 8-10 year old age range, it could be quite entertaining.
~ ~ ~ Toilet and Eating Facilities ~ ~ ~
Close to the Market Square was one of the two sets of toilet and baby change facilities and a restaurant. I was very impressed with the cleanliness of the toilets and baby change area. It was obviously cleaned very well regularly and made a nice change from the usual public loo standards. My only concern was that there weren't enough dotted around the whole park. There was only one other block of toilets and they were relatively close to the first set, meaning that if you were at the top end of the park, getting to a toilet would take quite a few minutes - and as all of you who have experienced the wonderful toilet training phase with toddlers will know, you don't often have "quite a few minutes" to spare. For a park that is aimed at kids, I think this is one area that could and should be improved upon.
The restaurant sold mainly fast food - burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and the like along with biscuits and jacket potatoes. I was happy with the prices for food. Often places like this will charge a small fortune for not much food but I felt it was very reasonable. High chairs are also provided for the younger members of the family as well as a microwave so baby food can be warmed up. There are plenty of picnic areas in case taking your own lunch is an option you prefer.
~ ~ ~ Noah's Ark Under 5s Play Area ~ ~ ~
This is situated outside the restaurant and is a play park specifically designed for under 5s including climbing frames, see-saws and slides. The main feature is Noah's Ark that children can run in and out of. Jacob spent quite a long time in here and enjoyed it but I felt that there should have been at least one member of staff on duty enforcing the "Under 5s" rule. Children up to the ages of 12 or 13 were charging around and wondering why they couldn't fit into the swings. After a while there were too many older children for the younger ones to enjoy what was on offer.
~ ~ ~ Smuggler's Cove ~ ~ ~
This area of the park is based on the theme of Pirates. Children can explore a pirate ship and climb through different shops and a smugglers inn. All the buildings link together from the inside so children can move from one to another. Great for the children but a little hard for parents to keep track of where they are. You can accompany your child inside the buildings but be prepared for stooping over for long periods of time. Practising contortionist skills beforehand might also be advisable!
There is also a wet water ride where up to 2 adults and 2 children can sit in a beer barrel and enjoy a relaxing ride with various pirate scenes on the banks to keep you amused. There are sprays in action though so you may get wet - fine in August, not so good in October.
~ ~ ~ Lollipoppet Castle ~ ~ ~
Leaving the pirates behind, we made our way to Lollipoppet Castle which really is straight out of a fairy tale. Again there is plenty to explore inside. The highlight for me was the king showing off his new outfit. It looked very nice from the front but if you catch sight of him in the mirror you are greeted with a bit of a surprise.
The courtyard of the castle is dominated by a huge ice-cream sundae which occasionally blows out bubbles for the children to chase.
~ ~ ~ Toy Town & Sunny Down Farm ~ ~ ~
Toy Town includes yet more buildings, this time with a "high street" theme. Sit on the fire engine in the Fire Station, keep fit at the Doctors and play shop in the Grocers. It's a great stimulation for children to switch to role play, especially if they have a friend or sibling with them and there is plenty of seating available for the adults while the children get lost in their imaginary worlds.
Next door to Toy Town is Sunny Down Farm which is a small area where you can learn why eggshells are hard and try to mend a tractor among other things. As with the rest of the park there are plenty of buttons to press to make things happen. There are no real animals here, everything is plastic - but then real animals can't sing, dance and talk to you.
If you want to see more plastic farmyard scenes, take a tractor ride. The queue for this was quite long and it seemed to be one of the more popular attractions. Again 2 adults and 2 children can share one tractor and a nice touch is that both front seats have steering wheels so there are no arguments about who should drive.
~ ~ ~ Yellow Brick Road & Story Book Village ~ ~ ~
We walked along the Yellow Brick Road and saw models of the Wizard of Oz characters. It's not really interactive but it is worth walking down as a cut through to other areas of the park.
The Story Book Village was one of my favourite areas. Several houses of well known story characters such as Jack and the Beanstalk, the 3 Little Pigs and Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs were open for children to listen to the stories and see scenes from them. Highlights were the piano in the 3 Little Pigs house and locking the witch in the oven and stirring her cauldron in Hansel and Gretel's house. It's not exactly Disneyworld but it was great fun and again plenty to keep the youngsters occupied.
~ ~ ~ Wild Wild West ~ ~ ~
Finally we made our way to an area loosely based on cowboys where we took a train ride through the rocky mountains looking out for shooting bandits. The Junglemania restaurant is located here which includes an indoor soft play area and it is also the location of the other toilet facilities.
~ ~ ~ Overall ~ ~ ~
I felt the day out was good value for money, costing us just under £20 for the 3 of us. We spent 6 hours there and didn't run out of things to do. It is certainly best suited to young families and there was a nice atmosphere to the place. Buggies have to be left outside most of the rides and I had the feeling that it was perfectly safe to do this.
The disappointments for me were the lack of staff in the Under 5s play area and the limited toilet facilities.
~ ~ ~ Park Details ~ ~ ~
The park is situated close to the A1 at Worksop and is signposted from the A57. Because of its location, it is in easy reach for people living in the East Midlands, South Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
The park is open for most of the year but is closed from Christmas Day through to February half term and they have special Christmas Festivity Weekends throughout November and December which includes meeting Santa and getting a present.
Sundown Adventureland opens at 10am and closes between 4pm and 7pm depending on the time of year.
All prices and times are correct for the 2004 season.
Web: www.sundownadventureland.co.uk
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As rated by our community of reviewers
Nottsnat's Response to t4mof's Review
Written on: 25/07/2007
Sundown Adventureland started out as pets corner about 15-16 years ago with just some animals it has then grown and been refirbished into what you see today they now also have a robin hood ride although I have not yet been able to ride this.