Sundown Adventureland Childrens Theme Park

...so many good things about Sundown since we moved to the East Midlands in the summer , we had been looking forward to making our first trip for a while now.

Originally we'd planned to go the first weekend in December for my birthday but at the last minute my good lady fell ill with a tummy bug, and as it was a chilly sort of a day anyway we decided to wait for another opportunity.

Having broken up for Christmas, and ...
...about Sundown==

Sundown adventure land has been running for around 40 years now and the first thing to note is that it's specifically designed for the under 10s.

Finding it is pretty straightforward, it's signposted all the way, not far from Retford off the A1, take the A57 to Lincoln, and then look for the brown signs. There's a very straightforward entrance fee, with the exception of free entry for the under 2's, ... more

Having heard and read so many good things about Sundown since we moved to the East Midlands in the summer , we had been looking forward to making our first trip for a while now.

Originally we'd planned to go the first weekend in December for my birthday but at the last minute my good lady fell ill with a tummy bug, and as it was a chilly sort of a day anyway we decided to wait for another opportunity.

Having broken up for Christmas, and being lucky enough to have completed our Chrimbo shopping in good time, we decided to make it a first day out of the holidays Monday treat, for me, my wife, little man and his granny. I'm very happy to report it didn't disappoint, and three generations all went home with huge smiles on faces.

All about Sundown

Sundown adventure land has been running for around 40 years now and the first thing to note is that it's specifically designed for the under 10s.

Finding it is pretty straightforward, it's signposted all the way, not far from Retford off the A1, take the A57 to Lincoln, and then look for the brown signs. There's a very straightforward entrance fee, with the exception of free entry for the under 2's, it's basically £8.50 per person.

Understandably it's actually closed in January and early February, and during the pre-xmas season, the park opens at 10am and closes at 5pm (7pm on weekends in December). Even in the peak summer holiday season it's only open till 6pm but then again as its all for young kids you can almost guarantee they'll be completely flaked out by late afternoon, with so many exciting things to explore. With such a lot to pack into a day its well worth getting there first thing - plus you get parked by the attendants nearest to the exit so that's always a bonus.

Having been operating for a few decades, it has to be said that one or two of the attractions could perhaps do with more than a lick of paint, but from the looks of it, they are still moving with the times and in the process of building new stuff.

Once you are in, all the main rides, shows and attractions are included in the entrance price, and you'll find the park has been split into a number of different themed areas.

Everything is very clearly signposted, there are leaflets available with a helpful map of the site when you go in. The majority of the site is both wheelchair and push chair friendly, and surprisingly easy to get around.

Special Christmas features

As we visited only 3 days before Christmas, as you would expect at this time of year, every effort has been made to capture the magic and excitement of it all. Included in the entrance fee for each child is a ticket to Santa's Grotto, which includes a special present from the big man himself. As his log cabin is just by the entrance, and we figured that the queue would just get bigger through the day, we decided to pay a visit there first. There is also a snow queen and Mother Xmas available to give out presents elsewhere on the site if the queues get too much, but let's face it there's no substitute for the 'real thing'.

Now it has to be said Santa has really done his place up nicely - it's very colourful and cosy, with a lovely fireplace and a comfy sofa for the little ones to sit and admire their very special host. Santa clearly wasn't in the mood to be put off his stride by this talk of credit crunch, his beautifully wrapped present for our little one turned out to be a very nice quality pop-up book "little fire engine" which he was absolutely over the moon with. Gleefully we headed out of the back door and looked back for one last peep back at the big man through the window and then on to our next adventure.

Especially for this time of year, the indoor woodland creatures ride is magically transformed into santa's sleigh ride. All aboard, and straight from the first corner you see a jolly big snowman lighting the way towards a magical kingdom.

There's all kinds of funny animatronic festive characters, with my personal favourite being the crafty turkey chef in the kitchen who's managed to land the job of cooking the Xmas dinner

Market square and cafe

As I can't take too much excitement these days before needing a tea break, next stop the café, but first a word or two on the market square which is right opposite the main entrance. There are a number of proper gift shops, plus some pretend ones like a funny little pet shop, and right in the middle there are a number of stalls with some farm animal characters popping up behind them.

It's great fun for the little ones to touch and press things and watch everything come to life with popular old rhymes and songs. Diagonally across the way is the café with quite a nice little traditional style playground again with an animal theme. In the middle there's Noah's ark with slide added for good measure, and there's all sorts of monkeys and crocodiles and other jungle creatures for them to swing and see-saw to their hearts content.

Once we'd finally persuaded fella to head inside, the café is nicely laid out with mostly 4 or 6 seater red plastic seats and tables. It has to be said it serves up mostly burger and chips type fair, but there's also jacket potatoes with a variety of fillings, salads and veggie burgers to balance things up. Best of all there's a great little area at the back, with a miniature street of 3 or 4 play houses, equipped with kitchens and garages and various mini cars to tootle around in while they wait for the grub to arrive.

Adventure Fort Apache

Next up for us, back through the market square and out into a kind of cowboy western land , walk off to the side and you come to a humongous adventure playground, with wooden battlements and walkways running all the way round and loads of slides, climbing frames and even a rope slide to keep them amused.

It's at this point, it started to dawn on me just how good value this is for a day out, this was only one of a whole bunch of different play areas, let alone all the rides and shows still to be discovered. And most important of all, Daddy to the rescue in the fort let me get back to doing what I do best - being the biggest kid on the block!

Cowboy street and railroad

Would imagine this place is great for live action stuff in the summer months, as it was a few carts and horses on a frosty old December day were exciting enough for little man to explore. Tucked away at the far end of the street, the other main restaurant area, and in that complex you'll find a fantastic all weather indoor soft play area called Jungle Mania.

We weren't hanging around though, it was high time we sampled a wild ride. All aboard the Rocky Mountain train, accompanied by a goofball Hicksville commentary as we whistled stop toured round bandit country

Fairy tale castle and the Hood

Just a short walk on from there - you quickly realise despite the multitude of themed areas marked on the map this is 10 year old explorational territory so it's pretty easy to get from one place to the next - we found ourselves at the magical Lillipoppet castle. Very pink and properly palatial, there's lots of enchanting treats to discover inside its walls, musical sing-a-longs and all sorts. Mind your heads tall folks!!

Then just further along the way there's another courtyard that leads you to the favourite 'local' boy - Robin Hood's ride. From an adult's perspective this was probably the most enjoyable ride - lots going on all the way round and plenty of time to take it in. Let's face it none of these rides are going to give anyone nightmares, they are all very tame affairs, well thought out with something for young and old.

Tractortastic

But if you want to know, the one ride the younger kids will want to go on again and again - head for the Sunny Down Farm area nearby. Once you've discovered the various push button interactive farm animals suggest you get in the queue sharpish.

There are 4 or 5 different coloured tractors doing a farmyard circuit, parents are 100% banned from the front seats which are equipped with dual state of the art steering wheels. My little fella could not stop chuckling with glee all the way round. He was in his element driving the big red tractor watching various old Mcdonald creatures doing there little jigs

Storybook Village

Now yet again they've hit the nail on the head with this place. You enter a mini village, with a range of different cottages and houses all laid out. Each one based on a classic fairytale - there's The Three Pigs, Snow White, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Perfect for when the little mites are starting to flag in the afternoon. They can press the story button, sit in comfy chairs and hear it all come to life. Three Bears being a regular bedtime favourite meant that we were hard pushed to get him out of there. They can even sit down at the table and sample the three different bowls of porridge -its just like you are there in the actual story - imagine how exciting that is for the wee ones!

Pirates ahoy

Just round the corner, another playground extravaganza, with a giant sandpit populated with some more slides and swings, again perfect for summer days, and still a good lark even when the frost is glistening on the surfaces. But we only had time for a quick roll about before we were heading off to the big 3pm show of the day which we'll come to shortly.

Also in this area, the perilous, Boozy Barrel boat ride, again perhaps not the perfect choice for a winters afternoon, but we were coated up and feeling brave. Once we'd squeezed our way into the barrel, notably listing to the Daddy starboard side under my additional pre-xmas ballast, I gleefully reaped the benefits, my side so low in the water I missed all the tyrannical attempts to get us soaked as babba and mamma bore the brunt of those wheezy jets.

I suppose there is that extra risk factor of picking up last minute bugs and snuffles when you visit just before xmas, in fact one of my enduring images of our day was the site of the lady with the mop and bucket announcing to her pal that a poor little munchkin had just chucked up his guts in santa's grotto, but somehow we escaped the clutches of the novovirus and any other undesirables.

Sunny, Hunny how you thrill me

And after 5 hours of frenetic toddling fun, the crowning glory of the day...A Xmas sing along special with the resident cuddly wuddly funster hosts, Hunny and Sunny Bear all decked out head to toe in santa costumes. So to recap, my little fella and I were heading out of the sandpits, at five to three, about to walk down the animatronic jungle alley which takes you back to the entrance and stage area where the good lady wife was already waiting.

But then we spotted the stars of the show being driven round in their little red buggy car. Instantly my little sunshine boy was on a mission, follow that car....Fine I thought to myself, they'll just be driving round the corner and then it's showtime, so I play along - come on then let's chase them. Big mistake!!

Turns out they'd only just begun the grand tour round to drum up the punters, so as those toddler legs quickly faded off the pace, Daddy carry had to kick in, all the way round through two circuits of story ville, up and down cowboy street, a pair of increasingly desparate bear stalkers hoping they'd eventually lead us back to base camp.

At last we made it, hardly time to draw breath before the partying kicked off in fine style - all those seasonal favourites for a dance and sing along right there in the courtyard - these bears not afraid to mix it with their fan base , particularly the dedicated groupies like us.

The DJ played out those seasonal classics, Merry Xmas everyone, Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is coming to town, Agadoo, the Macarena?....well who's to be picky about the seasons when the Hokey Cokey is in full swing and there's fake snow spraying down on top of everyone in the place - happy days in deed!

Final thoughts

Didn't even have time to mention the Big Bear show in Cowboy street, Toy Town, or the mini Go-Karts - ok I admit it we missed them on the day, but hey the Christmas stuff was always going to be top of our list.

And so there you have it, in my book an infinitely more enjoyable way to spend the last days before Xmas than tearing your hair out trying to get a space outside Morrisons at 8am.

Would imagine on a weekend it might get a lot busier, and definitely could be interesting at peak summer holiday time, but I for one am looking forward to making the most of the next 5 or 6 years of our little man's childhood as a ticket to get back here once in a while and enjoy plenty more imagination packed, family fantastic days out for less than a tenner a head.

Originally published on dooyoo , as yabbadabbadoo 

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