I live in Doncaster with my wife and two children, and work as a Postal Worker for Royal Mail.
I live in Doncaster with my wife and two children, and work as a Postal Worker for Royal Mail.
Member since:11.11.2008
Reviews:5
My wife & I recently visited this theme park with our two children. Rose, aged 4 was at the perfect age to get the most out of the day whilst Max, aged 7 weeks at least enjoyed his extended rides in the pram !
If you have kids aged under 10, you'll be glad to know this is one of the few places tailored specifially for this age group. If you live around the South Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire areas, you will also have the benefit of a short drive time which is of course always beneficial with children in the car. Based near Retford the park is fairly easy to find with a map. Get lost though and you may find yourself in the sticks winding through small villages - so ensure you are confident with your journey plan. It is situated 6 miles from the A1 Markham Moor and sign posted 3 miles from Dunham on the A57. Train and bus links are dubiously not mentioned on their website, but a number 92 bus does go there and so if you are relying on public transport I would advise you call the park on 01777 248274
to enquire.
We visited this time near to Christmas Time and the atmosphere was quite special, with a Father (& Mother) Christmas visit in with part of the deal. Under 2's are free with an £8.50 per person entrance price otherwise. Santa was well positioned near to the entrance so we visited him first and it was nice to see that some thought had gone into the presentation of his hut. Mum & Dad had a comfy sofa to sit on, whilst Santa Clause non-discreetly asked what our daughter wanted for Christmas from him while posing for a photo and handing her a wrapped gift. It was a nice start to the day.
We have visited Sundown before in Summer too and it was equally enjoyed. They seem to cater for different seasons and events quite well too; Halloween, Guy Fawkes night etc. The layout of the park is designed with different distinct themed areas, with only a very short walk inbetween each. Overall the size of the park is not huge and so for children, and possibly elderly grandparents the walking should be quite manageable.
On entering the main park area, we asked our daughter which ride she wanted to go on first which she answered promptly "the Santa Sleigh Ride ! Bizarrely this is actually a Christmas themed ride which is open all year round, and the best way I can describe it, is like a ghost train, but with the scary ghoules and monsters replaced with enchanting elves and reindeers. This ride is also near to the entrance and offers a nice gentle start to the Sundown experience with a pleasant relaxing atmosphere to it. None of the rides here are any more than gentle though anyway, which is of course the whole idea for young children.
The first real noticeable themed area is "Cowboy Street", set out like a mini Wild West. It works very well too. Along the street the kids can run in and out of various interactive staged facilities such as an old American Bank, a Mail Room, even a Jail which all have a button or too to press so they can get involved. The lads will especially love the shop where they can shoot at targets on the shelves for some noisy rewards. A Wild West train ride awaits you at the end of the street. Other themed areas include Story Book Village, Nursery Ryhme Land and Toy Town. Within these are various make-believe staged areas for the kids to explore - including child proportioned houses, castles and shops keeping everybody entertained and happy. Somewhere to sit down for the adults is easy enough to find too while the young 'uns run about screaming.
Dry weather is definately preferable if you are going to visit. The rides are outdoors, and although there are places to keep sheltered during the odd downpour with things still to do, rain all day may dampen the spirits. Outdoors also holds host to some fairly large play areas which could provide the ideal opportunity for the afternoon picnic, or just more energy zapping running, swinging & climbing for the kids (& dads!)
I would say allowing 4-5 hours should be a sufficient amount of time to spend in the park and will allow time to get to see and do most, if not all of the activities more than once. There is usually a show available to see and a place to eat in the Ol' Wild West area. The food, to be honest is a bit of a letdown really though, and mainly consists of either a baked potato or a burger & chips. Not exactly Michelin Star stuff, but relatively cheap and cheerful enough to keep you on the go. If you don't like this kind of fast food you might be better off taking packed lunches.
This time we actually only had about 2 and a half hours at Sundown as we got the closing times wrong and turned up at 2.00pm with most of the rides closing at 4.00pm. Fortunately this wasn't a problem for us, as my wife happily went into the cafe to feed our baby and have a cup of tea, whilst my daughter and I devoured a quick Hot Dog and ran round the park, dashing on as many rides as possible. The only thing to be aware of though if you are short on time is that we found some of the rides operated for a certain part of the day before closing and re-opening later. We were lucky as we visited on a school day, and the queues were virtually non-existent. We still managed to fit most things in but this could have been very different.
Overall Sundown Adventureland offers a nice, reasonable value for money day out for the family. Parking is free too which alway's helps. If you do decide to visit, have a look at the website first to check on opening times, prices and directions. The address is www.sundownadventureland.co.uk
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
very helpful by (100%):
