Twinlakes Theme Park
Melton Mowbray
Wednesday 9 April 2014

Me and my Mum have been looking after my niece and nephew for a few days as they’ve been visiting from Leeds on their Easter holidays. Archie (aged 7) and Violet (aged 4) both love a good ride having been converted by a trip to Legoland last year, so we thought Twinlakes family theme park looked a great bet.

So we set off to Twinlakes on a lovely spring day, it’s not far from Leicester, just outside Melton’s town centre so an easy jaunt by car into the ample (and free) car parking spaces. Our day got off to a lovely start being greeted at the gates by the Queen of Raspberries with child friendly banter and a cheeky chocolate egg as part of their Easter activities.

With map in hand we looked forward to exploring the site and set off in search of the Buccaneers Island Zone. With Pirates and seaside themed rides the kids thought this indoor area was great. Archie loved the Sharkbite ride, saying it “makes you feel quite sick, but in a good way!” Sharkbite was definitely a fave with Archie who went on 8 times!

With the weather brightening up we were ready to explore some bigger rides outside. Heading down to the Guang Dragon Zone checking out the Dragonfalls Log Flume where we got pleasingly soaked! This zone also has a fab splash and water play area packed with slides and activities so pack your swimming cossie on a nice summer’s day.

Archie loved the pirate ship too, admittedly it wasn’t quite so good for my vertigo, so just the one ride on that was enough for me! Violet can’t wait to ride the Pirate ship next time when she’s a little bit taller – she’s much braver than me!

The great thing about Twinlakes is how the rides are all set up for kids, there are height restrictions for some of the rides, but on many of them the kids can ride on them alone which they loved the freedom to be able to do.

There’s also plenty of places both indoor and out for lunch and snacks. It’s also refreshing that you can bring your food with you, which always really helps if you need to keep the cost down on your daytrip, and of course saves money for some rather lovely ice creams!

For the Easter holidays Twinlakes have created a really lovely Easter Bunny’s Chocolate Grotto, a secret world past Farmer Phil’s potting shed. The kids loved the grotto and were thrilled with their special Easter bunny treat at the end too!

Violets favourite ride was up in the Excalibur Adventure Zone, a themed knight’s area, we lost count the amount of times she rode on the ‘Joust About’ horses ride. She definitely recommends it!

Overall Violet (4) thought all the rides were all brilliant and Archie (7) loved the Trauma Tower, saying it was bad for people who are scared of heights (like me!), but ace for people who like feeling shocked!
The only thing Archie wouldn’t recommend about Twinlakes is the shop and help zone because it doesn’t have any rides!

The definite favourite ride for us was the main rollercoaster ‘Buffalo Stampede’ down in the Action USA Zone, all of us running back after the ride to go on it again.

The kids really did love the rides, but the great thing about Twinlakes is that there’s plenty more in addition to that. With great mazes, soft play areas, playgrounds, a lovely little train ride, creepy critters with tarantulas and pythons and a farm area too with lambs, aviaries, meerkats and more! We were there for well over six hours and there was still much more to see and do!

So adults and kids alike we would heartily recommend a trip to Twinlakes, it’s packed with child friendly rides and activities, has a lovely atmosphere and really friendly staff too. Twinlakes – a definite Easter holiday winner!

Archie and Violets rating of Twinlakes 10/10

Words by James Hickford @mrhickford with help from Archie ‘at the front’ Hickford, Aged 7 and Violet ‘again’ Hickford, Aged 4.

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