For the last couple of weeks, not only have we been on countdown for half term, but also for a trip with school friends to Flamingo Land. Whilst the kids have never been before, Nathan and I have fond memories of it with school trips and family days out (the joys of growing up in Yorkshire!). Having kids that are both animal lovers and adrenaline junkies, we knew they would love it too and it was all set to be the ideal day out with friends.
Sadly, due to a sickness bug striking our home this last weekend, we never made the trip with our friends and were sorely disappointed. After seeing their pics on facebook and a serious bout of “FOMO” hitting us, we instead went yesterday and had a lovely family day out together.
A Winter Deal!
I recently discovered that throughout the Winter season you can visit Flamingo Land for just £7.50 each Monday to Friday and £12 per person on weekends and school holidays- my bargainous senses were in overdrive!
Of course during the Winter months the park is limited on what is open, but for younger kids like ours, being greeted with a pirate show on our 11am arrival, having unlimited goes on a handful of rides, and seeing all kinds of amazing animals was simply ideal for a cheap family day out and more than worth £12 each (Alice was free). It was wonderful.
The Park
As I said, in the Winter there are just a few rides but all were age appropriate and a lot of fun for our family. In the entrance there is a jolly, musical pirate show with plenty of jokes and great performances – it is on 3 times throughout the day. From there you walk around to the “The Dino-stone Park” and here there are several rides that the kids loved and a few options for all ages. They also have Dinosaur facts around this part too infront of mechanical dinosaurs which were a nice little extra.
They went on a dinosaur egg twister little roller coaster, covered wagon big wheel, a scary Pterodactyl ride and a gentle dino mini coaster (which I think Alice too would have loved if she hadn’t had fallen asleep). They had a few others here too but the kids didn’t seem bothered about wanting to go on them.
The other rides that are open can be found up near the farm and Peter Rabbit world (where you can also meet Peter and Lily bobtail at 3pm or pay £5 and have a story with them throughout the day). They have a couple of ride in old cars or tractors (Muddy duck Tractor ride) that circulate a track and are fun for all the family, as well as a little kid helicopter and a carousel. The kids here enjoyed all of these as well as the haunted house and the adventure playground too.
We finished off on a final ride close to the entrance/Exit which was a Formula 1 type of setup known as “Flamingo 1”! It was a lot of fun racing each other and the cars were pretty cute. Upstairs was a soft play which was fun for a 15 minute “pit stop” and warm up!
The kids loved all of the rides that were open and there was just enough open for both excitement and variation. The ques were minimal which was even better, but it goes without saying that their favourite was by far the Pterodactyl in the dino part. It was a cliffhanger at a height of 151 feet, soaring and swooping and whilst I was anxious for them, they went on it several times laughing their heads off – such little adrenaline junkies and far braver than me!!!
The Zoo
I was totally blown away by the animals they have at Flamingo Land Zoo. The experience of being face to face with a tiger and seeing the grace of the giraffes, the curious monkeys and Rhino’s moving logs, was more than worth the £12 each on it’s own.
They have a great array of animals that are well cared for and many of which are endangered in the wild. The Zebra’s, Camels, Hippo’s, aforementioned tigers, Rhino’s and giraffes, as well as lions (to name a few) are breathtaking and lovely to watch – we were in awe of them all and it was so great to see the kids excitement and wonderment over them.
There are birds and baboons, sea lions and snakes, and if you catch it right (unlike us) a few shows or talks with some of them too. We loved the flamingo’s, the snuggly Lemur’s in the mid afternoon sun, and generally just wandering around the Zoo watching them all – it really was such an exciting part of the day and brought a huge amount of glee to us all.
We took a picnic just for the ease of it, but they also had several eateries open too (as well as coffee shops and ice cream places!). I was really impressed by the amount of picnic tables and bins around the park, it was encouraging for families who want to picnic and great to see they take keeping the place clean a serious matter – it was lovely.
We ate our lunch by the Hippo’s and whilst a little chilli, was exquisite!
So thankful to get a break from sickness and feel well enough for a fun bargainous family day out. There are so many other rides we would love to experience and relive from our youth when they open in full season (and of course when we are 100% healthy), but if you happen to be around Yorkshire this half term or live not too far away, then I would totally recommend you get yourself there for a really great day out – it was cold but sunny and surprisingly quiet, which made the day even better.
A treasured day of family fun!
