Travel A Day Out; Cbeebies World

The funny thing about being an expat is that your holidays tend to be back in the UK.  Which to be honest doesn’t very often feel like a holiday but a mass merry-go-round of visitors and visiting.  Which is why on our month back to escape the heat – which worked oh so well with us bringing the sun with us – I decided that we would in fact treat it like a holiday.  Filled with days out and adventures.

So we went to Cbeebies World one very sunny day, killing 2 birds with one stone and met some old friends there.

Getting There

We are only down the road from Alton Towers in Derby so getting there took us about half an hour with the Toddler taking the opportunity to sneak a nap in in the car.  The drive up to the park is beautiful, scenic countryside the like of which we aren’t used to in Dubai with squeals of delight at every sheep we past.

Car parking was a breeze with attendants directing you, I suppose the fact that we went on a Friday during school term also helped!

The monorail

The problem with going in term time means that the majority of people going had smaller children with them.  Small children equals prams.

While I suggest you do take your pram (or hire one when you get there) because little legs get tired and the park is BIG.  Take one that is easily collapsible.

To get on the monorail you could either keep the pram up and wait for the disabled carriage, a queue that was 15 families deep as we got to the top. Or collapse it and squeeze on.  We managed to collapse the massive double and squeeze on as I don’t think the toddler would have enjoyed watching 15 choo choos go past without being allowed on.

Definitely allow for extra time for this!  Or pack light.

Entry

The last time I went to Alton Towers it cost a mere £26.  Now?

£50.40 per adult

We had the Kelloggs buy one get one free, which made 2 adults and an under 4 much more reasonable.  But it is still a hefty price tag.  Definitely keep an eye out for offers and make sure you plan to spend the full day there to make the most of your money.

We were there from 10:30 until past 5 and while it was a long day it made it worth it.

The Rides

The Rollercoaster One

I love rollercoasters.  I never used to bit then I hit about 17 and I fell a little bit in love with them whilst trying to show off to a lad I was with at the time.  I’ve kept hold of the passion and when I was younger and living in Derby I often visited Alton Towers for some thrillseeking adventures.  So I must admit I was slightly nervous when it came to taking a 2 year old and not going on rollercoasters.

Guess what.

There is a rollercoaster for little people!  Do you know who Kwazii is? Or Peso? How about Captain Barnacles and Dashi? What about Shellington?  For the uninitiated these are THE OCTONAUTS.  And they are the focus of the CBeebies World baby rollercoaster.  You can ride it, with an adult, as long as you are over 90cm tall which the toddler was.

Adamant that he wanted to ride in the blue car, the blue car we rode in. Though he wasn’t so much of a fan when we got going. Mum kept hold of Baby Boy as we had the rollercoaster adventure!

The Postman Pat One

Who doesn’t love Postman Pat? A lovely ride around in the van passing various loved Postman Pat landmarks, with buttons to press to drop off parcels along the way.

Even the Baby came on this ride sat in the back as the Toddler excitedly drove us around.

The NumTum One

We picked this one mainly because there was no queue. A merry-go-round type ride where you ride the NumTums. It was a massive hit and the Toddler loved it. Cue many squeals of delight.

Tree Fu Tom Playground

When the rides got too much we headed for the playground where he could run around to his hearts content. Myself and my friend took the 2 boys up, as the littlest they were much more easily overwhelmed. Being the ever so much bigger age of 3 the girls headed off to tackle the rapids as we played before sneaking back for another ride on Postman Pat.

The Others

There are plenty of more rides and activities, take a photo on the Cbeebies couch, head into Justin’s House and fire balls, the Ben and Holly soft play, the Iggle Piggle Boat Ride. The best part was that I was able to take the Baby on for the most part in his carrier. The few places we couldn’t either myself or mum stayed off while the Toddler went on. So if you are headed with more than one child definitely take more than one pair of hands!

Do I think we got our money’s worth?

I think if I had paid full price for all of us and for the Toddler then no. That said it’s still a fairly steep price even with the buy one get one free. When you go in with very small children its fairly obvious you aren’t going to be headed on Nemesis or the like (showing my age there) but with one flat price for everyone means that you are paying as if you are.

Paying half price was more reasonable, though still a hefty price tag for a day out, especially when you add food and ice cream on top of that.

Verdict

Great for a special day out but not something to do on a regular basis!