Saturday 28 October 2017

JCB Zone at Gulliver's Land, Milton Keynes - Review

This half term we headed 30 mins down the road to visit family theme park Gulliver's Land, in Milton Keynes. I used to visit Gulliver's Land regularly when I was a teacher at a school in Luton before having children, so I was excited to see how it had changed and to experience going back, this time with my own children. 

The lovely people at Gulliver's kindly invited us along to visit the theme park and Dinosaur/Farm park, to honour the opening of the brand new JCB Zone, part of Toy Land in the main park. 

Before our visit JCB Kids sent Bert an Connie and uber-exciting package to whet their appetite for all things JCB... 


JCB Kids Goodie Bag
JCB joy for Bert and Connie, lucky pups!

playing with JCB Kids toys range
Bert dived straight in, he loved making the construction scene - very timely too, as our road has been resurfaced recently and he's been taking a great interest in all the diggers etc. 

Our day at Gulliver's Land was absolutely brilliant - we were blessed with the weather - the sun shone all day and it was warm enough to go without coats, and we even enjoyed an ice cream - you'd never have guessed it was late October! Hurrah! 

We found Gulliver's Land to be so quaint and traditional in a nostalgic rather than tired way: visiting felt like stepping back in time. The rides are pitched perfectly at young children, I think children over 12 would find the rides a little too tame, but they're just right for little ones, or those who don't like the fast, thrill seeking rides of bigger theme parks. 

On arrival, we headed straight to the brand-new JCB Zone (on the right just as you enter the park) to explore the exciting new arrival. Aside from how fun the kids found it, I absolutely loved the design of this area. I'm a big fan of a theme, and my goodness have Gulliver's gone to town with theming every last detail of this zone. From the iconic yellow and black colours and logos, to the awesome lights and even a digger bucket seat! 

JCB Zone Gulliver's Land Milton Keynes
Welcome to the JCB Zone! 

JCB Zone Gulliver's Land Milton Keynes
Iconic colours! 

JCB Zone Gulliver's Land Milton Keynes
On pointe branding.

JCB Zone Gulliver's Land Milton Keynes
Every digger fan's dream! 

JCB Zone Gulliver's Land Milton Keynes
Awesome digger bucket bench. Loved this so much. 

JCB Zone Gulliver's Land Milton Keynes
A happy Bert working the digger

JCB Zone Gulliver's Land Milton Keynes
What's more exciting as a kid than using a "real life digger" to pick up ball pool balls :-)

JCB Zone Gulliver's Land Milton Keynes
Burning off some energy in the Driver Zone

I love how all-out they've gone with the JCB branding!

JCB Zone Construction lantern lights
Loved these construction lantern lights - running with the theme, I like it Gulliver's Land!

There's lots of options for things to do within the JCB Zone - obviously, all digger related. From the Big Dig and Driver's Zone, the Demolition Dodgems to the Crazy Crane ride there's plenty of diggers to go round, so we didn't have to wait or queue for any of them. Bert loved picking up the ball pool balls, and dropping them down in a different part of the pit. Daddy loved "helping" Bert too - I think his inner-4 year old was rejoicing at the chance to play demolition. The boys drove the dodgems together, and both Bert and Connie enjoyed riding round on the ride-on digger toys in the Drivers Zone. 

There was plenty of open space in this zone too, which was great for letting the kids run off some steam, before heading into the rest of the main park to go on some rides. More on the rest of the park later. 

JCB Themed Cabins

The JCB Zone is also open as part of the Gulliver's Christmas operation. In summer 2017, two uniquely designed JCB Construction Cabins (sleeps 4) opened in the brilliant accommodation area and these will be available for special Santa Sleepover packages from as little as £149 per cabin per night (full price rate £345). Your Santa Sleepover includes park tickets for day of arrival and day of checkout, Santa visit, evening meal, overnight stay and breakfast - a perfect Christmas treat for little JCB lovers! 

Santa Sleepover

Day One
  • Check in from 16:00
  • Splash Zone session
  • A two course festive meal served between 17:30 and 19:30
  • Enjoy the evening entertainment which includes toasting marshmallows at the firepit, character meets and greets, family games and milk & cookies at bedtime for the children
Day Two
  • Enjoy Gully’s Big Breakfast in the Raptor Restaurant between 8:30 and 9:30
  • Early park entry to enjoy your exclusive Santa visit at 10:00 in his winter wonderland
  • Then onto the park to enjoy all the festive rides, attractions, shows and special Christmas entertainment
  • At 15:15 sit back relax and enjoy our Live Christmas show before taking up your places on the main street to enjoy our end of day Christmas Parade
I honestly had no idea you could stay overnight at Gulliver's Land and I couldn't believe it when we got to look round all the beautifully themed cabins during out visit this week. They're fabulous! From the JCB cabins, to the Jungle Safari Tents and Lodges, Dino Dens, Lost World Cabins, Prospector's Deluxe Lodge and Gully's Beach Den - there's somewhere suitable for so many tastes and party sizes from 4-6.

We were lucky enough to tour the JCB cabins while visiting Gulliver's and boy did they go down a treat! In fact, Bert loved them so much that he proclaimed "I could live here!" - haha, bless him. High praise indeed! We thought they were such a fun and quirky overnight option - perfect for a special occasion or holiday treat. I snapped lots of photos to share with you - I'm sure you'll agree what a great job Gulliver's have done with creating the ultimate in themed accommodation. 

JCB Cabin at Gulliver's Land, MK
JCB cabin in all its glory!

JCB Cabin at Gulliver's Land, MK
Cute bunk beds! 

JCB Cabin at Gulliver's Land, MK
Tyre lights

JCB Cabin at Gulliver's Land, MK
Sofa seating area come double bed (fold out sofa bed)

JCB Cabin at Gulliver's Land, MK
Veranda/balcony on the cabin, complete with digger bucket bench, wooden reel table and seats - plus a roof making it all-weather. 

JCB Cabin at Gulliver's Land, MK
Tea/Coffee making facilities, basic crockery, sink, microwave, mini fridge, TV and desk area. 

JCB Cabin at Gulliver's Land, MK
Modern shower room with basin and toilet. 

JCB Cabin at Gulliver's Land, MK
TV/Desk area with stool seating

JCB Cabin at Gulliver's Land, MK
Such a fun theme! 

There's even an all-weather outdoor ball pool complete with JCB's (naturally) right outside the cabin's front door, which both the kids adored. In fact, they'd have happily played in there all day if we'd let them. Their happy faces speak volumes I think...

Ball Pool fun at JCB cabins Gulliver's Land, Milton Keynes

Ball Pool fun at JCB cabins Gulliver's Land, Milton Keynes

Bert is desperate to stay in the JCB cabin, so it's definitely on the 'to-do' list for the next holiday or special occasion treat, especially as it's only half an hour down the road for us, perfect! 

Exploring Gulliver's Land 

After our JCB adventure we spent the rest of the day exploring everything else Gulliver's Land has to offer - from the rides in the main park to the animatronic dinosaurs, rides and farm animals in the Dinosaur Farm Park. 

Bert went on the Crazy Mouse Rollercoaster, Jungle River, Gulliver's Travels, Jungle Falls and The Lost World River Tour, he also explored Gully Town, a cute miniature town - we were amazed how many rides we were able to fit into the day - despite visiting the accommodation site, stopping for lunch and spending over an hour in the JCB Zone. The longest queue we stood in was 15-20 minutes for the Jungle Falls slides, but apart from that the queues were quick and pain free - amazing considering it was a sunny day in half term. 

Connie enjoyed going on the Carousel best - she was a little small for the other rides but enjoyed her day - toddling around taking in the sites, jumping in the ball pits, and she loved the soft play and role play rooms too! 

Gulliver's Land, Milton Keynes
A super family day out at Gulliver's Land, Milton Keynes

We stopped for a speedy fast food treat lunch inside the Castle Food Court, in the Gully's Grill section - the food was really good - fast, freshly cooked (you could see the kitchen staff making up the burgers to order), lovely and hot and super-tasty! The kids both had beef burger meals with chips and a bottle of water, and Liam chose a bacon double cheeseburger, chips and diet Pepsi, I opted for the Chicken Tower meal, with chips and Pepsi. What a treat! 

Lunch at Gulliver's Land, Milton Keynes

After lunch we headed over to the Dinosaur Farm Park - which was Bert's favourite part of the day. He's at his happiest when he's surrounded by animals, and he's also a huge dino-fan so the animatronic dinosaurs were a HUGE hit! On arrival we all hopped on the Sky Tours Observation Tower and enjoyed amazing views across The Lost World, then the boys went on the Lost World River Tour, while Connie had a quiet nap in the her buggy, and Mummy had twenty minutes peace! 

Views across The Lost World at Gulliver's Land

Dinosaur Farm Park, Gulliver's Land, Milton Keynes
Exploring The Lost World at the Dinosaur Farm park

Best of all, there's still plenty of parts of Gulliver's Land left for us to explore on our next visit, and there will definitely be a next visit. A fabulously fun family-day for the whole family.

Have you had any fun days out this half term?

Mrs B
xx

You can find out more about JCB Kids and their toys and attractions @JCBKids across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

For more info on Gulliver's Land theme parks visit:

Facebook: @gullymouse (group account) @gulliverslandmiltonkeynes (MK account)
Twitter: @GullyMouse
Instagram: @gulliversfun


We were given free family entry into Gulliver's Lane Milton Keynes, plus lunch for 4 in return for this honest review.