The UK is punctuated by theme parks across the whole country, but the bulk of these attractions seem to be gathered around the outskirts of London. Kids, and many adults, love theme parks, and the big London parks have rides and attractions for children of all ages so you can take the whole family. Theme parks can be expensive, as entry prices continue to rise each year, and the price of food and drink within the park is severely marked up, the cost of taking your whole family can be astronomical. Look out for two for one vouchers in newspapers, in garages and on cereal packs. You can find out online who is currently running promotions and save yourself a packet!
For those that don’t drive, or like the excitement of catching the train with their kids, you can easily access all the theme parks surrounding the capital from Waterloo. To beat the rush getting there you can stay near the train station at Travelodge the night before, and stay after your visit so you don’t have to cut the day short to get home.
Check out these awesome London Theme Parks:
You don’t have to like Lego to love Legoland, but all the better if you do. The whole park pays homage to the iconic children’s construction toy, and everything here is built out of little plastic bricks. Around the site are giant Lego figures, Lego pirates and dragons feature in some of the rides, and there is Smalland, a Lego interpretation of some of the most famous cities in the world. Legoland has also opened a Star Wars exhibit over the past few years, which includes a Lego model of Hoth as well as life size models of the characters.
Chessington World of Adventures
Chessington is a great theme park that can be enjoyed by all the family. Younger visitors are very well catered for here as there are loads of smaller rides for them to enjoy as well as the scarier rides for older brothers and sisters, and of course mums and dads too. Bubbleworks is a favorite with mini explorers, with older guests favoring the rollercoasters like Dragons Fury. When it was first opened the park was a Zoo rather than a theme park. Chessington Zoo is still within the park and is a must see part of a day out here. New for this year is the Zufari, where you can ride amongst the animals in a safari car. Don’t worry it doesn't go through the lion enclosure so you are perfectly safe.
Thorpe Park is a slightly older focussed theme park than Chessington, with the bulk of the rides being rollercoasters and white knuckle rides. Thrill seekers will have a great time here, and for families with older kids it is the ideal theme park day out. Favourites here are the Swarm, and Saw – the Ride, both equally terrifying and exciting in equal measures.
Regardless of your age, theme parks have a great way of bringing out the child in you. Whether you like the fast and scary rides, or the more chilled attractions like the animal enclosures and the monorail, you can have a great time at one of London’s top theme parks. Making a little holiday of it and you can make sure you get every last drop of fun out of your day.
Michelle S
I must say, their theme parks are obscure!