Visit Nottingham: Twin Lakes Family Theme Park

Staying in central Nottingham we were fortunate to have the perfect base for visiting, not only the best of what the city could offer but, the surrounding attractions too. Just thirty five minutes away we were excited to be invited to Twin Lakes Family Theme Park, somewhere which, having studied the website before hand, looked like the perfect day out for myself and the kids!

The Twin Lakes Family Theme park is perfect for children of all ages and has so much to offer. The park covers over 100 acres and is split into several different sections from the Labryinth Venture Zone with several larger rides, an animal zone and even a water zone for the warmer weather. Obviously with visiting at this time of year the water zone wasn’t really an option but even without that there was more to see and do than we could get through in just one day!

At four, five and six, I felt the children were the perfect age to enjoy most of the rides, being too small for just a handful. As is always the case when I’m travelling solo with the kids, the only real problem is taking the children on a ride which insists on one adult to one child. Thankfully on several of these rides another adult from another family offered to step in and sit with one of the children or waited with them in the line until I was allowed to switch them in.

The only ride this wasn’t possible was the water bumper boats which unfortunately we couldn’t go on. These did look like a lot of fun and I am sure should we visit again with Gaz in tow we would be first on them!

Despite visiting in the school holidays, the queue times were not long at all and I think the most we had to wait all day was twenty minutes. The queueing system seemed to be well organised for the actual rides but for several of the attractions, such as the giant inflatable trampolines and the toboggan runs, I felt as though it was a little manic with children pushing infront of those queuing, running in and out of the gated areas, and there didn’t seem to be a fair system in place. That said, my children were more than happy to wait their turn and enjoyed these areas just as much as the rides themselves.

The play areas around Twin Lakes are fantastic and up there with some of the best we have ever come across. Well designed, brightly coloured, and a whole lot of fun, the children spent well over an hour playing together in these areas whilst I sat and enjoyed the warm weather.

As is always the case with my children, they are always happiest when in the play areas, and yet with so many more rides and attractions to enjoy I had to lure them out with the promise of ice cream – of which there are many places to buy them within Twin Lakes.

As we headed to one of the indoor areas for an ice cream and to enjoy some of the indoor rides and even more play areas, Harry was so excited to spot a huge dinosaur display with many of his favourites on show! Twin Lakes has over 125,000 square foot of indoor play areas and rides, all of which make for the perfect day out whatever the weather. Although we were blessed with gorgeous sunshine, it was lovely to have that option!

One of the children’s favourite attractions were the Go-karts, adjustable in height for all ages, and pedalled around a large track. Again I felt as though there lacked any kind of organised queueing here and yet once my children got their turn they were off at lightening speed!

As the name suggest, Twin Lakes has the most stunning lakes with several water rides to enjoy, including pedal boats which the children were desperate to try. With all the noise and the crowds of the rest of the park, I loved the lake area and how peaceful it felt out on the water. Surrounded by beautiful scenery it was lovely to just drift around on the lake together, chat about our day and enjoy each others company.

The only down side to travelling without Gaz was that pedalling the boat fell to me and by the time we arrived back on the shore I felt as though I had ran a marathon! I suppose it was one way to burn off our ice creams!

Next to the lakes was a small play area with a zip wire which the children loved having to themselves. I would advise anyone visiting Twin Lakes to head over to the lake area later in the day as it felt as though this was a really quiet spot at that time and a great way to wind down after a fun filled day.

It was also the perfect chance to take some photographs of the children and have them run off the last of their energy – I have no idea where they get it from as by that time I was completely exhausted!

With Twin Lakes being over such a huge area I felt as though we didn’t even touch on some areas of the park, missing out the birds of prey area completely and several of the animals and attractions. As amazing as it is for the park to be so large I did feel as though it could be better sign posted and the map a little more in depth. I am notoriously terrible at following a map and between the four of us we really didn’t fare well!

I always find the time passes so fast during a day at a theme park and before we knew it the park was about to close and it was time to leave. I suppose the saying is right –  time flies when you’re having fun! And we really did have the most fun together!

As we left to go home I promised the children that we would return in future to explore the rest of the park and try out the rides they were just that tiny bit too small to go on this time. With special events throughout the year I am hopeful on our next visit we will catch one of them although for anyone visiting over Easter there are a number of events on including a special Easter circus!

For more details about Twin Lakes Family Theme Park visit the website here. 

** We were invited to Twin Lakes for the purpose of our review. All words and opinions are my own **