Our day at Diggerland, Yorkshire!
Diggerland is somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. I’d been holding off until my daughter was a little bit taller and passed the 80cm mark so she could go on most of the rides. I definitely didn’t want to be faced with a digger-epic tantrum if she was too small to go on something, so before we left I eagerly measured her and she was actually 97cm! How did that happen?! 😱
As we live in Huddersfield our nearest is the Yorkshire park, in Castleford, which is only a brief trip on the motorway. It took us around 35 mins to get there which was both a surprise and a welcome bonus when travelling with little ‘uns.
Diggerland is signposted just off the motorway but it’s easy to miss the entrance; as we found out when we obliviously sailed past the smiling digger sign! Luckily there’s a handy petrol station next door so we were able to make a U turn and we were soon driving in past the grinning diggers framing the driveway on entering.
As we approached the carpark it struck me how unusual a setting this was. Being Diggerland there is a clear ‘industrial’ theme, but in contrast is surrounded by glorious countryside giving a feeling of space and expanse. What a pleasant setting for a park!
Outside there is ample free parking and decent sized spaces which is ideal for those of us with prams and car seats and wriggly children to organise. Dotted around the car park are various items of machinery and diggers, making it clear what the theme is and instantly got my daughter excited about the day ahead.
To enter the park you go through a large building in which you’ll also find the soft play, restaurant, gift shop and a couple of additional charge rides. Even though my daughter is only two as she is over 90cm we did have to pay for her, but luckily her ticket gave her pretty much full access to the rides.
As we went through she got her hand stamped with a little digger and got some stickers, and the member of staff explained to us the basics of navigating the park. To enter you exit out the back of the building and are greeted with the park stretched out in front of you.
The first thing the struck me was how compact it was. However don’t be fooled into thinking this is a bad thing, this turned out to be a massive plus for us as it meant we could easily navigate the park with small people in tow without the usual fatigue associated with big theme parks and grumbling from little ones with tired legs. It also meant we could easily go back on ourselves to do favourite rides again.
The park is essentially laid out in one big loop with a few pathways leading off it. This again makes for easy navigation. My husband and I are big on theme parks and have been to many and if there’s one thing that always frustrates me it when I glance on a ‘you are here’ map and we find we’ve missed an entire section of the park due to illogical navigation. Luckily due to Diggerland’s size and layout it was easy to go back to rides we would like to do again or ones we missed out previously.
Diggerland is literally as it sounds; an amusement park full of rides made from various sized diggers that you can ride without the need of a heavy machinery qualification and a high vis vest (although you can buy this at a very reasonable price should you wish to look the part!). It’s perfect for adults to legitimately be a big kid again and perfect for kids to play with ‘big’ exciting toys. And let’s face it, what kid doesn’t love a digger?! My little tomboy was in her element and her eyes literally lit up as soon as we walked in.
The theming is obvious and in abundance with lots of different machinery around; it is literally like walking into a construction site, only one where it’s safe for kids, fun and you don’t have to be 18 to operate the specially adapted machinery.
We looked around and saw to the right there was a large converted digger where people sat in the ‘scoop’ as it spun round at speed. The shrieks of delight were loud and clear and it looked like a lot of fun. Sadly with two preschoolers in tow we didn’t get to go on this but that’s definitely on our future to-do list. To the left of us was a carousel, with a smaller digger sat in the middle and you sat in the ‘scoops’ on the outside.
We decided initially to make our way to the back of the park, scope things out and then move to the front. We were lucky enough to have been blessed with an unseasonably mild day and so as we made our way to the back, we could see for miles across the countryside surrounding the park as it glistened in the bright March sunshine peeking out behind the clouds.
Because the park is small there are rides every few feet and so lots to choose from depending on what you fancy doing. There was a mix of track based rides, static skill rides, traditional rides and a couple of thrill rides. My daughter can be a tale of two halves with theme parks; push her too far too soon and she pushes back and refuses to enjoy any rides but build her confidence up slowly and she loves them. Therefore, we decided to try the Go Karts first at the back of the park. There was a short wait but nothing excessive and soon she was whizzing round the track with daddy as I waited with our younger child (who had free entry). Each ride was accessed through a static archway decorated with tyres. On the arch was various stats related to the ride such as the cost of the machinery used, the power, the weight and capacity. There was also a height restriction which varied from ride to ride and if the child was going to ride alone or accompanied. Luckily my hubby was a more than willing participant to go on with her. 😉 I was glad to see that on each ride my daughter’s height was checked. This is reassuring to a mum as I’ve been to some much larger theme parks, who shall remain nameless, where ride restrictions seemed more like a vague suggestion rather than a rule.
The Go Karts turned out to be a good choice and with daddy on the back for reassurance my little girl had a blast (slowly) making her way round the track whilst grinning from ear to ear and intermittently waving at me.
After the Go Karts we watched the ‘Ground Shuttle’. This was a moving ride on a very large vechicle with the big bucket type scoop adapted to fit rows of guests in it. Once loaded up the scoop rose in the air as the digger drove round a large muddy track. My daughter was too small for this so we just observed as it bumped from side to side giving its riders a fun, bouncy ride. It was quite amusing to watch as two Diggerland characters boarded and rode alongside guests, much to the delight of the people on board as their oversized puppet-style hardhat heads bobbed around with the uneven movement of the vehicle. We watched until it disappeared out of sight over into the far fields at the back of the park.
Next stop for us was the ‘Digging for Treasure’ ride. Basically a line of smaller diggers where the aim is to ‘find and scoop’ objects hidden in smaller stones. As my daughter was too little to ride alone she sat on my husband’s knee for this one. I couldn’t help but think hubby was enjoying this one the most as he methodically and precisely aimed. The controls were a bit hard for my little one to do so whilst she was happy watching she found this more than a bit more challenging and wanted to move on soon after.
Next up was the carousel or the ‘Dig-a-round’. A cleverly adapted version of the traditional ride but with a Diggerland twist. Riders sit in the scoop in twos with a digger in the middle. The ride goes forwards and backwards and the scoops rise at an angle whilst over the shoulder restraints hold riders in place. It was really unique. I must admit I was a bit wary of my daughter riding it even though she met the height restriction. The angle was quite sharp and the seats very big and she’s very small! I mentioned my concerns to the ride addendant who, instead of laughing at my neurotic mum moment, said that instead of going forwards and backwards and up, she could just go one way and not have the scoops rise. What great customer service! My little girl loved this ride and ended up doing it twice more and even braved the scoops rising, my little daredevil! After each ride the attendant came to see if she liked it and was ok, they were really great and I was very grateful for their attentiveness as a nervous mummy!
Next up was the dumper trucks. A large ride on, unsurprisingly, a dumper truck that went round a tyre defined track. My daughter went on this with my hubby whilst I took a seat at the nearby picnic table and fed my son. This was also a hit, and the bumpy, fun ride left the pair of them giggling with delight. 😀
Despite being an otherwise sunny and mild day the sky was looking a bit ominous at this stage so we decided to take a break and grab a bite to eat in their onsite cafe, The Dig In. The food here was quite reasonably priced with plenty of seating and some indoor paid Go Kart type rides. I had a tuna melt panini and fries and my husband had the pulled pork panini and fries and the children shared with us. Both came with a small salad which was great for my son.
Once bellies were filled and after a quick ride on the carousel, this time the full version, which she found “awesome”, we decided to check out the upper end of the park. I’d spotted a land train peeking out from the trees at the top which I thought my daughter would love so we headed there. Also up this end of the park were more stationary small diggers where you could have a good old mud-filled go at scooping dirt around, an ‘off-road’ safari and some larger JCB type experiences.
There was also a corporate activity experience available where you could pre book a 90 min one-to-one experience with a top instructor on a huge a JCB. The cost for this was £169.99.
While my daughter and husband rode the Diggerland Train, me and my son had a wander round to watch the other rides. My son squealed in delight as we watched the super bumpy off-road car safari bounce around a slippy well driven dirt track. Then watched with fascination as people took guided tours on the big JCBs. It made me excited to come back when he was older.
The train turned out to be a huge hit and after several rides the only way we were going to get her off it was to play the trump card – the softplay! We were all flagging a bit by this time so it seemed perfect timing to go and finish off at the softplay before heading home.
The softplay was housed in the same building as the food and entrance/exit and comprised of a large climbing frame with bumpy slide, a smaller climbing frame for under 5s, a bouncy castle and a handful of coin operated rides. My daughter headed straight for the big climbing frame however she was too small to make it up by herself so dragged me in with her. After scaling up the multi-tiered structure and couple of goes on the slide I was exhausted so I managed to convince her to try something else and she went to explore the bouncy castle. This proved to be a hit as most bouncy things are with toddlers, and she played on that for quite a while going round and round.
I took my son over to the under 5s area for a little crawl and he enjoyed exploring. My daughter came to join us and had quite a lot of fun playing in the smaller structure as she could easily navigate it herself.
Time was ticking on so we decided to make a move after a quick wander round the gift shop. I was pleasantly surprised at the prices and felt things were very reasonable. On the way out we picked up a certificate as a memento of our day and I asked my little girl if she’d enjoyed herself to which she said she’d had the “best day ever!” before we headed home with two happy and exhausted little ones.
All in all we had a great day out at Diggerland. I wasn’t sure what to expect but was really surprised as to how much fun we had. The smaller size meant we could zigzag to our hearts content and do our favourite rides again. I was pleased to see that the height restrictions were strictly enforced and if any doubt the ride attendants would measure the child; they frequently measured my toddler and I saw them politely refuse to let children who were too small into the rides. The way the park is designed means that even young children can have fun but if your child is under 80cm they are limited. The website breaks it down into height range so you can see what’s on offer.
There’s quite a few picnic tables dotted around so you could bring your own food and sit out to eat of you prefer. We found the staff to be friendly and approachable and attentive to my daughter which was very welcome.
Since our visit my daughter has asked numerous times if we can go back so it’s a definite thumbs up from her and we will visit again. 👍
Disclaimer: I was asked to do this blog for Diggerland in exchange for free tickets for me and my husband, however the views are completely my own. 👍
🚜🏎🚜🏎🚜🏎🚜🏎🚜🏎🚜🏎🚜🏎🚜
You can find out more about Diggerland, plus all the latest offers and events by visiting their Website. You can also follow them on the following media sites:
