I had no idea what to expect when some of the family invited us to spend a day out at Twinlakes Theme Park.
I’d heard of it but didn’t know anything about it so naturally had lots of questions. I hopped onto their website to see what they had to offer.
Living less than half an hour away from Alton Towers, I spent many visits in my teens riding the adrenaline pumping rides that it’s so popular for.
Visiting Twinlakes with a 5 and 2-year-old, clearly, I wasn’t looking for extreme G-force, sheer vertical drops and stomach churning, multiple loops! But I was expecting a little more thrill than what we found.
Despite its lack of crazy roller coasters, our day spent at Twinlakes was packed full of exciting things to do and the kids had so much fun. Keep reading to find out more about the park and what there is to do.
How to get to there
Twinlakes is located just outside of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. If travelling by car, the website advises you to use the LE13 1SQ postcode and not the postal address.
This will only take you as far as Thorpe Rd, which is just over a mile away from the park. Continue on this road and you will soon see the brown tourist information signs directing you to the park.
There is plenty of free parking available which is located right next to the entrance so not far to walk.
Ticket prices
Depending on the day and time of year you visit, ticket prices range between £10 and £20 each (Sept 2018). However, they frequently have special offers on, so check out the website before you go.
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Height restrictions
Most rides are a minimum of 80 or 90cm, with just a few being 100 to 120cm and some just requiring an adult to accompany. Our 2-year-old was able to go on a good proportion of the rides and our 5-year-old on all of them.
The website and map state the minimum height for each ride, as well as there being measuring sticks in use too.
Twinlakes have a pricing policy where kids under 95cm enter for free. However, what’s really good about Twinlakes is, it’s packed full of other activities suitable for kids of all ages.
Getting around and where to start
The park covers 100 acres, making everything within easy walking distance. You’ll get a map as you enter or you can download one from the website.
We visited on a Saturday in September and the park wasn’t too busy. Waiting times for rides ranged between 5 and 20 minutes.
The most popular rides are probably The Excalibur located in the Excalibur Adventure area (to the left of the entrance) and the Buffalo Stampede Roller Coaster, located in the Action USA area (at the bottom part of the park). My advice would be head to one of those first before the queues start to build up.
The Excalibur Adventure
The Excalibur wasn’t operating when we visited, which was a shame as it looked a more exciting ride for the adults.
After getting dizzy on the Jester’s Revenge, the kids disappeared into the Black Knights Castle. We also enjoyed exploring, running up the different ramps and down the slides into different areas of the castle.
There’s also a really fun maze that looks small from the outside but feels huge on the inside (probably because you go round in circles without knowing it). We just seemed to stumble into it and it went on and on, taking turn after turn to try and find our way out. We even managed to work our way around it with the stroller.
Ao Guang Dragon Zone
By the time we made it round to this part of the park, it had started to drizzle with rain. We didn’t fancy getting wetter, so chose to skip the Dragon Falls Log Flume.
The Susanoo Splash Play waterpark looked really good but wasn’t open due to the season. I can imagine in summer, the kids would have great fun running under the water and going down the slides.
There is also a station in this area for the Iron Moose Express Train (I really don’t know where they get the names from). The 15-minute train ride takes you all around the park and lakes.
Action USA Zone
Home to the Buffalo Stampede Roller Coaster, which moved from American Adventure Theme Park when it closed in 2007. We rode this twice and our eldest loved it.
The Summit Plummet Toboggan is also good fun, although it didn’t go as fast as I expected.
There are lots of rides in this zone for the little ones as well as really good and new looking outdoor play area.
A good chunk of our time spent in this zone was in Prairie Pete’s City. The kids loved exploring the mini Wild West town which includes a church, forge, jail, bank and more.
Red Rooster Zoo Farm
The farm and its animals are as good, if not better than a typical farm that you would visit and pay for. There is an outdoor grassed area, with bridges where you’ll find goats and pigs eager to say hello.
In the yard area, there are rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, chickens, meercats, polecats, chinchillas and more. And in the barn there are lamas, donkeys and cows.
There is a daily timetable for animal handling and dotted around are plenty of hand washing stations which have lovely warm water, unlike some farms you visit.
Of course, the girls had to have a quick ride on the tractors too!
If you want more after all of that, you can visit the Creepy Critters Zone, where you can see bearded dragons, snakes, turtles and other insects.
Labyrinth
This is another area that’s got plenty for all ages. Outside, our eldest enjoyed the Icarus Sky Flyer which you fly around in a horizontal lying down position. There are also rides for the little ones and jumpin’ pillows.
This area is also home to the largest of the parks indoor areas. We went inside to eat our packed lunch and let the kids play.
The inside isn’t great in terms of the surroundings! Although it’s huge… It’s dingy, busy and in dire need of a facelift!
One half of the indoor area is table and chairs, with a café at the back serving burgers, chicken nuggets and chips.
There’s a fairground feel to it with a Merry Go Round and slot machines. In the centre is the Trauma Tower, which lifts you 40 feet up and plunges back down.
We just managed to find a table downstairs. There is a slightly nicer seating area upstairs but you can’t keep an eye on the kids as well.
Our eldest quickly ate her sandwiches and shot into the Gladiators Giant Indoor Play Area, which takes up the other half of the indoor area.
With a minimum height of 90cm, our youngest was not quite tall enough, so I had to go in with her. From the outside, it looks like a large but typical soft play area. But when I got inside, I was surprised at how much there was to do and how well it catered for both younger and older children.
There is also a separate soft play area for under 5’s.
There are giant sack slides, which go really fast! For the little ones, you can sit them in front of you at the bottom of the sack.
You have all of your usual assault-style squashy courses with spinning features, tunnels and ball pits, which are great all ages.
For the thrill seekers (and this excluded me as I was too scared), there are incredibly steep slides that start of vertical. From the bottom, I stood and watched lots of frightened kids sit at the top, too afraid to go down. Our adrenaline junky 5-year-old flew down them without hesitation!
Although the indoor area is dated, it actually makes Twinlakes a really good ‘all year round’ theme park. We spent over an hour in here but could have stayed longer if it wasn’t for us wanting to go and explore the rest of the park.
Buccaneers Island Zone
This is another zone that has both outdoor rides and an indoor area (although smaller than the Labyrinth).
Outside is the Rum Runner Roller Coaster, which has a minimum height restriction of 95cm.
Inside it has a similar feel to the Labyrinth indoor area, with a few fairground style rides including a Pirate Ship, mini Ferris Wheel and Master Blaster (small version of the Trauma Tower).
It has a boat ride called Wind In The Willows, which seems strangely placed inside the building. We sat on our little boats and bobbed through the dark tunnels looking at the patterns and scenes along the way, glowing under ultraviolet light. It was an enjoyable few minutes but nothing amazing and the children were probably more fascinated that their teeth were glowing in the UV light!
Similar to the Labyrinth, this area also has plenty for the little ones including a separate under 5’s and under 3’s play area.
Food and Drink
There are cafes dotted around the park but they lack any healthy options. Typical food they serve include burgers, chicken nuggets, hot dogs and fries. There is one café that serves jacket potatoes, baguettes and paninis. The prices we saw looked average, with a burger meal deal ranging from £5-7.
However, if you don’t fancy the food, picnics are welcome both outside and indoors.
Our Verdict!
Having only really experienced larger theme parks such as Alton Towers and Drayton Manor, my first impressions were a little disappointing.
Overall, the park feels a real mix of old and new and could do with some updating to bring it up to a better and consistent standard.
Personally, I think the slides in the Labrinth indoor play area probably stimulate higher adrenaline levels! However, I can’t give the park too much discredit for my high expectations.
For a ‘family’ theme park, Twinlakes is crammed full of rides perfect for children. With all of the outdoor play areas, indoor play areas, animals and mazes, I think the ticket price is actually good value.
The mix of outdoor and indoor areas also makes it a great place to go regardless of the weather, with plenty to keep them entertained indoors.
