Theme Parks suitable for 5yr old?
Discussion
legoland or Chessington would be the best choices.
Out of the two though, I would recommend Legoland for a 5yo. Chessington would be better for slightly older kids, although still plenty to do with the younguns with the zoo etc.
Drayton manor does have alot of kids stuff too though, with Thomas Land new recently too. Its a good all round park.
Thorpe park is out of the question for a 5yo. When Tussauds purchased Thorpe Park, they also owned Chessington. The parks are very very close together and so they decided to make Thorpe Park the "adult" park and keep chessington as a family attraction. Thorpe Park has near enough nothing for under 10s
Out of the two though, I would recommend Legoland for a 5yo. Chessington would be better for slightly older kids, although still plenty to do with the younguns with the zoo etc.
Drayton manor does have alot of kids stuff too though, with Thomas Land new recently too. Its a good all round park.
Thorpe park is out of the question for a 5yo. When Tussauds purchased Thorpe Park, they also owned Chessington. The parks are very very close together and so they decided to make Thorpe Park the "adult" park and keep chessington as a family attraction. Thorpe Park has near enough nothing for under 10s
Edited by Deluded on Tuesday 4th August 22:24
Only downside to Lego land was the 2hrs+ ques for the rides ,Drayton Manor is pretty good for the smaller kids to,take a look at Paultons Park its very much geared up for the younger kids
http://www.paultonspark.co.uk/2009/info/info.html
http://www.paultonspark.co.uk/2009/info/info.html
Thorpe Park is for teenagers, there won't be much that a 5 year old can go on.
Go with Legoland, mostly because my family went there last summer and thought it was good (sisters were 8 and 10 years old at the time) whereas we haven't been to Chessington for a very long time so I don't know if they've got better or become worse over the past few years.
Go with Legoland, mostly because my family went there last summer and thought it was good (sisters were 8 and 10 years old at the time) whereas we haven't been to Chessington for a very long time so I don't know if they've got better or become worse over the past few years.
Legoland I went to when my son was 1 but I think he was too young to do much and I found it pretty boring, chessington (he is now 2 and my neice is 4) we went too and loved it, loads for the kids, and quite a few rides with much lower height restrictions for younger ones, I'd recommend it over lego-land. Also it has a sea-life centre there too now which is ace for the little ones 
.
Thorpe park, alton towers etc. needless to say, I go to both quite often, but wouldn't take children, pointless really.
Ps: don't forget to scan around online for bogof vouchers, so easy to find, I always manage to for any tussauds attraction.
.Thorpe park, alton towers etc. needless to say, I go to both quite often, but wouldn't take children, pointless really.
Ps: don't forget to scan around online for bogof vouchers, so easy to find, I always manage to for any tussauds attraction.
as said before legoland or chessington.
I worked at chessington last year and merlin has adapted the park to target the 'family' groups, so quite a bit for little ones to do. There are a few rides without height limits on (dragons playhouse and the madhouse have maximum heights but no minimum and adults are allowed in with children) but most rides have low height restrictions anyhow. If I remember rightly Billy's whizzer, Vampire and ramases revenge have the highest height limits on them, I also know that tomb blaster has no height limit if accompanied, as long as they can sit on their own (I've seen a 2 year old on it) and during the peak season there are alot of the shows on in market square. There is the zoo and sealife as well (not sure if they finished building the second level on sealife yet), so its a varied day out. Also this year (from what I remember being said last year) they have removed pizza hut and KFC, so less temptation for the kids (only burger king remains)
They have been replaced with inside catering so Merlin only restaurants.
Don't bother with thorpe park that is definitely for the older people (and is geared up as such)
I worked at chessington last year and merlin has adapted the park to target the 'family' groups, so quite a bit for little ones to do. There are a few rides without height limits on (dragons playhouse and the madhouse have maximum heights but no minimum and adults are allowed in with children) but most rides have low height restrictions anyhow. If I remember rightly Billy's whizzer, Vampire and ramases revenge have the highest height limits on them, I also know that tomb blaster has no height limit if accompanied, as long as they can sit on their own (I've seen a 2 year old on it) and during the peak season there are alot of the shows on in market square. There is the zoo and sealife as well (not sure if they finished building the second level on sealife yet), so its a varied day out. Also this year (from what I remember being said last year) they have removed pizza hut and KFC, so less temptation for the kids (only burger king remains)
They have been replaced with inside catering so Merlin only restaurants.
Don't bother with thorpe park that is definitely for the older people (and is geared up as such)
Edited by LovelyTia on Tuesday 4th August 22:45
My two had a great time at Paultons Park (going back about five years now)
on a rainy day, no queues! The farm at Thorpe Park is shut at present, this
was a big part of the attraction for the tiny ones, either the boat trip or
the ferry ride. Forget it. If you can cope with a travelling a bit further
the Cotswold Wildlife Park (google) was a great day out for us, or the Beale
Park near Pangbourne is very pleasant (3 hrs max). Even further afield Longleat
is really good for the smaller children if you've got an autobarn stormer, but
that's one where good weather would bring out the best. My eldest daughter is
14 now, getting lippy etc.... enjoy now, it doesn't normally get any better.
on a rainy day, no queues! The farm at Thorpe Park is shut at present, this
was a big part of the attraction for the tiny ones, either the boat trip or
the ferry ride. Forget it. If you can cope with a travelling a bit further
the Cotswold Wildlife Park (google) was a great day out for us, or the Beale
Park near Pangbourne is very pleasant (3 hrs max). Even further afield Longleat
is really good for the smaller children if you've got an autobarn stormer, but
that's one where good weather would bring out the best. My eldest daughter is
14 now, getting lippy etc.... enjoy now, it doesn't normally get any better.
Deluded said:
Thorpe Park has near enough nothing for under 10s
Unless they're tall >1.4 meters.Both my kids, 8 and 10 can go on all the rides.
My daughter went on Stelth at 7 years old, and despite being scared s
tless from an early age, still goes on all the big rides 
ETA - LEGO Land and Chessington are the usual suspects for young kids. Chessington is best - some really good rides and an excellent Zoo.
LEGO Land is far too crowded unless you go during term time in the week. You won't be able to enjoy it. Chessington is definently the best bet by a long shot.
LovelyTia said:
Also this year (from what I remember being said last year) they have removed pizza hut and KFC, so less temptation for the kids (only burger king remains)
They have an all you can eat Pizza/Pasta restaurant now. Very reasonable too. Decent spread with Salads as well as a good pasta and pizza selection. Check what times it closes though. We went a couple of weeks ago and it closed at 5pm.Edited by Hyperion on Wednesday 5th August 08:53
Has anybody been here :
http://www.diggerland.com/
( turn the sound down before you click! )
I have been thinking of taking my digger-obsessed 3 yr old.....
http://www.diggerland.com/
( turn the sound down before you click! )
I have been thinking of taking my digger-obsessed 3 yr old.....
MrV said:
Only downside to Lego land was the 2hrs+ ques for the rides
Legoland has got those electronic queuing devices now for some rides, so you can "virtually" queue for one ride and go off and do something else instead. And there are also things to do that you don't need to queue for - there's a small playground, the puppet show, the Lego display thingy (with all the countries and buildings made of Lego). Oh, and if the weather is nice - the water play area is excellent fun. Just take spare clothes for the small person.
On one infamous wet day just after the start of the school holidays when SBaby was 3, we did every single ride in the park (that he was allowed on - which was most of them...). And we did the little dragon roller coaster 8 times in a row.
Edited by SGirl on Wednesday 5th August 09:34
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