Recently we visited Gullivers World in Warrington as a family of three – me, dad (Niall) and our two year old son Kobie. We’d been considering some of the bigger theme parks but Kobie isn’t the best at staying still and waiting his turn, so we decided to go for Gullivers World as a bit of a soft launch into big days out that require a lot of patience!
Whereabouts is Gullivers World Warrington?
Gullivers World Warrington is between Liverpool and Manchester, via the M6 junction 22 or the M62 junctions 8 or 9. In short, it’s by the big IKEA which until now was the only reason I’ve ever been to Warrington! You can also get there by train and bus as the station and bus terminals are within walking distance.
What age range is Gullivers World for?
The theme park is designed for ages 2-13 and the minimum height restriction is 90cm.
How much are tickets for Gullivers World?
Both adult and child tickets are £29 if you book online for that day but kids are free if they’re under 90cm. Senior’s are £27 and concessionary’s are £16. However, if you book online at least two days in advance you can knock £6 off, and prices vary dramatically depending on which day you go. For a Friday in June for example, it was just £14 for an adult. They sometimes also offer half day tickets which are considerably cheaper, and keep an eye on their social media for character days.
How many rides are there at Gullivers World?
There are 28 rides in total.
Are there many rides for toddlers?
For toddlers 90cm and above (that’s usually two and over) there are twenty one rides they can enjoy ranging from a dinosaur safari tour to a log flume. Most of these rides are only suitable to ride with an adult though. Anyone smaller than 90cm has twelve rides they can enjoy including jeep safaris, tractor rides and tea cups.
What attractions are there?
Gulliver’s World has lots attractions and experiences such as climbing walls, a ghost house, sand play, crazy golf, diggers, fossil digs, mazes, dinosaur walkways, and soft play. The indoor and outdoor play areas are where Gulliver’s World really shines as each one is a different theme from cowboy and safari to castles and pirates.
Our experience at Gulliver’s World with a toddler
Gulliver’s World is less than an hour away from us but for some reason has never been on our ‘to do’ list. It seems to get dwarfed by the bigger theme parks like Alton Towers which are much further away, more expensive and a lot busier. I only thought to go to Gulliver’s World when an advert popped up for its ‘Hey Duggee’ character day and was pleasantly surprised when I googled whereabouts it was.
We decided to just go for an afternoon session as Kobie isn’t the best when it comes to queuing and a full day would mean he would miss his nap time. As any toddler parent knows, a missed nap would have made the day a write off!
Prices
It was only £14 per adult for a half day (2pm-5pm) but Kobie was free as he’s under 90cm. We weren’t actually asked how old Kobie was when we went through the turnstile (maybe the staff have had too many arguments with parents by now to bother asking!).
I’m sure what they lose in kids technically being over 90cm they make up for in the prices because £23 per adult and child for a full day is a lot! For a family of four to do a full day that would be £92 minimum, whereas at Alton Towers it’s £58 for a family of four with a Parent and Toddler ticket and they class toddlers as five and under there.
Character Meet and Greet
We had got there too late for the actual Hey Duggee show on the stage but had made it just in time to queue up and meet him. Although Duggee is Kobie’s absolute favourite TV character, he was not happy to see his hero at all and tried to wriggle out of my arms and run away!
Apparently they do lots of different characters throughout the year such as Bing, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Jurassic Park so worth considering over CBeebies if you’re unsure how your toddler might react! Thankfully we’d only queued for ten minutes so after a quick map check we decided to hit the rides instead.
Rides and Queues
Although it was great weather we unfortunately had picked a day when the M56 was closed at the junction where we needed to get off for Gulliver’s World. I’m not sure if that affected the business of the park that day but it didn’t feel especially packed when we got there in the afternoon, despite there being a Hey Duggee meet and greet and it being a very sunny weekend in May.
For a first theme park there are lots of options for toddlers which isn’t always the case at other attractions. Most of the queues for things like the dinosaur jeeps and jeep safari were less than ten minutes as they are fairly short rides, but the slower rides such as Adventure Canyon (water rafts that drift round a course) were nearer twenty minutes and Kobie had some major meltdowns whilst we waited as it was such a hot day.
We were waiting for the Gully’s Grand Prix ride (cars that go round a course) for so long we ended up leaving the queue to avoid another meltdown.
The waiting areas don’t provide many interesting features or things to do while you wait, and you have to leave your pram outside so I’d advise bringing an ipad, toys and snacks in a backpack with you to keep your toddler entertained.
Attractions
Because Kobie didn’t seem that fussed with the rides and we couldn’t face any more queuing with him, we ended up doing things like the dinosaur walk through where there are lots of moving dinosaur models that make sounds. He absolutely loved this and ran from dinosaur to dinosaur pointing each out.
It was nice for him to be able to run about without us having to pull him away from things, but the likeness of some of the dinosaur models was a little questionable to say the least and gave us all some laughs!
We also did a lot of soft play, sand pits and outdoor play areas which seemed to be on every corner. Anyone with toddlers knows they hate being carried or in the pram for too long, especially when they can see other kids enjoying themselves, so having cornered off areas where Kobie could run about was a major win for us.
Other than the meet and greet we didn’t see any other TV characters but the website says they do shows around the park throughout the day such as puppet shows and music concerts which is something most bigger theme parks don’t do.
I didn’t see these shows advertised on the day and I don’t think Kobie would have sat through one but if you have a less energetic two year old then these would provide both adults and kids a nice break from the rides and play areas. I think next year things like the bubble fun show would be a must do for us but at the minute he would be trying to get up on stage to pull the props down!
Theming
The main character of Gulliver’s World is the distinctive Gully the mouse and his friends. There were lots of friendly staff members around wearing outfits that fitted with the theme of the area they were in and a couple of ‘Gully Gang Members’ dressed as mischievous park characters who interacted with us.
Kobie enjoyed all the different themes, it made the park feel a lot bigger and you could easily tell what bit you were in. The theming definitely felt more geared towards toddlers and the general vibe was friendly and relaxed.
Overall Thoughts
I would definitely come back here for a day out – probably more for a half day than a full day whilst Kobie is under three and I’d aim for early Spring rather than a hot May weekend! I love the idea of the shows dotted throughout and the rides were definitely toddler friendly.
I’d suggest going on a weekday if you don’t have little one’s that can queue for too long and bring a picnic so you’re not having to wait in the restaurants. The park was a little dated (and dare I say run down?) but I felt that that, plus the friendliness of the staff, added to its overall charm.
Rating
I would give Gullivers World Warrington a 6.5 out of 10. If we’d managed to catch any of the shows or there had been more distractions for kids when queuing (bubbles, puppets, face paints, live music, balloon making, etc) then I’d have given it a higher score. All in all it was a nice afternoon out, it just didn’t exceed expectations for me.
