
REVIEW – Fa-BOO-Lous Halloween at Adventure Valley
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Our writer, Olly, has been to try out Adventure Valley’s, Fa-BOO-Lous Halloween event.
Here's what he thought...
We have enjoyed many days out here as a family over the last few years, but never one of their themed events, so our two boys were extremely excited to see what spooky shenanigans would be in store for them.
For those who have never visited, Adventure Valley is a family adventure park, packed full of activities for the kids, that will keep them busy all day, rain or shine, this is the main reason why we love it. Its spilt into: An indoor area with multiple soft plays, a café with loads of seating, theatre (which has live shows running throughout the day) and a selection of reptiles. A large outdoor area, with play areas, inflatable bouncy pillows, go karts and a whole lot more. And a farm area with lots of farm animals waiting patiently to be feed and stroked (if you time it right with the farm keeper talks).
On arriving for the Fa-Boo-Lous event the children were given special Halloween passes and told that we needed to get the four Halloween activities stamped and then we could go to visit the witch, where we may or may not, get a treat. Our boys love a task, so this was great for them and immediately we were off to get our stamps at the activities below:
Maize Ghost Trail – The ever popular maize maze has had a spooky make over and the Mad Hatter will be waiting to set the children a challenge to complete in the maze. Both the boys loved running round the maze, finding the clues and completing the challenge.
Spooky Rides – Adventure Valley's own fairground rides have had a spooky make over, now being the Ghost Train, Crazy Cowboy Ride and Swamp Lake. These rides are old school fair ground rides, we are not talking them park rides, but the kids love them and enjoyed the Halloween make overs and characters in charge.
Corn Cob Catapult – Aided by an inflatable pumpkin, here the boys were able to fire dried corn cobs at hay bail targets in the field beyond. Hard to explain, but the boys thought it was great!
Pumpkin Patch – Adventure Valley has its very own pumpkin patch and for £2.50 a pumpkin, the boys were able to take a small wheelbarrow round and pick their very own pumpkin from the pumpkin patch barn. I was really impressed by the size and selection of pumpkins, its not quite the same as going to a stand alone pick your own pumpkin event, but it’s a very good addition here. There is also space and tools to carve your pumpkin if you can’t wait until you get home.
Once the boys had collected all the stamps, they went to visit the very scary witch, which again they loved. This wasn’t the end of the fun though, as all the standard, much loved attractions at adventure valley were still open and waiting to be played on. We spent hours playing on playgrounds, went on the bumpy tractor ride, bounced on the inflatable cushions, fed the goats – which is always a highlight for the boys as you can wind a cart up to the top of goat mountain and then burnt off all remaining energy in the indoor soft plays.
As there is so much to do, we didn’t get round everything, we didn’t get to the live shows but from experience they are definitely worth a visit, as we’ve got to hold snakes and beetles. We also missed the Halloween parade, this is at 16.00 and the boys were flagging by then, so maybe worth thinking about timings for your visit if you want to see this.
We had an action packed day and the kids certainly enjoyed themselves. We love Adventure Valley anyway, we love the range of activities on offer and the wide open spaces for the kids to run around and let off steam. The Halloween touches made for a positive change at this time of year, although I will say it is maybe not the most immersive Halloween event you will find. But do not let this put you off, the ticket prices are no more expensive than for entry throughout the summer, so its definitely a good half term treat.
The Fa-BOO-Lous Halloween event is running throughout half term (26th October – 3rd November) and when bought online ticket prices are £12.95 for both adults and children. We think its good value, the café has lots of reasonably priced food and drinks on, but if the weather is nice we always make the most of it and save a few pennies by taking a picnic.
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