Disclosure– We received gifted tickets in return for a review however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Another attraction we visited whilst we were on our mini holiday at Great Yarmouth was the Sea Life…
View PostDisclosure– We received gifted tickets in return for a review however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I have been collating a variety of different attractions in Great Yarmouth in which we have visited and can personally recommend to you, our readers. This post will tell you all about our recent trip to Pleasure beach.
On the coast of Great Yarmouth is Pleasure Beach, an amusement park with various rides, stalls, games, and activities. The kids were super excited when we arrived and keen to jump on the rides as soon as possible. Once you have your pass and access to the amusement park, you can have unlimited rides.
There were only two rides that Emily was unable to get on due to her height, so plenty of choice for all kids, as well as enough danger and safety to account for the more daring and more cautious visitors. We went on all of the rides bar one, and that was simply because we had run out of time.
Lydia, who is now big enough to go on all of the rides, challenged herself to do everything and boy did she. She even went on the Pendulum – a swinging ride that does a full 360° rotation – despite my fears for her going on it. Leo unfortunately made himself feel quite sick on the spinning teacups so was less inclined to do any further spinning rides.
We ended the day with the 4D cinema which was really good. Lasting around 12 minutes, the movie was very good and the effects were amazing causing the kids to gasp and jump in equal measures. For those who don’t know, a 4D cinema is a 3D movie where the chairs move, wind blows, water sprays, etc., so you get a real immersive experience.
We had taken our own lunch and eaten before we went in, so did not purchase any food whilst there, other than an ice-cream at the end of the day. From what we saw, the prices were as expected in any amusement park, but we cannot comment on the quality. However, the children’s cone, charged at £1.30 at the time we went, was a really good size and come in a teddy bear cone, which the kids loved.
Overall the kids (and us adults) had a fantastic time. The park closes at 4pm and we arrived shortly after 1pm and that gave us just about enough time, so you could easily spend the good proportion of the day there with lots to keep you entertained. Access was really good and we had no problems getting around with the wheelchair.
Read more Great Yarmouth attraction reviews here.
Access to the Pleasure Beach is straight off the strip and apart from Gate A, all other gates could be accessed via a wheelchair. We entered at Gate D, which was the furthest entry point right at the far end of the park. Whilst this was a walk away from the carpark, the entrance meant that we could move across the park, accessing all of the rides, finishing at the exit nearest the carpark – something to consider for anyone going.
The entire venue is wheelchair accessible, although some rides did have steps, the vast majority had either ramp or floor level access. Staff are available to help where needed as well. The design of the park means that it is really easy to move in one direction and access all of the rides, and there is a good mix of rides to accommodate the older and younger child.
Accessible toilets can be found at the following locations:
A radar key is needed for entry and can be borrowed with a £5 deposit from the Food Court (for the Haunted Hotel), from the Pleasure Beach Inn (for the Pleasure Beach Inn toilets) or from the Log Flume photo booth (for the Log Flume toilets).
Alternatively, a radar key can be borrowed with a £5 deposit from Gate A for the Pleasure Beach Inn toilets and for the Log Flume toilets.
Whilst we were at Great Yarmouth we parked in St Nicholas car park which is opposite the sea front attractions. It is a long stay carpark as we were visiting the sea front pretty much all day so that it why we decided to park here.
£6.00 for up to 4 hours
£9.30 for over 4 hours
Try find another working pay machine if one is not working, It will suggest you pay using there app but this adds an additional charge of 20p (It’s not much but it’s a bit cheeky if you have to do this because of there faulty machine).
We parked in the disabled bay however, we did discover on the second day that Blue badge holders can park on the sea front for Free for however long they needed.
Disclosure– We received gifted tickets in return for a review however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Windmill Adventure golf, is along the same road as the St Nicholas car park. It is about a ten minute walk from the car park to the attraction.
As a kid, David loved crazy / miniature golf, but he always complained that most miniature golf courses we had been to were too simple, without enough craziness. Enter Windmill Adventure Golf, a Hollywood themed golf course which has been converted from the historical Windmill Theatre in Great Yarmouth.
At Windmill adventure golf, each hole has a different theme with some amazing props and gimmicks to entertain you whilst you walk round the venue, taking multiple shots (certainly in my case) to get the ball in the hole. There are 13 holes in total. A warm up hole, which is just a simple ramp to get you into the swing of things, 9 holes within the venue, a ‘gambling hole’ – which is basically a large roulette wheel where whichever number your ball lands on you have to add it to your score – and finally a pinball hole, which if you are skilled enough could earn you a free game.
There were lots of shortcuts and little tricks that you could use to improve your score, provided you looked close enough, and the props were amazing. We loved the second hole (tomb raider), which has you walking into a Jurassic Park themed area with an amazing velociraptor greeting you as you come into the room. Dracula’s lair had a scary warlock in a cage that shook and spoke as you got near to it – and even made Emily move her ball back away from the hole so she didn’t have to go close to it!
Posters of famous stars and interesting pictures are all over the place to recognise the history of Hollywood and even a really cool mirror with a challenge to curl your tongue… you will have to go to see why that is funny.
All of us had an amazing time and the kids loved it. We all got really competitive and even though Leo and I are really bad at golf, we had such a laugh (and a cry at times) playing through. The Las Vegas roulette wheel was a lovely touch and can help to balance the playing field if you are lucky enough to land low – unfortunately David did, so he managed to keep his smug face and win!! – but it helped Emily come second, which she was really chuffed about.
There are tonnes of photo opportunities, really clever (and complex) holes, and amazing props to keep you entertained throughout, with good access for any wheelchair users. We thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely go again.
You can read more of my Great Yarmouth reviews here.
The building is wheelchair accessible and there is an elevator on the side of the building to allow access for those who cannot leave their chair. There are two holes that cannot be accessed by wheelchair, unfortunately, but that should not deter anyone interested in going as the rest of the venue does make up for this.
This attraction does not have public on-site toilets however, there is a safe crossing just outside of the building and the toilets are across the road along the sea front. They are free to use and were kept in good, clean condition on our visit. I would make sure you visit the toilets before you start playing as it would be quite disruptive if you had to pause the game.
Whilst we were at Great Yarmouth we parked in St Nicholas car park which is opposite the sea front attractions. It is a long stay carpark as we were visiting the sea front pretty much all day so that it why we decided to park here.
£6.00 for up to 4 hours
£9.30 for over 4 hours
Try find another working pay machine if one is not working, It will suggest you pay using there app but this adds an additional charge of 20p (It’s not much but it’s a bit cheeky if you have to do this because of there faulty machine).
We parked in the disabled bay however, we did discover on the second day that Blue badge holders can park on the sea front for Free for however long they needed.
The biggest littlest adventure in town
Disclosure– We received gifted tickets in return for a review however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
We recently explored The Merrivale model village during our long weekend stay at Great Yarmouth. I can’t remember the last time I had visited the seaside in Great Yarmouth however, I do remember walking past the signs for this attraction and always wondering what it looked like inside.
Leo, my son has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair for distances so part of this weekend away was to explore accessibility for wheelchair users or people with limited mobility. Fortunately for Leo he did not need the wheelchair around this attraction as there were plenty of seats to stop and rest on and he held on to David’s arm for support. We kept his wheelchair behind reception ready for when we finished.
Upon entrance you are asked if you’d like your photo taken in front of a green screen background, If you did they would give you a ticket to take the the gift shop at the end of your visit where you can view and purchase your photo’s if you wish.
Recently, we have been playing a lot of crazy golf wherever we go and was really surprised when we saw that they had a free crazy golf on site. The clubs and the balls are in buckets for you to use and there are 10 courses to complete. You are advised to wash your hands after you have played which is what we did and would of have done anyway.
We started our visit with a trip through the royal exhibition which was very fitting considering the Queens Jubilee is coming up. Buckingham palace looked incredible with all the mini guards marching in front of the beautiful, iconic building. Emily spotted the Queens corgi within the grounds which made her day as she adores dogs, there were plenty of little model dogs around the village for her to find.
There is so much to see here. Everywhere you look something is happening in the village. The kids enjoyed pressing the buttons to make the models become interactive, and there were quite a few buttons to press which kept young children engaged. I particularly enjoyed finding all the little Banksy artwork around the village, it was fascinating.
We came across an opticians called Spectaculars with Dr I. Lash and a Dentist called Dr McCavity which made us adults laugh as well as the kids. Not only did that make us laugh but if you looked closely at some of the mini characters not all of them are obvious unless you are really looking to see what they are doing but, they will make you chuckle (especially the streaker) so make sure you look at everything. It was all very captivating and we easily spent a good few hours there looking around at all the different scenarios happening, there is definitely something here for everyone and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
There is plenty of benches around for you to sit down and take a breather whilst lapping up the overhead views of this magnificent model village. The entire village is landscaped to showcase beautiful flowers beds for you to appreciate whilst you are there.
In the middle of the village there is a pond full of large, colourful, majestic Koi carps which you could feed. There is a little candy type machine of fish food which costs 20p per turn. The kids really loved doing this and the fish loved it too so I recommend you bring some change with you.
When you have finished looking around you will exit via the gift shop. The green screen pictures that were taken of us upon entrance looked great but Emily had blinked on ours so we didn’t purchase any, the lady behind the counter did say to us that we could have them retaken if we went back to reception but by this time the kids were all hungry and Leos legs were really aching so we decided not to.
In the gift shop I was expecting to be able to buy little mini figures like the ones we had just seen in the village but was surprised that they didn’t sell anything like that. Maybe this is something they could considering doing? Not only did I have my own girls telling me how much they would like to create something similar in our garden but I also heard other peoples children telling their parents the same.
Once you have finished in the gift shop you will then walk into the past to an old penny arcade which Leo absolutely loved, he loves retro stuff like this and it was pretty cool to be able to see how arcades used to look. £1 would get you 12 coins but the kids wanted to go through to the more ‘modern’ arcade with the 2p machines as they got more coins for their money, fair enough. We spent a good half hour in here and it completed our visit perfectly.
To summarise our visit to Merrivale model village I can honestly say we all had a great time here, this attraction is definitely worth a visit if you are planning a trip to Great Yarmouth.
You can read more of my Great Yarmouth reviews here
As I mentioned earlier in the post I am looking particularly at accessibility during our adventures. The model village is set on a platform with the reception, toilets and crazy golf being at the top. There is a smooth path taking you down into the village, this is a steady path down so there are no steep hills to worry about. The only steps here are at the opposite side of the smooth path leading you back up to the toilets but you can still get back to the toilets using the the side you came down on.
The paths can get narrow at some points and in my opinion you can can’t cross other wheelchair users if you are in a wheelchair, you would have to wait at a wider part of the path for your turn. Double buggies will not fit but it is very much accessible for wheelchair users.
Let’s talk about the cost of entrance for a moment. No only is it affordable but you can also re-enter for 7 consecutive days for free (upon proof of purchase) and there is so much to see here.
If you are anything like me I like to know if the places I am visiting have toilets. When your out and about with little ones the last thing you want is to be caught short and have to go on a mad dash to find one. This attraction does have toilets and a slightly larger disabled toilet. They weren’t great but they were clean and did the job.
Whilst we were at Great Yarmouth we parked in St Nicholas car park which is opposite the sea front attractions. It is a long stay carpark as we were visiting the sea front pretty much all day so that it why we decided to park here.
£6.00 for up to 4 hours
£9.30 for over 4 hours
Try find another working pay machine if one is not working, It will suggest you pay using there app but this adds an additional charge of 20p (It’s not much but it’s a bit cheeky if you have to do this because of there faulty machine).
We parked in the disabled bay however, we did discover on the second day that Blue badge holders can park on the sea front for Free for however long they needed.
See more of my Great Yarmouth reviews here.
An award winning business designed by a family.
Disclosure– We received gifted tickets in return for a review however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Want some good family fun action outdoors but kids don’t want to leave their games console? Do your kids love Call of Duty or Fortnite? Then why not combine the two together and give Rumble Live a visit?!
Rumble live is action gaming situated on the banks of Grafham water. It is essentially laser tag meets paintballing (minus the bruises); an outdoor arena with laser guns. I have never taken part in anything like this before and I was so nervous as my fitness is not the greatest. I was going to sit this one out and watch David and the kids play, but I am so glad I didn’t because it was so much fun!!
As it was nearing Star Wars day (May the 4th) Rumble live had some special guests come along to make the games even more exciting; Darth-Vader, along with one of his Storm Troopers. Within the arena there was also a pesky Jawa that was always getting into mischief. At one point it was giving the ‘L’ (Loser) sign to Darth Vader. They looked incredible, the kids (and the adults) really enjoyed it.
Once everyone had arrived, we all sat on a log so that The Ranger (Billy) could brief us on what was going to happen. He went through how the headbands work and explained how to use our guns. David and Leo understood it more than me and the girls did, but they both play the shooter games on the Xbox, and David has done paintballing and laser tag in the past.
After being debriefed we were taken inside the ‘map’ and sorted into either red (Empire) or blue (Rebel Alliance) teams, of which we were the Rebel Alliance. We were given our guns which were all named after characters in Star wars, which I thought was pretty cool, and then we were given our first mission. I was Mace Windu, Lydia was C-3P0, Emily was Obi-Wan, Leo was Qui-Gon Jin, and David… he got Jar Jar Binks!
Having never taken part in anything like this before, the mission briefing and everything I was told went over my head, but I just went with it. During your hour, there are 5 games to be played, which actually took over the hour but it went by so fast. The first game was a ‘Team Death Match’ (so I am told), but basically just an opportunity to get used to the guns and the action.
The guns speak to you throughout and let you know, more or less, what is going on. A loud roar tells you that the game is almost ready so we wait within the base. A noise and sudden vibration and the gun counts down… 4… 3… 2… 1… “Game on!” shouts the gun.
I had no idea what to do so I just followed everyone else. Your gun has a scope on top of it through which you can see a little red reticule that you can adjust to a shape that you like. Aiming down the sights, pull the trigger and away I went. You are aiming at head bands that the other players wear.
They were red and we were blue, but from a distance I couldn’t tell which colour was which, I was shooting at everything that moved. Turned out I wasn’t the only one while a team mate and I sat shooting at each other until we both realised. Once we realised it got much easier. I managed seven kills in my first game, which I thought was awesome!
We then played a series of other games, including attack and defend and a tower capture game. Throughout the field there are caches (loot boxes) that you can access to gain better guns or armour, they even had some games with ‘Thermal Grenades’, whatever that meant, but you could take out a tower easily with one of them.
The final game was a ‘Free for All’, which was just a great way to end the day. Everyone went against each other until there was only one left – of which David came second! He totally smashed the rest of us in terms of points and kills, often coming in within the top four on most games.
Unfortunately, the Empire won the day overall 3-1, which was fine. It was just such great fun playing. The kids had an amazing time! Even Emily, who like me seemed unsure what was going on, still got involved and played. After each game you were so tired with all the running, but once the next game started you completely forgot and just went at it again.
What a day!!
Go to their website and select your required date, there are 40 spaces per session so booking online is a must. The cost is £15 per person. Rumble live is open every weekend and during the half terms conducting 5 time slots per day.
They have (or will have) three arenas. A small arena aimed at younger children and little legs. The main arena where we played, which is aimed at families and groups, and they are in the last stages of completing their third arena, which is the largest and aimed at teenagers and adults – essentially those who want to play hard.
Throughout the year rumble live run themed events during special holidays or just for fun. You can also have birthdays and gatherings and they provide tables and space to set up for cakes, food, etc. for you to enjoy on your special day.
Head on into the carpark and the rumble live banners will direct you to the top end where you will then see more signs clearly instructing you on where to go. The car park will cost you around £4 and that will cover you for the duration of your stay however, if you plan on staying longer in Grafham water then the parking will be more.
As Rumble live is situated in the woods, it is not very accessible for those in wheelchairs however, If the ground is dry that day, vehicles can be given access and the rangers are there to help as much as they can. The rangers will help to situate wheelchairs in good positions and even help players to pull the trigger if required. Players with special needs will be accommodated and their carers can play for free. Any special requests/ requirements will be considered, email ask@rumblelive.co.uk
Rumble live can be hired out for parties, team building and exclusive use for clubs, societies, schools etc They have hosted a number of special schools, tournaments for over 100 players at a time and supported many charities events including CCLG (children’s cancer and leukaemia group).
Don’t just take our word for it, book it and experience it for yourself. I promise that you will not be dissapointed.
