Diggerland has been around for 20 years and has locations around the country including Devon, Kent, Durham and Yorkshire, in which an array of diggers and adventure are at the heart of it. With indoor and outdoor play areas, Rides, Challengers and lots of different fun. The Location we would be visiting is the Yorkshire one, just outside Leeds in Castleford.
With Roo away this visit included me, Boo, Tigger and Piglet, and would test the different ages of the two, let alone some activities for Boo and me lol. We choose Yorkshire as it’s fairly straightforward to drive to, being in East Anglia none of the resorts is close and a little odd there isn’t one based on the digger and agriculture of the area lol. The Yorkshire Diggerland is very easy to drive to as it’s just off the A1 M, and the M62 at Castleford.
Diggerland physically isn’t huge but still adequate, this means its relatively easy to get around the place as its all paved and essentially in a big Oval with the activities and rides in the centre and the edges curving all the way around. in the entrance area, there is a shop located for the exit, above is the cafe and indoor go-kart (you have to pay for )to the side is an indoor play area, its a good size and can be accessed from the Cafe upstairs as the whole entrance and exit building is all linked.
The cafe is fine, its prices of around £7 for adults meal and kids slightly cheaper are similar prices to a theme part etc… though the selection is limited and more like a cafeteria-style that a quality cafe, however, the portions sizes look good. There was lots of Fried and sugary stuff to bear in mind if you have some particular dietary issue or desire. Unfortunately, this is your only option unless you bring your own food, there are several tables upstairs that you can eat at.
The indoor play area is good, to be honest, you can easily spend 30-60 minutes here for the kids to burn some energy, a big climbing area with slides dominates this. There are a couple of little areas to the sides for little children which helps, there are lots of tables and chairs for adults to hang out lol.
Right at the front is Dodgems, these are again paid to be used, as are a little driving area for smaller kiddies and smaller bikes/cars etc. I’m not a big fan of all these paid activities when you have to pay for them, it’s a little difficult for a child to understand that almost all of it is free, bar this couple of things at the front?
There is quite an assortment of activities to do, there are only a few that are for over 1.2 and even less for 1.4, some of these are even able to do if you are with a parent like Dumper trucks and Robots, these like Stackers is designed for bigger children and adults, they’re tough enough for parents to do let alone kids, I enjoyed the stacker with stacking tyes, not as easy as you would think.
The Dippy Trucks, Buried Treasure and SKittles are all in a line and used the same JCB crane style operation, there are lots of these which is good and you have enough time until you have finished it, little children of 90cm-1.2m can do it with a parent and help.
A couple of bigger things weren’t on when we were there, like the Giant diggers, the Dirt Diggers, JCB 3CX, these are all the bigger stuff and will need bigger children or adults to operate them, but again can be with a parent should you wish.
There’s a Joy ride in a farm-style card through the woods and mud, also a Safari Train, which again goes through some woods, this is great for younger children, especially the train as it breaks it up.
The go Karts at the back is free, there was only two on at the time which was a shame and went round twice which felt a bit odd, I wish it had a little more Karts and maybe a 3 lap race, but unlike the ones indoors from earlier, this was part of the Price, again this is for slightly bigger children, but if they were a bit more risk and high energy, the Crazy Carts are for much bigger children and were pretty fast, again only one was on at a time but hey ho.
There were some more traditional rides, the Dig around, a take on the high chairs from theme parks but with diggers etc.. was arguably our kids favourite thing, it was unique and really entertaining.
The Ground shuttle was a big JCB and you sat with others in the front lifter, and got taken up and around a track, which was very bumpy and a little high.
The Sky Shuttle though was a similar idea but with a much higher JCB and crane, this didn’t move but just went up high, near 50 feet! and you hung up there for a few minutes!
Arguably the biggest attraction Spin Dizzy, it was a take on a Theme park ride in which you swing around, but this time a big JCB and Crane held and swung fast! much like a theme park, this was pretty fast and for bigger children etc, but the showpieces of the day.
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Overall
Overall For me, I enjoyed it! I get to play with diggers etc.. the kids also enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong I think people need to show an interest in it to get the most out of the place. The activities are at times a little challenging but that’s good, you get a feel for how the machines work.
There are some rides that offer some added fun and enjoyment, with younger ones still relatively catered for, again I think really youngsters might struggle a little as would much older ones who aren’t interested in these types of things, though the Spin Dizzy would satisfy most thrill-seekers.
The day was a bit cold and windy, thus it wasn’t as busy as it could be, I think on really busy days this could get frustrating as there’s only so much room, and some of the activities are down to your own time, this could take a while.
The extra paid for items really annoyed me, in a huge theme park with a little bit paid for? fine I don’t agree with it but there are lots, but in a relatively small place this was silly and no need, and as I said early it’s hard for a child to understand in a small place why some was free and some weren’t. But this is a good place to visit, it’s not exceptionally expensive, you can get your money’s worth out of it, even if you just did half the day it’s still fun and enjoyable.
Covid-19
This visit was done pre Lockdown and the attraction will have updates post lockdown rules, to check their latest information go to the website
