Castlecomer Discovery Park — Attraction in The Municipal District of Castlecomer

On Friday this week me and my 2 kids went in to the park for a day out ,we arrived at exactly 13:09 and make our way straight in to information desk, the woman sitting there was just eating something and i told her to enjoy and that she is fine ,i guess she haven’t had brake yet , besides that she was lovely lady, i explained to her i have 8 and 4 years old with me and i asked for professional opinion on what attractions we can go on to , she politely explained to me because i am on my own and my son is only 4 we can only go on 2 , the spider net with balls and the small climbing area for kids , she told me is no problem i can pay entry in any of the attractions on place and they accepted and cash and card or i can get tickets from her , i was delighted to hear that, she give me map and explained to me how to get to the attractions. On our way back to the main pat we saw the high climbing place on the very front next to the entrance and we went to check out if my daughter will be able to go on it , lovely young boy check her high and say she is good to go , she wanted me to go with her and having the little man with me , was not an option of leaving him alone, so i told her that her grandparents will be over tomorrow from Dublin and we can come again so someone can supervise the little one so i can go with her , we went up the hill and found the attractions where both was able to go and spend 2hours there ,paying on place with no issues at all with my card , kids had grate fun and my daughter was looking forward to come back tomorrow for the other attractions. Well the experience we had the following day was nothing like the one from the day before, we arrived my mam and dad driving nearly 2h from Dublin , we was there at 2:35 pm as i still have my car park tickets from it , we went to grab new maps and made our way to the climbing place, when arriving my mam said she wanted to go to , so the 3 of us take our jacket off and pressed to the staff, woman comes towards us and i told her 3 of us please, with she replied (WHEREEE) and i said we want to go up 3 places and she replied again (WHEREE) and i said up on the attractions, and she replied(DO YOU HAVE A BOOKING ) , my eyes popped, i said no the woman from the deck explained to me we can pay here i was here yesterday and a lovely young boy was here, but we couldn’t go because : “and then i went with the all story of no one to supervise the little one thats why we are back with backup and my mam and dad coming from Dublin to spend the day with us ” With her reply was “ LAST BOOKING IS AT 3 I CANT LET YOU GO “ i was stunned the way she has spoken to us, no one told me of such thing 3pm last booking. Mean time my husband my dad and my son sitting cross from us next to the climbing wall my husband holding our son on the first step,as there is no one there ,voice comes from somewhere

“GET DOWN OFF THE WALLL” 👀👀 being gentleman my husband didn’t reply embarrass by the way staff shouted at him in front of all other people and take our son and us and we left so disappointed . the way staff had treated 4 adults and 2 small kids looking to have fun day was just outrageous While making our way up to the attractions we have been the previous day we met a man from the staff and i ask him where we can get tickets to let the kids in as the place i bought tickets yesterday looks close , and he replied the attraction are already closed 👀👀while people are still in there . I was so upset because it’s saying on google that the place is open until 5pm and before 3pm everyone was turning us away. The only thing left we had is sitting down for food and spend some time as a family and not wasting my mam and dad 2 hours drive down to there and trying to come down 2 crying kids one of them 4 years old don’t understand why he can’t get in to play . So we grab some bite and we was out of there by 4 , disappointed and hurt by the way staff has treated us and the all day we have wasted going there to SEE NOTHING . I will never forget that day and i will not be going back...

On Friday this week me and my 2 kids went in to the park for a day out ,we arrived at exactly 13:09 and make our way straight in to information desk, the woman sitting there was just eating something and i told her to enjoy and that she is fine ,i guess she haven’t had brake yet , besides that she was lovely lady, i explained to her i have 8 and 4 years old with me and i asked for professional opinion on what attractions we can go on to , she politely explained to me because i am on my own and my son is only 4 we can only go on 2 , the spider net with balls and the small climbing area for kids , she told me is no problem i can pay entry in any of the attractions on place and they accepted and cash and card or i can get tickets from her , i was delighted to hear that, she give me map and explained to me how to get to the attractions. On our way back to the main pat we saw the high climbing place on the very front next to the entrance and we went to check out if my daughter will be able to go on it , lovely young boy check her high and say she is good to go , she wanted me to go with her and having the little man with me , was not an option of leaving him alone, so i told her that her grandparents will be over tomorrow from Dublin and we can come again so someone can supervise the little one so i can go with her , we went up the hill and found the attractions where both was able to go and spend 2hours there ,paying on place with no issues at all with my card , kids had grate fun and my daughter was looking forward to come back tomorrow for the other attractions. Well the experience we had the following day was nothing like the one from the day before, we arrived my mam and dad driving nearly 2h from Dublin , we was there at 2:35 pm as i still have my car park tickets from it , we went to grab new maps and made our way to the climbing place, when arriving my mam said she wanted to go to , so the 3 of us take our jacket off and pressed to the staff, woman comes towards us and i told her 3 of us please, with she replied (WHEREEE) and i said we want to go up 3 places and she replied again (WHEREE) and i said up on the attractions, and she replied(DO YOU HAVE A BOOKING ) , my eyes popped, i said no the woman from the deck explained to me we can pay here i was here yesterday and a lovely young boy was here, but we couldn’t go because : “and then i went with the all story of no one to supervise the little one thats why we are back with backup and my mam and dad coming from Dublin to spend the day with us ” With her reply was “ LAST BOOKING IS AT 3 I CANT LET YOU GO “ i was stunned the way she has spoken to us, no one told me of such thing 3pm last booking. Mean time my husband my dad and my son sitting cross from us next to the climbing wall my husband holding our son on the first step,as there is no one there ,voice comes from somewhere

“GET DOWN OFF THE WALLL” 👀👀 being gentleman my husband didn’t reply embarrass by the way staff shouted at him in front of all other people and take our son and us and we left so disappointed . the way staff had treated 4 adults and 2 small kids looking to have fun day was just outrageous While making our way up to the attractions we have been the previous day we met a man from the staff and i ask him where we can get tickets to let the kids in as the place i bought tickets yesterday looks close , and he replied the attraction are already closed 👀👀while people are still in there . I was so upset because it’s saying on google that the place is open until 5pm and before 3pm everyone was turning us away. The only thing left we had is sitting down for food and spend some time as a family and not wasting my mam and dad 2 hours drive down to there and trying to come down 2 crying kids one of them 4 years old don’t understand why he can’t get in to play . So we grab some bite and we was out of there by 4 , disappointed and hurt by the way staff has treated us and the all day we have wasted going there to SEE NOTHING . I will never forget that day and i will not be going back...

Extremely tough review to write. On the one hand, the variety of activities on offer and the age groups catered for is to be commended. However, on the other hand, as a parent bringing children or teenagers here, you’re going to have to have deep pockets. Despite the park itself being open ‘freely’ to the public for walking, jogging, cycling etc., nothing here is really free. For example, if you drive to this location you’ll need to park. Parking is not free.

The activities side of the Park are varied as stated above and depending on those chosen, your visit could run quite expensive. I brought two teenagers here for the Octagon and Zip-line combo, which is discounted if combined. €18.50 for each activity or €31 if combined. €93 for three. Didn’t matter that one teenager was 15; €31. I shudder to think what other parents are paying for a family here. On our way back after completing the zip line we passed lots of other activities along the way (axe throwing, archery, boating) and passed by a lot of the kids activities. We overheard a dad telling his 4 or 5 year old girl that if she wanted to go on the activity it was not free. She obviously couldn’t comprehend this as I suppose she just saw bouncy stuff, ropes, climbing stuff and a lot of other stuff kids see in kids play areas. I really felt for him in that situation. She just wanted to participate. Park is too expensive, really. It is possible to buy online tickets but once there you might find that you or your family members are tempted by other activities once they see them (perhaps this is what was playing out with the girl and her dad?)

As regards the Octagon, the safety briefing was thorough; they really impress upon you the safety aspects. The activity itself is hard work physically and it gets old fast, in my opinion. My teenagers got more mileage from it but after an hour they were done. Conveniently, the zip-line launch platform is immediately adjacent to the Octagon.

The zip-line is a fabulous thrill and well-worth doing once if you’ve not done it before. As thrilling as it is, it is far too expensive. €18.50 on its own. A family of four costs nearly €80 for a 30 second zip-line. This place is a public park, in which this “not for profit” entity exists. But quite quickly I found that once here and once kids see what’s on offer it can quickly turn into a theme park experience and if you give into your kids then you better have deep pockets.

Once finished, when you’re all tuckered out and you’re still recovering from open-wallet surgery, you and your rug rats will require feeding! Best of luck with that! There’s a sandwich bar/cafe run by teenagers or an Asian restaurant to choose from. In hindsight, perhaps arranging a bank loan before coming here might be an idea?!

And as you’re packing up your car to go home don’t forget you still have to pay for...