Wicksteed Park — Attraction in Kettering

This is absolutely magical, enchanting and tremendous place to visit and definitely offers a lot more than most people think on the surface. It is one of the oldest theme parks in the UK and was started by a gentleman by the name of Charles Wicksteed in 1921 and how it has remained to this day is remarkable and amazing and testament to the Charitable Trust who look after it and do an amazing job of looking after the place. The place is mainly a public park with beautiful picturesque Lakeside walks with spectacular views of the lakes and wildlife on show and there is also picturesque Aboretum to see. Within the public park there is the theme park with excellent variety of rides on offer plus farmyard animals and exotic animals to see along with wonderful relaxing train ride to complement the lot. The theme park is divided into zones which include The Thrill Zone, Adventure Zone and Splash Zone. In the Thrill Zone the rides that are on offer include Dinosaur Valley, Honey Pot Bears, Paratrooper, Galaxy Invaders, Rocky River Falls & Ladybird Coaster. In the Adventure Zone the rides that are on offer are The Sway Rider, Clown Coaster, Carousel, Lighthouse, Cups & Saucers, Wickey Bear Theatre, Roundabout, Meerkat Manor and Wickey's Farmyard. In the Splashzone the rides on offer include The Water Chute, Jolly Jockeys, Lake Boats & Mr Wicksteed's Cars. All of the rides have a lovely endearing charm and offer some fantastic engagement for everyone. The train ride which is an absolutely brilliant addition is a nice relaxing 15 minute ride around the park where you can see and take all of the park in and also enjoy picturesque views across the lakes. The best of the rides has to be Sway Rider and The Carousel due to their lovely nostalgic heritage charm to them and also The Dinosaur Valley and Rocky River Falls due to their excellent exhilaration they offer. Other great mentions are The Meerkat Manor and also Wickey's Farmyard due to the fact you can great glimpse of the animals right up close and they are very friendly. There are some wonderful heritage areas such as The gardens where there is lovely fountain and spectacular flower borders with a wonderful array of colour. There are some interesting informative information boards dotted around the site detailing some of it features and their history adding its wonderful heritage nostalgic element. The staff are also very friendly and helpful making the visit all the more pleasant. There are various food outlets selling a variety of great food and drink at affordable reasonable prices and also there is also a great range of souvenirs in the shop. Overall this a truly magical, enchanting, charming & Delightful, which a for truly fantastic day out to take in some heritage and nostalgic. Definitely well worth a visit whilst...

Booked to stay here Saturday 24/8/24 bank hol weekend, Wiv my son, his 16 yr old n 5 yr old daughter n my daughter n her 2 kids boy 9 n girl 7. Originally booked for Saturday night but weather was sooo bad wet n windy, we changed it to stay Sunday night. Got to park around 11am ish n put tent up before going around park for rides. I’d brought a family of 5 waistbands online prior to going, as it was cheaper (£84 for 5, rather than £25 each on the day, so well worth doing! Then just brought a few tickets for rides we all wanted to go on like famous train ride. My son n daughter had been to legoland a few days prior so wasn’t bothered about going on rides lol. But I went on big wheel Wiv kids, then new jockey ride, which is near the. helicopters used to be. Then younger ones went on vintage cars whilst older 2 went over thrill zone to go on faster paced rides - which was good idea Cus meant younger ones could go on rides several times without standing to que for 45 mins. Next we all went on train, which we all enjoyed n brought back memories of when my own 2 were small. Then they went down slide (several times!) then did monkey walk/trail then on to swing chairs n the carousel. Oh forgot to add the water flume, which kids got wet! But that’s the fun isn’t it? After we finished we went back to campsite for bbq, which was lovely n much need cup of tea! We did have tea/coffee from restaurants but nothing like ya own lol Kids asleep bit later than normal but they were too excited n who could blame them! Woke up following day, had breakfast n packed away then moved cars so kids could play on free playground - kids did want to go round park again n I didn’t know that campers get 50% off wristbands for 2nd day, until I got home! So when we go next year we’ll defo take advantage of the offer n go for 2 full days. Had the best time ever - well I know me n grandkids did! 😝 Even though campsite was much busier than last year, being bank hol, we weren’t disturbed by noise by other campers n all enjoyed the peace n quiet. I’d have gone back again this weekend but kids have all gone off away again, 1 camping n other Wiv his wife n in laws near the beach! Can’t praise this place enough, something for everyone n grounds/walks are beautiful. Some grounds uneven so if in wheelchair stick to paths, n some ppl Wiv mobility issues may struggle on some rides, as they have lots of steps to access them but overall something for everyone! I’ll defo be back for day before season ends as I just 🥰🥰🥰 this place! Thank you wickstead park for not making it too...

First time visit for the day, was okay. For us the flyers for this park give a good impression, though on arrival it didn’t really have the same theme or meet the expectation for us. It’s a nice little park, with many things to do for the kids, but we found it a little expensive compared to other similar attractions (also the main roller coaster was out of order which didn’t help).

On arrival you there is plenty of car parking, we arrived early and by midday the car park which is big, was almost full. It’s clearly a popular local attraction.

Car parking you pay at the end of the day when you leave, either at the pay machine or via a QR code online. (Note a small surcharge for using the QR code, 25 pence I think).

There is a large play park which is free for kids, this looked busy all day. The majority of the other attractions you pay for, either per ride by buying tokens, or buying the unlimited wrist band. We bought the wrist band for the kids, £25 each.

We didn’t buy a ticket and I’m not sure it would be worth it for an adult. This is a challenging ones as the park was very busy and you can certainly have fun all day, and if you buy the wrist band you Kian just keep going on the rides.

The park is fairly spaced out too and there are food outlets available. We had some hotdogs near the and chips near the roller coaster and log flume. The food quality was good on our visit. Normal attraction pricing.

They also had lodges which you can stay in, they looked good and were at the back of the park where it is quieter. There is also a train that goes round the park, but you will need a wrist band or have to buy a ticket to go on it.

The staff were friendly and helpful.

I think of some of the rides were not closed, and the main roller coaster open, value for money would have been better.

Throughout the park, there are paved walkways/roadways. So relatively accessible.

You can buy your ticket online, but they said you can only use it 48hours later, so you can’t buy online the day before or the morning for the online discount. On that note, when you arrive you walk through the park a little first and feel a little lost as to where you should go to get a ticket.

The park is dog friendly which is a good positive, we could walk our dog with us around the park, note there are wild birds/geese and there are also some animals in the park attractions.

Overall a fun day out for the kids. It’s probably okay for the price, just feel the flyer didn’t quite match the atmosphere when...