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Wicksteed Park Review: A Wonderful Day Out For Families

We took a trip to Wicksteed Park recently and had so much fun! Read on to discover what we thought of our visit…

Where is Wicksteed Park?

Wicksteed park is situated in Kettering, Northamptonshire and I feel so lucky to live so close to somewhere like this. It’s owned by the Wicksteed charitable trust and is a grade 2 English heritage listed park and garden. 

The original trust was set up in 1916 and the park was founded in 1921 as part of the legacy of Charles Wicksteed.

Shape Location Get directions

Wicksteed Park
Barton Rd, Kettering NN15 6NJ

Find out more

Things To Do At Wicksteed Park

The first thing you notice about this park is just how much there is to do here! There is absolutely something to do for everyone. There are around 30 rides and activities along with 147 acres of beautiful parkland. The fact it is all dog friendly is a huge plus for us as well!

The actual park is free to enter and you can either buy individual ride tickets for £3 each if you only want to go in a few rides, or you can buy a wristband for £22 per person. This enables you to go on all rides, however many times you like for the whole day! Parking is also charged at an additional cost depending on how long you are there for. They also have a camping area on-site that you can book so you can spend even longer here. 

Free Nature Walks and Play Areas

If you don’t want to go on any rides, as I mentioned above – you can enter the park for free. There is still so much to do here! There are so many walks you can go on around the area, loads of different play areas & a huge sand pit. You can also pay an additional charge to enter their soft play area (Wicky’s Play Factory) which features slides, tunnels and ball pits. 

Food and Drink

There’s a ton of food and drink available throughout the whole park so you’ll never be short of somewhere to stop. I checked the menus and they do seem to cater for some food allergies and diets too. This is really important for me as I’m a vegetarian. These include cafes, restaurants, ice cream kiosks, treats, hot dogs & burgers.

Gift Shop

There is also just one main gift shop in the park meaning you don’t have to get off every ride and have your kids ask for a toy every time (parents, you know what I mean!)

Rides

There are four main ride areas including the thrill zone, the heritage zone, the splash zone, and the adventure zone. 

Thrill Zone

The thrill zone features dodgems, honey pot bears (suitable for all ages), ladybird coaster, paratrooper, dinosaur valley rollercoaster & rocky river falls log flume. There are also some games kiosks here where you can try to win some prizes! We loved riding on the log flume which provided some much needed relief from the hot sun and the dinosaur rollercoaster. 

Heritage Zone

The heritage zone includes the carousel (also suitable for all ages), sway rider & the railway which takes you around the whole park and the huge lake. This is also the area where the lakeside walks and the traditional playground are situated plus the new big ferris wheel. The railway is also suitable for all ages and If you are travelling with a dog, they even let your dog ride on the train too! The railway was our favourite part about this area. 

Splash Zone

The splash zone includes a classic car ride (again suitable for all ages), the lake boats where you can take a boat trip or pedalo trip over the lake and spot all the wildlife here. You can take your dog on here too! The water chute (which is one of the oldest surviving water based rides in the world and one of the original rides that was here on opening day in 1926). The water chute was also our favourite!

Adventure Zone

Then finally you have the adventure zone. This consists of an Astro slide, clown coaster, crazy golf, cups and saucers, lighthouse mini drop ride and Meerkat Manor (where you can see the meerkats). You can also pay extra for a Meerkat experience which starts from £50 for 2 people and you can get even closer to them to feed them! 

Tree Top Walk and Farmyard

There’s also mini jets, rockin’ tugs, a mini roundabout and an amazing tree top walk. This is a 90 metre course full of rope bridges, cargo nets and tree trunks. Wicky’s Farmyard is here too where you can meet pigs, rabbits, bunnies, Guinea pigs, ducks, chickens, rats, ferrets

Final Thoughts Wicksteed Park

I love the history behind this park, and it’s amazing seeing some of the original rides here! It’s great that they also have such classic rides like the carousel which is always a big hit in our house! We even managed to make it through the day with only two tantrums from my toddler (because he didn’t want to queue!). The best thing is because it’s still a relatively ‘smaller’ theme park, there are barely any queues. Most rides were just walk-on with a little queue for the bigger rides like the big wheel and the log flume. 

They also have lots of seasonal events throughout the year so you will always find other things to do as well. 

It’s worth keeping in mind that the rides only operate from April – October. So it is very seasonal. However the park grounds remain open all year round which makes it the perfect place to visit out of season for a playground trip, or a dog walk in the beautiful scenery. 

We hope you have enjoyed this review and can visit Black Country Museum soon! Discover what other families thought of family days out across the UK in our Reviews and Recommendations section. Then, check out our Family Influencer Network too!

Follow Tamsyn and her family for lots of family day out inspiration and lifestyle tips over on Instagram @Tamsynx.