When Lamb turned 2 in March we were given the opportunity to review Cbeebies Land in Alton Towers. We were so excited as Lamb is at the age where he has favourite characters from the Cbeebies programmes, and recognises them. His favourite’s are the shapes from Mister Maker and Mr Tumble. He’s also recently started to love Postman Pat and Tree Fu Tom.

I don’t know who was more excited, Lamb or myself. I love days out like this. Watching his face light up when he’s excited and sees something he loves, there’s nothing better.

The journey for us was around 3 hours, quite a long way, but we decided to visit family in Yorkshire for the weekend afterwards, so it ended up being a weekend away.

When we arrived at Alton Towers I was instantly impressed. Alton is probably one of the prettiest places I have driven through! It’s quite surreal having a huge theme park in the middle of it! But Alton Towers is designed so tastefully it’s hardly noticeable.

Parking was fairly straightforward, however there’s at least a 10 minute walk to the park entrance from the car. Maybe even more if you’re further away than we were. If you have a child 3 and under I highly recommend taking a buggy. The walk to the park may be ok, but the walk back to the car may be difficult if your little one is exhausted from all of the fun!

You will also make use of a buggy for holding coats and bags that you won’t want to carry around with you all day. We only put Lamb in the buggy at nap time, the rest of the time he walked (he loves walking). Cbeebies Land is very close to the park entrance, so if you don’t want to take a buggy, then once you’re in Alton Towers there isn’t much further to walk.

Don’t worry, there are plenty of places to park the pram. Literally every ride or attraction has a designated buggy park. If it doesn’t, there’s still room to leave the buggy at the side next to a fence or wall.

Right, let’s crack on with the review…

What do you need when visiting Cbeebies Land?

1. Like I’ve already said, I recommend taking a buggy.
2. Lots of snacks – queues can be quite long so you’ll need something to keep the little ones happy.
3. Drinks. We went in March and it ended up being a lovely day and quite warm! So if you’re going in the summer you’ll get pretty hot and thirsty!
4. Suncream/sun hats – for obvious reasons. You’ll be outside and in the sun a lot.
5. Camera – Cbeebies Land is designed so well you will want to capture all of it, especially the smiles on the kids faces!
6. Change of clothes – if you plan on going to the rest of the park and have a go on the water rides, you will most likely get pretty wet!
7. Comfy shoes. Like us, you will most likely be on your feet for a very long time. Comfy shoes are essential. Alton towers is huge and we walked around the whole of it after Cbeebies Land. So. Much. Walking.

I can’t praise Cbeebies Land enough. We absolutely loved it. I read a few reviews before going, and some were slightly negative, but I genuinely have no idea why.

Ok, so if it’s raining, you’re probably going to get wet and fed up, or if you go in the school holidays in the summer, you’re going to queue (a lot), but you should know this before going. No one should go to a theme park and complain about weather or queueing.

Cbeebies Land have tried to make queuing for rides as easy as possibly for families by adding games and activities to keep the little ones entertained. I was really impressed with this, however they need to double up (if not more) on the amount of games as the kids end up bickering over them, or refuse to move up in the queue because they don’t want to stop playing!

There are loads of rides and attractions based around some of the favourite Cbeebies characters. Lamb particularly liked Mr Tumbles Sensory Garden, Postman Pat’s Parcel Post ride, and Charlie and Lola’s House. Be warned, not all of the characters are there and I have been told they are looking to expand, so we will just have to visit again once they do! For example, we were pretty disappointed not to see Mister Maker’s Shapes there as these are Lambs absolute favourite. Also I thought we might see national treasure Peter Rabbit there. Even though, what is there is so much fun and hugely entertaining.

Lamb loved the In The Night Garden boat ride. He goes through phases of watching this, but as soon as he saw the Iggle Piggle he got excited.

Eating at Cbeebies Land was really easy. There’s a big cafe with plenty of high chairs. Not a huge choice of food, mainly sandwiches, but I found the prices to be pretty reasonable. You’re probably better off taking a packed lunch though as there’s plenty of benches to sit, or you could even go into the Big Fun Showtime and watch a show with a picnic (we did this). If you do eat in the cafe, there are Cbeebies colouring pages and crayons for the kids to play with while you’re eating. Lamb loved this.

Watching the Mike the Knight show. There was no way I was watching The Zing Zillas or Nina, they annoy the hell out of me! 😉

Both Daddy Lamb and I were really impressed with Tree Fu Tom’s Training Camp. What an amazing park for the kids to play in! The sun was shining and the park was pretty quiet, so we spent a good hour in here running around and climbing ramps and ladders. Lamb did not want to leave. Literally. He was carried out kicking and screaming.

I could go on and on about how much fun we had at Cbeebies Land. It was such a fun day, for the whole family, not just Lamb.

This was my first time at Alton Towers (yes, seriously) and I was hugely impressed with the whole park. It was tastefully designed; spread out and not at all cramped.

There’s a lot of walking involved so I would suggest planning on being there all day. Plan your day into sections. Expect to take breaks every couple of hours so you don’t get too tired and follow the map so you don’t miss anything.

There is lots more to Alton Towers than roller coasters. So much more that I ever expected. Play areas, aquarium, arcades. Literally so much to do.

I have to say this is one of my favourite days out so far. I can’t express how much fun we had. The addition of Cbeebies Land to Alton Towers is so good for young families and I think they have really catered well for toddlers and young children.

If you are thinking about going to Cbeebies Land soon make sure you take a look at their interactive map online and plan your day in advance. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or tweet me @Lambandbear.

We are already planning another trip with lots of friends and their kids, the only criticism I have and the only thing that puts us off is the price. You have to buy a ticket to the whole of Alton Towers, even if you are only intending on taking the little ones to Cbeebies Land.

I can’t see any other way around it, other than having some sort of wristband in place that tells staff what areas you have paid for, however, trust me when I say you will want to go to the whole park once you are there.

Oh and Lamb has one criticism too. He was too small to go into Justin’s House. This was rather upsetting for him.

Alex x

 * We were sent tickets to Alton Towers free of charge in exchange for our honest opinion and review of Cbeebies Land.