Last year we went to Pleasurewood Hills in Norfolk to celebrate their thirty year anniversary! We loved our trip last summer and wanted to go back for an update visit this year too. I have actually been going myself since I was a child when it was a relatively new park and I remember only fun times and happy days when there. It’s not as swish as some of the bigger parks across the UK and it doesn’t have a specific pull like Paulton’s does with Peppa Pig World or Thomas at Drayton Manor but it still holds its own as far as I’m concerned!
If visiting Norfolk then I would absolutely recommend a day at Pleasurewood Hills. The ticket prices start at £16.50 for anyone over the age of 12 which although has shot up in the past couple of years is still far less expensive than other parks of a similar ilk and it definitely has something for everyone. Big rides and lots of little ones with a fair amount for tiny tots too! It is a shame, I’ll admit, that some of the rides which are not suitable for children under 1 meter, couldn’t be made so that they would be if an adult accompanied them. Poor old Jimmy fell to his knees by the little aeroplanes because he wasn’t tall enough and said in a very sad voice ‘but it’s not fair Mummy’ and it’s not. It was a very child friendly looking ride but you have to be over a meter and adults are not allowed – I would re-think this…
Despite no aeroplanes for Jimmy they loved the rides they did go on!
He did still find lots of other things to enjoy and both he and Florence thought the park areas were brilliant too, just as they did last year! It was actually East Coast Truckers day yesterday which we did know about but it made the queues longer than they have been on previous visits so we didn’t get to do and see everything we wanted and sadly we missed one of our highlights from last year, the Sea Lion show. The queue was half way round the park! Still, it only happens once a year on the Sunday during the August bank holiday weekend and it’s for a very good cause. The trucks go in convoy from Norwich to Pleasurewood Hills each carrying one child either with a disability or from a disadvantaged background and they spend the day at Pleasurewood Hills having fun before a sea front parade in Great Yarmouth and the horn blowing drive back to Norwich!
The trucks which we saw from the top of our bus!
We were very excited on our way to Pleasurewood Hills (My Mum and I went on the bus with the children from Norwich which costs £10 for an all day ticket) to see all the people out on the streets waiting to wave to the trucks and we remarked how it was a shame we weren’t just behind them instead of in front. However, just before we arrived the police stopped our bus and we did indeed arrive behind the trucks after having watched them all go past from a spectacular vantage point. It was lovely also to see all their children enjoying the day with their families. The East Coast Truckers are a charity and doing a very good job too! I’ve no idea if Pleasurewood Hills helps the charity by offering free tickets but I hope so and will update the blog accordingly if I find out the answer to that.
So we did have a lovely day riding on the little cars, going over the park in the cable car, sitting on the little train and seeing the whole of the park including the big rides even though we didn’t go on them. It’s traditional and not sparklingly shiny but not lacking in any fun either. I thought that the park looked greener and more pleasing to the eye than last year and I think some attention to landscaping and aesthetics has definitely taken place.
Our fun day!
So the park’s great, it was certainly a shame then that literally everywhere throughout people were smoking. Smoking in the queues, smoking around the park, in the picnic areas and even in the children’s parks.
I thought the other day how strange it is when you see someone smoking while walking along the street because it’s so rare now, everywhere has designated smoking areas which stops it but not at Pleasurewood Hills. The result is quite unpleasant and also means lots and lots of cigarette butts on the floor. I spoke to a member of the management team who assured me they are working on erecting designated smoking areas but told me it is hard to police. Personally I don’t think it will be. I think it is so accepted that smoking is banned in most places, those who simply couldn’t go a whole family day without, would naturally gravitate towards the permitted zone. I would recommend they also put lots of signs up to advise people they will be evicted if caught smoking in queues or anywhere other than those spaces and I told them so!
And then it was time to go home. The day went very quickly because we were having fun and we had to make our last bus back to Norwich which stops just outside the park’s drive. Unfortunately we hadn’t banked on the truckers leaving at the exact moment we did and I had a frantic run over to the office to ask how we could get out safely with all the trucks on the road… They were very kind and escorted us out – phew! As it turned out we needn’t have worried because although we got on the bus it didn’t actually move for a very long time and crawled back to Norwich at the speed of a snail… Where we had hoped to be behind the trucks on the way for a vantage point we were not quite so enthusiastic on the way back… We left Pleasurewood Hills at 5.15 and arrived back home at nearly 9pm last night… Oh well… These things happen and it couldn’t be helped!
Would we go back? Yes absolutely but I think they would have to do something about the smoking first! I haven’t ever noticed it being so bad when we’ve been before but perhaps we’ve not been on quite such busy days? Perhaps I’ll update you on how they’ve dealt with it if we go again.
Pleasurewood Hills is just as much fun as it was when I was a child and a great family day out in Norfolk!
I was sent complimentary tickets in return for an honest review.
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