Today is hot and sunny, so staying in to watch TV with the children was out of the question.
I decided to take the children to the amusement park at the sports centre where there are about 15 different rides plus a few coin operated ones (which we just didn't have time to go on "on the way back"!) It has just reopened for this year and is super value for money. The price has gone up this year for the first time in at least 5 years, but I paid just £10 for 16 tokens which works out at just over 62p each. I don't think I can complain about that.
The amusement park is (as far as I can work out) run by one man and his dog. The dog wanders around the park among the people and the regular visitors get to know him. Of course the man does not run all the rides himself. He employs teenagers to help with running the rides. They are good with the children and very polite and helpful. For example, I went on a little train with the children and wanted a photo of us all on it. The young girl running the ride took lots of photos of us as the ride was running.
As always, it's the little things which make the difference with this park. Aside from the good value, I like the fact that the man running it does not appear to 'do it for the money'. Two years ago Little Z and I went there and we were the only ones in the park. The man was there more or less by himself and as I went to pay him (it was £5 for 12 tokens back then) he said, "no, don't pay yet. Let her have a few goes on things to make sure she likes it. Then you can buy your tokens." Again this year, I went to take Big J on the Astraglide, gave the man two tokens (one for each of us) and he gave me one back saying I didn't have to pay as I was taking Big J on. Somehow it makes the day more fun (see photos!) if you know you are not being fleeced by the park owners.
Okay, the rides are quite small and it's not Alton Towers, but as local attractions go, it is one of the best around here.
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