We were invited along to Hatton Adventure World to check out their Summer activities and see what was new at one of our favourite local attractions. The girls always enjoy a day at Hatton and this visit was no exception! Our friend Detta came along with me and the kids to explore and have fun.
We were lucky with the weather and other than a few short summer showers it was warm and sunny all day. We crammed in all our favourite activities; visiting the animals in Farmyard Favourites, petting a guinea pig in the Guinea Pig Village, taking a ride on the Tractor Safari Ride, climbing around all of the adventure playground areas, and much, much more.
This summer the Tractor Safari Ride is accompanied by an informative talk about the history of the farm, some local landmarks, and the different breeds and buildings on the farm land. I learnt quite a bit about Hatton that I didn’t know before and all four of us really enjoyed the ride.
The Farm Animal Paddocks have been renovated since our last visit and you can now get closer to and see more of the animals that they have on the farm. They have added a pair of wallabies which the girls really enjoyed saying hello to, and they are starting work on a new Falconry Centre for 2017, too.
We took a look at the Summer activities and watched a Water Wars battle which looked hilarious and very, very wet. If you want to go along and take part in a Water Wars battle make sure you take along spare clothes to change into! Set up next to the Water Wars arena is a Water battle area where you can use the provided water pistols to squirt your family and friends (unfortunately I couldn’t convince the girls to come and play this visit!)
They also have an over-8s programme running for older children, including Laser Combat, bushcraft and orienteering skills. We had a quick peek and it looked like they were having a whale of a time.
Both myself and the girls are fans of the falconry displays at Hatton; the handler is really great with the kids, clearly passionate about the birds, and makes time to involve everyone and answer everyone’s questions. We went to two displays and found out lots about Harris Hawks and Owls. Georgie held the Harris Hawk, and Lydia held Chicco the Tawny Owl.
We saw the “Hatton Grand National” for the first time; their daily sheep race – it was hilarious! You get to see the sheep first, and place a free “bet” on which you think will win – if your sheep comes first you win a badge! All four of us loved it, I didn’t know sheep could move that fast.
One thing I really like about Hatton is that almost everything is included in the price. With the exception of the pony rides (£2.50 each) and some of the coin operated mechanical things, you don’t have to pay anything extra for any of the activities. That includes the funfair rides, bouncy castles and slide, soft play area, laser combat, and so on. It makes the entry ticket great value and you can be there all day and still not see and do everything on offer.
I took some cash for ice creams but I didn’t have to worry about taking lots of spending money for our day out. We did eat in Snorty’s Restaurant, as they do good value tasty food and great kids meal deals.
We really enjoyed our day at Hatton and I highly recommend it as a great family day out. You can get great savings by booking ahead of time, and there is plenty to do and see under cover if you aren’t as lucky with the weather as we were!
Check out our video to see more of our day:
