Half Term: Diggerland Kent

We are extremely lucky and have so many great attractions on our doorstep. As many of you know we try and visit as many of these landmarks and attractions throughout the year as possible; from days out to the seaside, visiting castles or just some random exploration of local woods. Kent seems to be full of child related activities. 

One attraction locally has always appealed to us and I don't know why we haven't been before! 

Diggerland Kent is literally 5 minutes away from us but can be found off of the M2 for signs of Rochester. 

It is known for it's great family days out and even won several awards at the Kent Digital awards (Where I was lucky to meet many of their team!)

The lovely Hannah and the two children were with us again this half term trying to integrate the children, and us, into the future of us being a blended family and although the day to day activities and normal activities seems to be going really well we realised that we haven't tried to do the "family day out" experience with all four children!

We thought Diggerland fitted all of this criteria and provide us all with a lovely day out!

*Be warned this is a photo heavy post. But, how else are we meant to show you the great time without showing all the fun stuff we got up to!*

On arrival all four children were excited to go in. The entrance had several diggers around and the bright colours were really inviting. One little touch that I really appreciated ascetically were that all the outside flower pots were in fact digger "claws"; a great and clever use of old equipment and suited the theme brilliantly! 

Walking in and it was difficult to decide where we wanted to go first! Straight in front of us we found the "Spin Dizzy" ride, Bumper cars and a quaint little train ride. With the thought of Spin Dizzy being a bit adventurous for the start we opted for the quieter train ride. The boys absolutely loved this as they piled in the individual cars at the back as Hannah and Midge rode the high seated areas like a presentable ladies should ;) 

Next we had to go on the Spin Dizzy ride!

Spin Dizzy is exactly what it says on the tin! A row of people are strapped into the "claw" area and then the ride slowly raises the arm and you start to spin around.

Halfway through the arm raises up higher and carries on spinning. The boys absolutely loved going on this. Little A and Hannah, however, came off feeling quite queasy! Personally, I think that was a win for #TeamKitney

Next we were intrigued by the "Please do not feed the ducks" sign so went to see what was there.

This is where I believe that Diggerland has created something unique but equally a comfortable and family friendly park. They have taken the classic game of "hook the duck" and made it ten times better! Well, I think the children would say that they have. 

Who wouldn't love to try a classic game but with the addition of diggers?

The controls were simple enough for the children to follow and use but just like the classic game the part of "hooking" the duck had some level of difficulty. The game was split between time on each digger or if you hooked all three ducks. James sadly didn't get any of the ducks out although he had managed to hook them a few times but lifting them out became tricky when they fell back in.

William however decided to show off by hooking two in one go!

This was perfect timing for #TeamCupcake to catch up. #TeamKitney scored 3 ducks and #TeamCupcake scored 4! (I am not going to lie, I was not happy!)

Next we saw a similar styled attraction but this time it was called "Digging for Treasure".

The diggers were exactly the same as the ones used in Hook the Duck. Again, I think this is a credit to Diggerland or it could just be a happy coincidence. (I would like to think the former)

Because the children had experienced the diggers in the previous attraction they were able to jump on and know how to use it, grasp the game and then play without too much frustration or learning. 

Here the game was simple; underneath the gravel were three or four "golden" bars buried within. The "workmen" use the digger to fish for the bars and then lift them out of the pit to the side. 

I personally thought the difficulty level was quite high. The bars needed to be sat on the claw precisely or they would fall between the slats. 

William did well and pulled all four bars out.

James, much to my disappointment and his sadness, didn't manage to get any out. That said, just like Hook the Duck, he managed to pull several bars out but they slipped out last minute. 

Final score: #TeamKitney 4 Bars #TeamCupcake 6 Bars. 

(#TeamKitney was having some serious bad luck!)

The third game of this style was another classic game; Ten pin Bowling.

Like the previous games the diggers were the same so the controls were quickly picked up. The game itself is quite simple; using the arm of the digger move the body back and forth until the solid ball on the end knocked over the metal pins. 

The game difficulty progressed as game play unfolded. Once there were only one or two pins left it needed some real precision. 

This is something that I am pleased to say that James thrived in! In fact, there were few people queued up for it so all four children managed to go on it and knock all ten down happily and comfortably.

One thing that I did find was the ability to use the rides compared to accessibility of the site. The entire site is wheelchair friendly and I was able to attend each aspect of the park to encourage and support all the children in the fun. The only downside was not being able to go on the rides and diggers with them when they fell within the lower height restriction. 

I wouldn't say that it is a negative to the park more just common sense. If you are disabled and you are attending you would either need a carer to help you on and off the diggers or understand that you can get on and off the vehicles independently and from a height. 

Sadly, I was unable to do either so I was offering support and encouragement from the side. 

The next ride was a prime example of this. 

What child wouldn't want to ride and drive a digger?

Both James and William, as well as A, were within the height restrictions but needed to ride with an adult. (Midge was tall enough to drive herself) This did mean that poor Hannah needed to take all three boys round independently because I was unable to climb on and off.

I am sure you can find out how Hannah felt about this in her blog post but I know that James scared her a few times!

I do think William put her mind to rest with a bit more sensible driving!

With the day quickly slipping away with fun filled activities we found lunch had snuck up on us!

On site they have an restaurant which caters for both adults and children with a varied selection of meals. 

The children chose food of their choice and when arrived they were comfortable and appropriate portions of food for their age. 

I was starving so I decided to go for their "Big Digger Breakfast" and that is exactly what I got!

The food was good quality and on the larger end of portions. I wouldn't exactly say they were classic homely food but they were definitely comfort food and exactly what we needed and for a very reasonable price.

With lunch finished all four children were keen to get back to the park and enjoy the features we had missed.

The next part was to use a larger digger to dig a hole and then place the soil to the side.

This did take some skill and I would say anyone with smaller children (8 years and under) would need an adult with them. William was perfect for it and subsequently loved this activity. 

The action of controlling the digger, filling the bucket with soil and then moving it was very thrilling for him. As you can see from the above photo the hole can become quite big and the action of moving the soil is great fun. 

What I loved here was the behind the scenes work. The moment that the hole became too big one of the team climbed on and refilled the hole. This, in my opinion, made the engagement greater; the fact that the boys could carry on digging a hole but the hole changed depending on who had previously used it meant that they were experiencing something different on each turn.

The next ride that the children wanted to go on was the Merry Go Round swing. 

With two children assigned to each swing the digger rotated and swung each carriage round at a elevated hanging height. All for children enjoyed this, especially when the ride became quicker.

Just like the Spin Dizzy ride this had an additional level where the arm extended and the hanging carriage raised higher in the air.

Midge and A wasn't too keen at this but as you can see in the photo below James loved this.

One thing became clear, James was more entertained by the thrill seeking rides more than the more concentrating active tasks.

Finally, we took the children on the bumper cars. 

The bumper cars were located near the exit and, in addition, you needed tokens that could only be purchased in the gift shop. It made sense therefore to leave these until the end and purchase the tokens before we left. 

Just like the attraction to drive the digger around the bumper cars had a minimum height restrictions to use independently. As before, this meant that Midge could ride by herself but the boys needed an accompanying adult and, as mentioned earlier, you would need to be sure you have help or support if you are disabled and getting in and out of the car. 

Again, poor Hannah went on with all 3 boys. To be at the side was amusing as Hannah was getting knocked about left, right and centre. The boys wanted to bump everyone and, as is normally the case, everyone wanted to bump them. 

As you can see from the above, Hannah was on her last nerve after being constantly bashed and, subsequently, was quite bruised the following day!

On the plus side, all the boys loved this and it was a perfect way to end the day!

You can see in the above picture that the children had a chance to meet the parks characters and within that the enjoyment of the day was shining through with silly and happy faces!

Overall we loved our day at Diggerland. 

This is a perfectly place to go as a family and there is plenty for everyone to do and have fun.

In my opinion I would say that this is more a place for families to go and have enjoyment through watching the children rather than taking part themselves.

If you were looking to go as an adult I can see that there are attractions and features than can be done independently but I think that the different features are more designed for children than adults, even if it means they have adult accompaniment. 

We had a brilliant day and every child found enjoyment in different ways. If they are interested in the more complexity of diggers and finding enjoyment then the smaller "classic games" are ideal for them. If, however, your child is keen on thrill seeking, adventure and speed then you can find that here too. 

Finally, if you are just looking for something that can create memories then Diggerland is the place to go. You can see in the above photo that all four children had their thumbs up in approval!

Perfect for all the family, days out or anyone wanting to have some fun with diggers!

(We were given tickets for free to review. My opinions are my own and I am under no obligations to give a positive review. The want to play with diggers and use heavy machinery and then using my children as an excuse has nothing to do with my opinion about the park and the day out. Please see my full disclosure at the bottom of my blog)