Summer Leicester Trip 2022 Day 2 – Twinlakes Family Theme Park

(For all the pictures shown in this post, you can simply click on them to enlarge)

When did we visit:

We visited on a Thursday in late August. It was cloudy and raining for most of the day. Outdoor was not crowded especially in the morning because of the rain. But in the afternoon when the weather got much better, we had to queue up for some of the rides for example the bumper boats (around 20mins). The indoor playrooms were packed with people all the time. I guess mostly because of the weather.

What age is it best for:

From toddlers to preteens. There are a variety of rides and play areas for all age. Grown ups are allowed to go on the rides with their kids for most of the rides. There is an indoor play area called Dolphin Soft play (situated in Buccaneers Island) for under 5s.

How long we spent at the venue?

We arrived at 10am and left at 5pm. It’s definitely a whole day out even on a rainy day like us.

What else are there to see or do?

• Water Park . Only open in the summer. Pre book is required. No extra charge. I booked an one-hour session for the 3 of us, but did not go at the end because I felt the weather was a bit too cold for water play and we still want to go on some more rides.
• Gift shop
• Escape Games (Additional charge applies)

Things that definitely worth to play or do:

We haven’t tried everything. Some were closed, and J was not interested or we were not brave enough to try some others. Based on the ones we’ve tried, I would recommend:

• Bumper boat in Action USA J loved bumping into others. He loved the little jerk caused by the bump.
• Gladiators Giant Indoor Play Area in Labyrinth HUGE indoor play where grown ups can go too, with loads of obstacles.
• Fantasy Castle the adventure playground Outdoor playground with lovely wooden play equipment.

Disappointments:

• The over grown water plants in the lake of the pedalo ! It made it really hard to pedal.

• A number of staff gave me the impression that they did not want to work at all. Sullen was the word to describe them.

Easy to navigate?

It was not too easy to locate where things are because it’s quite a big place. We had a site map in hand but sometimes we still found ourselves a bit lost.

In case of rain:

Like what happened to us!

There are 2 amazing indoor playrooms which I really liked. There are several rides and activities to do in there which cater all age groups. As I’ve already mentioned above (Things that definitely worth to play or do) and below the huge indoor play area in Labyrinth is really fun. J played for at least 2.5 hours in there.

You can also go to the restaurants or the gift shop.

How was the toilet?

Female toilets were at acceptable cleanliness.

How about the food?

We had lunch at Nero’s Cafe in Labyrinth at around 12:45pm. There was a small queue to order and pay. It was not very easy to find a table, I think mostly because of the bad weather and many families decided to stay indoor for longer while their kids can play.

A small range of food to choose from.

Price is on the expensive side given the quality of the food.

Food is hot.

The cafe was quite dirty with leftover food, food trays, and spilt sauces on the tables. Food pieces and rubbish on the floor. Occasionally there was a staff to clear away the rubbish but that couldn’t keep up with the amount of people in the cafe.

Tables and chairs were packed closely with each other with not much space to move in and out.

Any extra charges once I’m there?

None except if you want to play the Escape Room Games.

Other things you need to know before you go:

Nothing really. Just the usual things for example bring some extra clothings if you and your kids are going to the Water Park.

Will I recommend it as a family attraction?

Based on my experience I would recommend Twinlake as a family attraction. I love the wide variety of rides and things to do, although some rides do look quite old. I would love to come back again to try out the ones we had not got the chance to go.

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Here are some pictures of the day and descriptions.

After the lovely buffet breakfast at the hotel we set off to Twinlakes. It was cloudy and on the way to there it started raining. Upon arrival there was a sign with Stay Play Explore on it pointing to an office, so we went in and the lady there helped us with the tickets. It was very simple. I just gave her my ticket print out (that I received through email after paying online) and it’s done within seconds. No fuss.

The rain got heavier when we arrived but we decided to still go ahead and play the pedalo . We did not have to queue, no one was there except for us and a staff. He took out a cloth and wiped down the seats for us. It was hard to pedal probably because there was a huge amount of sea plants in the lake.

Next we went to the Gift Shop as Mr. B really needed a raincoat because he did not bring any warm and/or waterproof clothing with him. Right next to the shop was the indoor playroom Buccaneers Island and we went in to take a look.

It was packed with people, as expected. There are several rides in here, all of which looked quite out of date. We tried Wind in the Willow what is a boat ride in the dark. There’s actually not much to see in this ride. The decorations are very out of date. The only excitement or interesting thing was J’s t-shirt glew in the dark!

Next we went to play Bumper Boats which was on J’s Must-Play-Ride list. J found it really exciting and fun as he loved bumping into other people’s boats. Tips: have your family/friend in another boat so you can do some real bumping with them 🙂

Indy karts was just next door and there was no queue so we played that too.

J loved The Fantasy Caste which is an adventure playground with beautiful wooden play equipment.

We had lunch at Nero’s Cafe in Labyrinth indoor playroom.

The Labyrinth building itself and the decorations inside was like the Buckaneers , very out of date. It’s very noisy and crowded, as expected because of the bad weather.

There are some slot machines and some rides but we did not play. All dated.

Although everything else was dated but I was surprised by the Gladiators Giant Indoor Play Area! After lunch we stayed (because of the bad weather) and played in this what it looks like to me an ordinary indoor soft play. But it’s actually HUGE, super fun and with loads of obstacles! Grown ups can go in and play too! J absolutely LOVED it! There are lots of different kinds of climbing, squeezing through narrow passages, ball pits, swinging… There are also some very long slides that you have to slide down with a sac. I tried that one. There were also 2 literally vertical slides of different heights for the brave kids (and adults) to try! We spent 3 hours here (including lunch).

We did not play any rides and any slot machines in Labyrinth.

When it did not rain that much, we went out to see the other places and play on the rides.

We came to the Red Rooster Farm .

We also rode on “horses” .

Some outdoor rides were closed due to the rain. Rum Runner Rollercoaster was one of them.

Sandpit and the Beach. I think they would be a big hit if the weather was better.

We did not do the train ride.

Some dinosaurs displays.

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For dinner, I booked a table at Anne of Cleves – the oldest pub in Melton Mowbray town.

We ordered:

• Hanger steak, grilled sweetcorn, chimichurri sauce served with parmesan & garlic fries
• Filo pastry lentil, spinach & feta spiral pie served with a rich tomato sauce

The restaurant was very clean and felt comfortable. We love the historical vintage tables and chairs and the decorations.

Service was excellent. Toilets were very clean. There are some outdoor seatings too.

You can see a sample menu here .

🍕🥪☕️Meals: