On a very warm weekend in June, I made the spontaneous decision to try out Gulliver’s World for the first time. It’s been on our wish list for quite some time and the last thing we wanted to do was spend another sweaty day cooped up in our hot house.
Living in Leeds means we have a couple of Gulliver’s Parks within reach including Gulliver’s World and Gulliver’s Valley. We settled on World because Google told me it had more options for a child under 90cm. Given our 3 year old is a little theme park enthusiast and loves to ride everything, her 83cm height is not helping her enthusiasm!
So off we went on the 90 minute drive to Gulliver’s World. The first time visiting since I was a kid and truth be told I don’t remember any of it! (Sorry dad – Although he has since told me we visited Gulliver’s Kingdom which is a completely different park so I feel less guilty now!). I’d had recommendations from my friends to visit here so I had high hopes that we’d have a good day.
Arriving super late (as usual) we decided to stop off for lunch at the nearby Greggs to save some pennies and skip a repeat of last time. When we went to Piglets Adventure Farm this year we had such a fail trying to grab lunch we decided not to take that risk again. Not a massive fan of expensive junk food we prefer to be in control of what we actually want to eat! We’d packed a lunch for our toddler too so i’m afraid no food reviews coming from me today for Gulliver’s World.
Upon arrival, the parking was super confusing. We ended up parking at the Gullivers Hotel instead and walking down to the park itself. The hotel looked a lot of fun with it’s theming and it set the tone for the day. We were entering the park past 1pm and I know Gulliver’s do this fantastic half price offer if you want to visit 2pm-5pm! Worth checking out if you want a quick stop. We didn’t have this on the cards though as I had set my eyes on the ‘annual passport’! The cost just seemed like a no-brainer for us especially given there are 4 Gulliver’s parks to explore and if we ensure we go to all of them this year then it will be worthwhile.
So on we went with our shiny new passes and our toddler, Hilda, entering for free because she’s a little one!
It was a very warm day in the middle of a heat wave for the UK. We’d just had several days of humidity followed by a heavy thunderstorm and today was the first time we got a break from both. I didn’t want to spend it indoors so I was grateful for us to be trying out somewhere new!
It was a sunny Saturday in June and so I would expect the park to be busier than a usual midweek visit.
Upon entering, the reception wasn’t great when it came to arrival. Nobody greeted us and nobody told us where to go or what to do. I’m used to entering a park and getting a warm welcome. Perhaps I’ve been in the Disney bubble too long! Truth be told though in UK attractions, we normally at least get a few recommendations for the day. Even if it’s just some ride suggestions or which way to head. In this case, we walked through with no clue. We weren’t given a map so after I asked someone where to get one, they directed us to the gift shop and I was surprised to find these cost £1! Not wanting to pay when I could just take a photo of the one on display we didn’t bother.
We decided not to follow a set route and instead just wander around and hop on anything we were able to. I knew we’d be restricted with a little one and wouldn’t be able to go on a lot of the rides but that was just fine.
First of all we headed towards the lake to enjoy the view and check out the tasty looking doughnuts. This is the first thing we noticed alongside the Gulliver’s statue and all the strange creatures peeking out of the lake.
We decided to start by going left as we entered and following it round clockwise. At this point, we had no idea how big the park was and how long it would take us. As a nice sunny Saturday we were expecting it to be busy.
The first ride we came to was the Mad Hatters Tea Party. A teacups ride themed around Alice in Wonderland. This was probably the worst ride we could have possibly gone on first after just being at Disneyland Paris. The sheer lack of music on this ride made it eerily quiet and weird. Also the fact a lady behind us in the queue decided she was superior to us and walked straight past us as if we didn’t exist the moment we were let on – Well it wasn’t a great start to our experience. My daughter feeling the unease also hated the ride, which is surprising given she is nothing but smiles on the Disney teacups. I really hoped this wasn’t going to be the start of things to come.
Luckily the disappointment from the grumpy surroundings didn’t last long. We left the ride and Hilda came across one of her favourite things in the world – A slide. She loves playgrounds and Gulliver’s knows how to keep kids happy. Such a simple thing to dot around a park yet so many parks miss the mark with this. When we visited Disneyland Paris in 2025 their only two playgrounds were closed whilst we were there. We had a recently turned 2 year old who loved to run around and climb with no outlet for her energy. It was incredibly difficult to manage. I often thought about how simple it would be just to have a few slides dotted around. Gulliver’s World absolutely nailed it in this department.
In fact, there were so many playgrounds here it was hard to get her to move along and do anything else! But i’m not complaining.
Next we wandered towards the Land of Oz where we walked by plenty of wild wolves. Hilda did her best impression of these creepy fellows along the way. I am an absolute sucker for old theme parks. I find the branding so creepy even if it’s not meant to be. Clowns and characters hand drawn – Takes me back to mascots from video games like Silent Hill. I love an authentic old fairground and it’s something you just don’t get with the popular theme parks that are constantly kept updated.
If you like this too, Gulliver’s World will not disappoint. It’s up there with Sundown Adventureland for creepy factor.
Entering the Land of Oz was fun and some of the rides that were too big for us to take our toddler on, well they looked awesome! Especially the Winged Monkeys. Luckily there were attractions we could take her on including the Upside-Down House we forgot to make time for and Munchkin Motors which I absolutely had to get in on!
The ride was super simple. A little car that went around a track very slowly and ended very quickly but it’s one of those things that’s great for little kids and has barely any queue because it’s terrible for anyone over the age of three. The plus was that it went around the track twice and Hilda enjoyed it at least!
Whilst I won’t be rushing back to go on Munchkin Motors again anytime soon, I look forward to riding Winged Monkeys when she’s bigger and trying out the Upside-Down House if we remember next time!
Land of Oz… We will be back!
We wandered onwards and came across more play equipment we had to prise Hilda off in order to get on any rides for the day. Western World looked well put together and had some interesting looking rides i’d love to revisit like Apache Falls! Again this was for taller explorers as well as Desperado Drop. Right next to the play area was a little role play village. I thought this was a really nice little addition for outdoor play for the young ones.
Next up was Gully’s Cartoon Studio. This was a dated circus themed area but honestly it was very cute. It clearly needs some modernisation but I like that they’ve kept it all vintage.
The Merry-go Round is a simple ride exactly as it says on the tin but the kids love it! Hilda was one of the few kids on this ride and she enjoyed it so much she had to ride it a second time immediately. I don’t doubt that if it was up to her she’d have stayed on this all day riding every animal. Not so pleasing for adults who aren’t allowed to ride and instead must stand by their children instead. Understandable but the ride was so slow I don’t think it was necassary.
After finally prying her away from riding these creepy creatures we ventured around the rest of the park. We were a bit gutted to find so many of the rides were too big for her. If you’re taking a child under 90cm you’ll miss out on The Antelope which looks like an amazing old school wooden roller coaster. You’ll also not be able to ride a little Caterpillar rollercoaster called The Wriggler, almost identical to the one Hilda rode last year at Lightwater Valley. There is Pirates Cove and Pirates Ship that look like fun as well as Boating School, but again all are too big. It was a real shame but definitely worth a re-visit once she’s taller.
We managed to find the Horse Carousel which had an upstairs platform where my daughter and I could ride separate horses together, this was cute but again another ride that went round and round doing the same thing. This is all we had done so far and we started to wonder if all the rides for little ones were exactly the same format.
Don’t get me wrong, I still had a whale of a time living my best life as always!
After riding the Carousel we decided to take a break and find a bench to eat the rest of our lunch. The place has plenty of places to sit and it was good to be able to enjoy our own refreshments in a comfortable space. There were plenty of benches and tables to sit at, some shaded and some in the sun. We took this break to have a look at the map and see if there were any more rides we could enjoy.
We headed to an area of the park called Safari Kingdom. It was a much calmer area with a few rides to enjoy. At first we did the Tractor Ride on the way up, a simple very short ride. We normally love these type of rides but truth be told this was dated and didn’t come close to the ones at other theme parks like Sundown Adventureworld. There was next to nothing to see and it was a waste of time queuing for. I’m not sure our three year old even enjoyed it but it was good to go on something that didn’t go round in circles for two minutes.
Finally we stumbled upon the Lost World after climbing some stairs into a calm corner of the park. This was easily our favourite part of Gulliver’s World. It was quiet and there were dinosaurs to spot throughout the walk. We could see lots of fun looking rides too from above on the walkway.
We looked forward to exploring and happily enjoyed a few rides including Jurassic Jeeps and Sky Tours.
Our favourite ride wasn’t one we could take our daughter on. Luckily the queue was very short so we were able to ride it back to back by taking it in turns. Hilda watched us and waved as we laid down ready to ride Flight of the Pteranodon!
It was a different ride to anything I’ve ever been on I found it deeply relaxing soaring through the air. Easily the best ride we went on that day but a shame it wasn’t one of the few we could enjoy together.
After our time in the Lost World it was nearly park closing time. We decided to rush over to a ride we’d seen in Safari Kingdom earlier and enjoy our last ride on Adventure Canyon before we left. This was a water ride where you all sit in a circle and it cruises along the river like rapids. Unfortunately it was extremely mild, there were no rapids and it was borderline boring. Just like the rest of the rides, it was incredibly slow and even the squirters were all deactivated. I’m not sure if they aren’t working or if they’ve changed the concept of the ride all together but it was definitely a gentle cruise.
We ended the day with a little play in the sand pit. I love the fact there are so many playgrounds and little spots for kids to play in here.
The scenery around Gulliver’s was very pretty and it was a nice walk around the park overall.
It’s safe to say Gulliver’s World doesn’t quite hit the mark when it comes to visiting with a little toddler. I have no doubt she had a good time but I know this will be so much better when she’s taller! I look forward to taking her again as she grows. For now we will enjoy the little rides and making the most of our new annual pass. There is no doubt we will be back to do all the little things that we missed very soon.
~ Visited Gulliver’s World on a sunny Saturday in June 2026 ~
Useful bits
Website: https://www.gulliversworldresort.co.uk/
Location: Warrington
Entry Fee: Prices differ throughout the year and vary depending on the seasonal events, day of the week and height of child. The annual pass costs £99 currently and allows entry to all four Gulliver’s Parks.
Bonus Factors: Free parking and plenty of it. Picnic areas if you want to bring your own food. Play area for the kids to enjoy but better for older kids rather than toddlers when it comes to the rides. Looks to be some great thrill rides for big kids and adults. You must have a child with you to enter this park which makes it very family friendly.
Verdict: We had a great day here but struggled with the lack of rides for kids under 90cm. We look forward to returning when she’s bigger but will definitely make the most of the free entry whilst she’s little. There is still a lot of fun to be had here and I can’t wait to ride some of the big rides another time! This park is large and has plenty to explore, definitely worth a visit!
TripAdvisor: Gulliver’s World
