Gulliver’s Kingdom Fright Fiesta with my little one

Welcome to my UK Theme Parks with a little one series, this time we are heading to Gulliver’s Kingdom for the Halloween event – Fright Fiesta!

Using our annual passports, this event came included and under 90cm toddlers go free. So another day out for us without spending an extra penny!

We arrived at Gulliver’s Valley a little later than we desired just after lunchtime. It was a cold rainy day in the midde of October and the first day of their Halloween event – Fright Fiesta. We had no idea what to expect and unfortunately, I think the staff were in the same boat!

As we arrived at the gates we were greeted with the decorations for Land of Lights. It’s a shame they couldn’t have decorated for Halloween especially since Land of Lights doesn’t start until later in the year.

It looked lovely and i’m looking forward to visiting the event in December. Walking around Gulliver’s Valley we could see some of the lights as they have begun to set them up. We plan to visit Gulliver’s World for their Land of Lights Festival instead but i’ll write about that once we’ve been! Unfortunately a lot of the lights had blown over due to the stormy weather but they are better viewed at night in all their glory anyway! Still, it was nice to see some new decor even if it wasn’t ‘spooky’.

As we entered for Fright Fiesta, the first thing I asked was for information regarding what is new for Halloween and what we should see. The man on the door told us to visit the gift shop for more information so we did. The lady in the gift shop said they have a Trick or Treat trail on for £5 but mentioned nothing else. So we decided to push on.

It was a whole 2 minutes before our 3 year old, Hilda, saw kids collecting sweets and we were straight back at the gift shop paying for the trail. If there are sweets involved she won’t let us not take part! I’m glad we did.

The trail involved 6 stops dotted around the park. A little card with space for 6 stamps showed you where to ‘trick-or-treat’. At each stop you’d get a stamp and some treats. Our first stop was the spooky cauldron in the potions shop. This was a really great interactive stop because the actor really played the part. I was hopeful that this was a great start and all the stops would be similar to this.

Our first attraction of the day was the Monster Mansion – A little horror house located inside. It hadn’t been changed for Halloween but it is a cute little spot that we love to visit each time even when it’s not Halloween.

Next we headed outside and hopped on our first ride of the day – Lillyput Carousel! Instead of the K-pop music we had in the summer we had some spooky atmosphere instead. This is always the first ride we go on and every time, we have to debate which method of transport to select since Hilda is too small for the horses. This time it was my turn for a horse!

We spotted a trick or treat spot outside the carousel by the fire pit outside. Unfortunately it was the start of the rest of the event in which minimal effort would be made. A staff member in Gulliver’s uniform handed Hilda a sweet and stamped her card – There were no costumes and no decorations. It was disappointing. Luckily thanks to the act of collecting sweets our little girl was still happy.

So we continued along and visited some of our favourite outdoor rides like Rockin’ Tug and Blackbeard’s Barrels. Whilst the rain was light we decided to visit some of the animals. This was my husbands first visit to Gulliver’s Valley and the other Gulliver’s don’t have animals so this was a nice change. I especially wanted to show him the giant beast located at the ride entrance of Jurassic Jeeps!

After walking around the outdoor animal area for a little while the rain got heavier so we headed for another ride. Normally I would avoid the Carfari in Gears land because it’s the worst ride by far. It’s a little car that rides around a track with literally nothing to see at all, the ride isn’t decorated whatsoever. Turns out that if the animals are in the right place there is something to see! We jumped on the ride to shelter from the rain and got lucky because we went right past the reindeer!

When we vacated the ride the rain was really starting to come down heavy. We decided to cut our outdoor visit short and headed for Lilliput Theatre to have some lunch. We’d brought our own pasta from Morrisons salad bar to save money and eat what we actually wanted to instead of settling for overpriced fast food. This was a real treat because the theatre was really nice and warm and provided a quiet shelter from the elements. Of all the Gulliver’s this is my favourite space and I love that you can enjoy a picnic indoors here too.

We decided not to bother with anymore rides outside and save the rest of the park for my husband to see on a day with better weather. I knew Hilda wouldn’t want to go on anything in the rain anyway so it was for the best. So we headed back inside after trick-or-treating at the last few outdoor spots. None of them improved unfortunately but Hilda was just happy to be collecting sweets.

Back inside the entrance area, the place was all kitted out for Halloween. It looked really good and I thought they’d done a fantastic job of getting the place done up for Halloween. We didn’t notice any more decorations throughout the park but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t there – The weather was a bit too rubbish for us to notice!

We thought it was funny how they’ve popped up a Christmas tree and decorated it for Halloween so they can simply take off the decorations as soon as November 1st comes around!

We decided to look for our final trick-or-treat stop which said it was at the indoor carousel. So we went to the ride that I thought was the right place. There is a small ride inside Gully Town that goes round and round and until today I thought it was the only one and we’ve been on it multiple times.

I was wrong, it wasn’t the right ride. So after asking them about the trick-or-treat stop they told us to go upstairs. I was very surprised because i’d never been upstairs before – Didn’t even know it existed! Imagine my delight when we went upstairs to discover a whole other level of more things to explore.

Gully Town is absolutely full of things to do – especially for tots. I can’t believe i’ve missed this area on my previous three visits! It wasn’t decorated for Halloween as such but we finally found the carousel and had a go. This little ride was great because finally Hilda could ride a horse and all by herself too!

Upstairs there was a whole play village, soft play and area for kids to ride little vehicles. I can’t wait to return here for their tots Gully Town days now that I know how much bigger the area is.

Our final trick-or-treat spot lead us downstairs to the sweet shop where they gave us a small bag of popcorn. This was a nice final treat although not ideal since it is a major choking hazard for under 4s. She’s had popcorn a few times now so we were careful and she enjoyed the treat at least.

With all stamps collected, we were nearing the time for park closure. When we came back to the front entrance we noticed a sign for a Halloween show we’d missed. This was incredibly disappointing as we’d deliberately asked what was on at the start of our visit. Sometimes at Gullivers it can be very unclear where to see things. I find this everytime I visit, trying to find out where the characters are and at what time is difficult. The website isn’t ideal – It’s hard to find the schedule. Whilst i’ve really enjoyed exploring Gullivers over the past few months, I do think some improvements are needed on this front.

One final play in the soft play before closure, we finished the day thankful that Gulliver’s Valley feature so many indoor activities. Otherwise we’d have spent the day soaked to the core!

Would we go back for Halloween?

Truth be told, I don’t think we would. Whilst we have an annual passport it was absolutely worthwhile because it was included in this pass. Otherwise it comes at a slightly inflated price with the average on-door price over £20. Looking at similar offerings in the north, Lightwater Valley offer Frightwater Valley at £15-£18 depending on the offer. Sometimes kids go free too. They really go all our for Halloween with scare mazes and many live actors dotted around the park.

Sundown Adventureland do a Halloween event and whilst we’ve never been, their Christmas event is our favourite thing to do to so I imagine they’d do a good job of Halloween too. Last year we visited The Forbidden Corner which was a great attraction at Halloween, aswell as Billy Bob’s in Skipton.

We enjoyed our day at Gulliver’s Valley but the Halloween event didn’t quite hit the mark despite the great job they did on the lobby.