On a whim we decided to re-visit Gulliver’s Valley this weekend! The beauty of having an annual passport is that you can do exactly that – Turn up whenever you feel like it!

Having only just visited 2 weeks ago, we felt that we needed a do-over because the weather was so bad. It was my husband’s first time visiting and we didn’t get to see the majority of the outdoor lands because the rain was too heavy. You can read all about our visit during halloween here:

So we popped over today to explore the rides more than anything. What we’d not quite thought about is how geared up they would be for Christmas! What a turnover and significant change from seeing it decked out in Spooky mode only two weeks ago!

As we entered, the tree sparkled and the whole place was decorated head to toe in Christmas. The music was magical, giving Disneyland vibes and the lighting really made the place feel festive.

We aren’t big on celebrating Christmas early – Get Bonfire night out of the way first at least! But we do love Christmas so it’s hard to resist these events. We normally kick off our Christmas celebrations with a trip to see Santa at Sundown Adventureland at the end of November – Our absolute fave for the festive season. So it was a surprise to see everything kitted out for Christmas so soon.

Today was a special event for bonfire night so Gulliver’s was due to stay open longer and there would be fireworks too. I was surprised to find this event is included with your annual passport but annoyingly we’d already made plans for a bonfire night elsewhere so we’d have to miss the celebrations.

We assumed the place would be busier with the event on but luckily it was about the same as our previous visit. We can normally get a good idea by how many cars are parked up as we arrive. The staff said as we entered, that the Christmas celebrations weren’t due to start properly for another week but the decorations were out early. I’m glad we got to see Gulliver’s at Christmas because we don’t have it in our plan to visit Gullivers Valley again this year.

There were a few welcome changes made for winter that we enjoyed. The first being the addition of all the lanterns around the park as part of the Land of Lights event they are running.

It was nice to see a change of scenery and they’ve set up a lot more since Halloween. The additional lights made the place look great and i’m glad we hadn’t bought tickets to the light trail since we saw so much of it just walking around the park anyway. As it got later even some of them started to light up too!

Another change is that they have introduced a few food truck stalls. It could be they are here for the fireworks event or for the light trail rather than winter but given they were quite Christmassy i’d imagine they are here to stay.

We enjoyed a festive mulled wine and toffee apple cider. At £6 for a tiny cup it may have been steep but they sure were tasty!

The weather today was unusually warm and sunny for November and it was the perfect day for visiting. We did all the rides we wanted to and with minimal queues – It was fab!

We started with the elephants which are always a hit with a 3 year old!

Then we ventured to Western World for one of my favourite lands. The little coaster, Rocky Ridge Railway, we discovered gives a great view of some of the light trail.

One of the best rides, Tombstone Mine, is here too and despite my guns not working and me scoring a measly 10 points we still had a good laugh!

Our barely 90cm toddler finally got allowed on to the Prairie Ponies for the first time and even though she had a miserable face throughout the whole ride, she said she enjoyed it. It was a little milestone moment for us seeing her go round on her own like that and another indication that she’s growing up fast!

It was around here we saw some of the brilliant lights that form part of the trail. I bet they look amazing when they are all lit up. As a massive fan of fairytales and mythical creatures, these really caught my eye especially.

There were some epic lights on the trail including a giant gorilla and animals lined up all along the area that has the real animals. It reminded me of the one we did at Yorkshire Wildlife Park last year.

My favourite photograph from today is what looks like me doing an impression of the Gorilla! In fact what it actually is, is me reacting to my daughter nearly knocking my expensive mulled cider right out of my hand with her unexpected manic waving at the camera!

Our next stop was the animals and we went to say hello to the reindeers which are always a nice surprise – Especially at Christmas. We told our little one these were retired from pulling Santa’s sleigh. We also saw the prairie dogs, lots of sheep and even a ring-tailed lemur!

Once again I found myself surprised to find a new area of Gulliver’s i’d yet to explore the last few times i’d visited. The build zone is a great little indoor area located inside and perfect for toddlers. I love how Gulliver’s continues to surprise me with how much it has to offer little ones.

We spent the rest of our visit outside enjoying the many great rides Gulliver’s has to offer. We got on everything within 60 seconds of joining the ‘queue’ despite the park having lots of visitors. Absolutely brilliant place if you’re not a fan of waiting in line. Quiet even on a sunny Saturday which is surprising.

Finally our visit wasn’t complete without a ride on the indoor carousel for Hilda to enjoy.

We had a great time today and it was much more enjoyable than our trip two weeks prior. It just goes to show that the weather can have a massive impact on your visit. The annual passport is such a great idea because it takes the pressure off trying to fit everything in to one day. Especially when a day might not be the best day to visit with the rain taking you away from enjoying some of what the park has to offer. I never take for granted how lucky we are to be able to visit often!

So that’s it for me at Gulliver’s Valley in 2026. Check out my previous posts about the park and all the other Gulliver’s resorts below. We have one more trip to Gulliver’s World planned for next month and I look forward to attending the Land of Lights properly this time!

Until then, I think that’s enough Gulliver’s fix to last this family a lifetime!

~ Visited Gulliver’s Valley, November 2026 ~

---