Diggerland Theme Park Review
Before I went on the experience I had some preconceptions about Diggerland theme park. I expected it to be full of kids, not be all that great and not all that much to do.
I was certainly proved wrong.
We arrived at 10am and found the park to be relatively empty. The majority of people there were waiting for the Digger Racing experience day to start.
As park entrance is included in the price of the Digger racing experience day, we tried and tested some of the rides at Diggerland. We tried our hands at rescuing ducks from a pond using a JCB 8018 mini digger as well as digging a mighty big hole using the bigger JCB 8065 midi digger. There's something quite satisfying about digging a very big hole! As for the ducks, this ride requires precision movements to be able to hook the ducks up.
We took a gentle ride in the skid steer JCB Robots which were a bit too slow although in the hands of the people before us, the limited speed was fast enough!
We took a bird's eye view of the park care of the Skyshuttle, a special platform attached to a JCB Telescopic Handler 535-125 which soars 50 feet in the air.
We didn't get a chance to experience everything so didn't try out the Dig-a-round (merry-go-round built around a mini digger), the Ground shuttle (Skyshuttle but driving along the ground), dumper trucks, skittles, buried treasure, Land Rover safari, the Diggerland train or the tractors.
I chickened out of Spin Dizzy, a giant excavator that spins you around but a couple of our party were brave enough. If you love fast theme park rides then you will love this!
Each of the rides lasts for around 5 minutes and once you have left the ride you are free to queue back up again. When we went the only ride we had to queue for was the JCB Robots. We only queued for around five minutes so not that long by theme park standards.
Diggerland is certainly aimed at children so if you are visiting with kids, you will easily spend many hours at the park, digging and scooping. Every ride has been adapted so that children can ride or control the machines themselves. Of course, kids can be accompanied by parents who can help them out.
The park also has everything else you would expect at a theme park. You'll find toilet facilities as well as a well-stocked gift shop, selling loads of Diggerland merchandise.
The Dig Inn is the on-site restaurant selling food at reasonable prices, especially when compared to other theme parks. A refreshments stall was at the opposite end of the Kent park saving the need to walk all the way back.
Ultimately, if you love diggers then a trip to Diggerland is a must. It's full of modern JCB diggers suitable for both kids and adults to ride on. Pay one entrance fee and all the rides (except the coin operated rides and the dodgems) are free to use as much as you like all day.