New play venues including two on a dinosaur theme – costing almost £90,000 – are open as family attractions gear up for the bank holiday.
Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure has just added two new attractions aimed at younger children and BeWILDerwood has opened a 30ft area with scramble nets and climbing walls. It marks the growing trend in businesses investing in children's play – with the aim of encouraging visitors during school-time as well as holidays.
Pensthorpe Natural Park now has major indoor and outdoor play areas with its 'Hootz House' and 'WildRootz' attractions and the Thursford Collection is currently planning on opening a massive new £4m interactive children's 'experience.'
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Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure, Lenwade, has just launched 'Dippy-Ville', which is a dedicated new venue for pre-school children with soft-play areas and wall mounted and interactive games. It marks a major investment, costing £52,000 and coincides with the opening of 'Dippy's Birthday Party Room' and 'Dippy's Indoor Picnic Area' at the cost of £37,000. Both use the venue's new dinosaur mascot 'Dippy' based on a cuddly version of a diplodocus.
Adam Goymour, company director at Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure, said the new attractions were a big investment, following from the 'Predator High Ropes' and 'Dippy's Splash Zone.'
'We're always looking to make improvements. 'Dippy-Ville' is a dedicated new attraction for our younger visitors in appreciation of the numerous pre-school children we entertain whilst the 'big kids' are at school, and when we are busy in school holidays to ensure that younger siblings have somewhere special for them. Parents (and grandparents) can enjoy a coffee and relax whilst the children play safely.'
BeWILDerwood, near Wroxham, has also just launched a new attraction for young children, 'the Towering Treetop Tangles' which reaches more than 30 feet high into the trees and covers more than 1,000 sqft with adventurous ground play, nets to clamber across, high-level walkways, climbing walls and challenging play equipment up in the air.
This newspaper was invited to try it out. Lucy Papworth, 13, said: 'The wooden attractions had a variety of different levels and activities, which involved climbing in all directions and beautifully intricate paintings decorating every corner. It is all outside, so the vast expanse of sky is visible overhead. I very much enjoyed being immersed into this alternate world.'
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