I’ve already written a couple of posts about my recent trip to Margate, but one of the absolute highlights was visiting Dreamland with the girls. I’ve been twice before, but their are loads of fantastic new rides and things to do and sharing it with my girls was just the absolute best. Here’s a few of the things we did and loved while we were there.
Dreamland is Margate’s world famous pleasure park and as well as offering modern rides, it is also steeped in history. I first reviewed the park on the blog back in 2016 and one of the things that I really loved was the nostalgic and vintage element of the park. One thing that hit me visiting this year was that everything was a little less retro, kitsch and quirky and a little more modern it it’s styling. There are plenty more rides, but these focus less on the nostalgic element and appeal more to thrill seekers. The kids absolutely loved this side to the park and were in their element on all the scary rides.
I must say I missed the old fashioned feel and pastel vintageness from a couple fo years ago, however I absolutely loved having fun with the girls and filling a whole day with fun rides, yummy food and lots and lots to keep us all busy. My old review talks a lot about the history of Dreamland so that’s worth a read if you want to know the century long saga of the park, for now I’ll just talk about what it’s like now in it’s new modern heyday.
My babies are up there!
And up there!
The park is made up of a mixture of historic and modern rides, there are rides for all ages and these range from tame and chilled to scary and extreme. We loved a bit of both and neither girl had any fear at all. there were certainly a few rides, where my feet stayed firmly on the ground while they whizzed about above me!
As well as all the fun rides, there was lots of choice of yummy food to eat I opted for a beetroot burger and the girls had pizza and hotdogs. I also treated myself to a cheeky pint, which went down a treat in the hot weather.
And of course we indulged in ice cream and some rather delicious watermelon flavour candy floss!
There was a little shed fun of really interesting little animals, including small mammals, reptiles and snakes. the staff were on hand to let children gently hold or pet the animals and Lila had a go at holding a snake, millipede and even a terantula. I absolutely love snakes and most creepy crawlies, but I’m not a huge spider fan, so I gave that one a miss! Lila was so impressed with the animals.
The absolute highlight of our day at Dreamland was the Roller Disco. Last time we came Lila couldn’t even stand up on her skates and me and her just ended up watching Rob and Jess skate. This time she was determined to try. I just held her hand and we spent a good hour practicing and learning and working on her balance, until eventually she could do it alone. I was so proud of her perseverance and determination to succeed. She was so pleased with herself and it’s definitely something she wants to try again.
It was amazing seeing Lila coming out of her shell, she’s a quiet and shy little flower. But she sure was brave and confident at Dreamland. She went to grown up rides for the first time ever, had a go at some football even though she felt nervous, held a tarantula even though she was a little scared and learnt to roller skate all in one day. She certainly left Dreamland with a spring in her step!
Do I personally miss the more retro element – yes absolutely. Does that matter to the kids or effect the value as a day out – not at all. I’d say dreamland is definitely a little less Instagramable that it Wass a couple of years ago. But some of the style has been replaced by substance and the amount of things to do has doubled, so for that I can’t really fault the experience. I am glad that I went and took lots fo snaps a couple of years ago when I did though.
Dreamland is a fabulous day out for every member of the family, there is plenty for kids and adults of all ages and weather you want to have a go on the classic fairground rides or the big theme park ones, there’s definitely enough to fill a whole day. We stayed for 7 hours and didn’t quite do everything. Wrists bands are really good value for money and a trip to Margate definitely wouldn’t be complete without a visit.
Find out more about visiting on the Dreamland website.
*Thank you to dreamland for offering me and the girls complimentary tickets. All opinions as always are my own.
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2 Comments
Miss Magpie
September 4, 2018 at 7:17 pmThe previous owners went into receivership, new ownership meant lots of changes, they needed to make it profitable.
vintagefrills
September 5, 2018 at 12:14 pmIt still has the same ownership as last time I visited, I think they’re just on the second wave of changes at the moment.