Families looking for an appropriate theme park to visit in southern England are spoilt for choice. There's Legoland, Chessington World of Adventures and Paultons Park for starters, but situated just five minutes off of junction 14 of the M1 lies Gullivers Milton Keynes.

Keeping with the tradition of the other two Gullivers theme parks, this park is themed around the adventure of Gulliver's Travels. Where some areas are well suited to the adventures, others lack distinct theming but remain individual areas with plenty of fun and thrills. The park is well kept, with minimal litter and picturesque gardens. At the time of writing this guide (April 2007), some of the rides could do with a lick of paint or a quick fix here and there; some areas bordering on tatty appearance.

The parks is aimed at families with younger children; most of the rides are suitable for those not too keen on larger, faster rides. To cement the family vibe, entrance is denied to anybody without a child in their group.

The park itself is very small and the major attractions can easily be done in a half day, leaving plenty of time for re-rides or mucking about in the many play areas. Aside from the three coasters there are two major water rides (log flume and rapids) and many walk-thrus and motorised "journey" adventure rides.

Food at the park is seemingly limited and is all in-house catering. You'll be struggling to find a nice juicy burger, bottles of fizzy pop and such other 'junk' food. The emphasis is on healthy eating with a restaurant serving salads, jacket spuds and so forth. You can, of course, get ice creams and cookies should you wish but expect them to add to the cost of the day out. With loads of benches and open grass land, a packed lunch is probably a better bet.

On the whole, Gullivers Milton Keynes is worth a trip. The entrance price is more than reasonable for what you get and there's enough to keep the little ones entertained.

Official Site: link

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