Diggerland, Rochester

We arrived around 11:30 and were immediately made aware of the dancing digger show that was taking place at 12. We were offered no map on arrival just told to watch the safety video. Once we had done that we walked through the doors and were hit by a barage of the latest tunes. Thorpe park came to mind. Feeling rather overwhelmed and with no map in the near vicinity we took a couple of minutes to get our bearings and spotted a slide that would suit J. We then took a wander over the direction we were guessing the digger show was in, eventually we gave up and asked a staff member who told us we were right beside it. Who’d have guessed seeing as we were also right beside another ride. The dancing digger show I felt was somewhat dissapointing. Dancing diggers? Well I expected a bit more than three moves lets be honest! However the “presenter” was amusing and definately made the show for us. We then tried to scout out something J could go on and spotted some mini diggers that could be driven, by me however, but I wasnt complaining! So we went on a little circuit of the digger ride which J quite enjoyed as he helped with the steering. He then made a beeline for the ice cream sign and so we had a quick stop before deciding that the shortest queue near us was to the “Land Rover Safari” now I’ve got to say, why call it a safari when you dont see anything? However other than that it was brilliant, had a lovely lady driving us who was very friendly and made sure J was happy. After we’d got out of the truck we went for a wander back to the more main part of the park where we discovered the skittles and hook a duck diggers which J enjoyed greatly. After this it was a ride on the land train. When we got off this and whilst J was on the slide, again, we had a quick discussion about the queue lengths and the fact J wasnt going to queue for anything and so decided it was time to go. With the bribary of a toy tractor we left through the shop. A good few hours however I would have been dissapointed had I paid to go in. I feel the pricing is pretty steep seeing that you have to pay £15 even for a 3 year old and to be honest, even though half the things a 3 year old can go on accompanied, they frankly arent suitable. It did fascinate me seeing diggers turned into rides and safety is of a reasonable level. At times this hindered queue length as with often only one staff member on a ride and them needing to secure every single seat individually the queue was mounting fast often. We would return however not until J was a good few years older and could enjoy it more. A few points we noted down in the car on the way home were: · "Entertainments man" was enthusiastic and constantly going around the park announcing variuos shows that were taking place, had a good raport with the park. · Staffing were friendly, didnt encounter any rude staff. · Safety video was shown at the start but was easily skipped, like the family in front chose to. · Free ride on diggers were available however 3 were broken in terms of the pedals · Clean and neat slide and climbing frame. · Plenty of picnic benches. · Interesting to see how tractors and machinery have been adapted into rides etc. Good having so many that were interactive and hands on such as being able to drive them, or playing skittles and hook a duck. · Even though there is a lack of signposting safety has been thought about in the respect that the land train the seat belts locked, and on tractor ride we went on the guy asked for J to be moved to the other seat where he was safer showing that staff are well trained in safety. · No drinks machines etc and food not outsourced done on park · Plenty of parking · Ride Safety Instructions werent there to the degree that other uk theme parks show them ie not showing "Not suitable for people with back problems" · No map given on entrance, difficult to find way around on a busy day and to locate places such as the shows which were being announced over the tannoy. · Very little for anyone under the age of 3. · poorly signposted when driving, no brown signs noticed. We visted with a 3yr old, almost 4 year old.

This is a great place out for kids - I took my 4 year old last summer and he loved it. There are plenty of digger based rides for them to go on and a park area for them to play in. We went on quite a sunny day and although it was busy we didn't really have to queue for rides for a very long time. There are a number of eating places where you can buy a variety of hot and cold food and there are also picnic areas if you want to take your own food. The toilets and changing areas are clean and the shop is also well stocked.