When you have more than one child, especially if you have a bit of an age gap, I often think it is the ultimate must-do to get a bit of one on one time, or at the least take the older kids off to do things that only they can do. Last week we did exactly that and took both boys to Zip World in Wales leaving a very excited Edith behind for a day of dinner, shopping and pampering with her Maw Maw.
Zip World has three different locations, Zip World Slate Caverns (which we didn’t have time to make it to but I will chat a bit about at the end of the post), Zip World Fforest which is the ultimate adventure location for under 10 year olds and finally, the brilliant Zip World Penrhyn Quarry, which is what I want to talk about first.
Zip World Penrhyn Quarry is where we started our experience and it was genuinely epic. Home to Big Red, a zipwire for kids, Velocity 2 which is the world’s fastest zipwire and longest in Europe and the brand new, one of a kind Quarry karts, aimed at families with over 10s. Obviously my boys are too young but that didn’t stop them from going on the Big Red zipwire whilst I went on to the Quarry Karts. Whilst they felt the zipwire was too tame for them and complained to daddy that they couldn’t go on Velocity 2, I headed up to test out the new track. Not only is the track the UK’s only mountain kart experience, but there is nothing like seeing those zipwires fly high overhead whilst you weave your way down.
I’ll be totally honest, it’s never really been my cup of tea and is something that I could always see Adam and the kids doing in years to come whilst I chilled in the cafe, but I can tell you for a fact that I wouldn’t be missing out on this experience when we go back with the kids in years to come as it was FAB. You take everything at your own pace, the set up is not for racing, but rather for challenging yourself to get faster and better as you go along the mountain, taking in the views. As I came down I completely increased in confidence, felt like I could control the kart better with every twist and turn and stopped squealing after around 3mins. The best part is that you get two attempts at the track for £39 which means you can ramp up your speed or confidence with each go. Everything is provided, from gloves to hairnet to helmet – the only thing you need to bring is yourself and the preferably wear long sleeves and trousers just incase you come off the kart.
If you want to try out the Quarry Karts yourself, then for the next 14 days you can use the code ROO20 to get yourself 20% off the Quarry Karts for the rest of 2019.
As I mentioned before, the boys had a go at Big Red whilst I did this. They really did feel that it was a bit tame, so I would love to see Zip World include a new zipwire across the lagoon for kids if they can, and especially at the Penrhyn Quarry location. I wouldn’t recommend Penrhyn Quarry at the moment for under 10’s as there is a lot of waiting around for the grown ups and older kids to finish their experiences, which can sometimes put a bit of a dampener on the fun for you, however if you are lucky enough to have grandparents or family members with you that can come along and watch the kiddos whilst you do your experience then they couldn’t go wrong with them spectating, enjoying Big Red for a short time and then making their way to the wonderful café on site . I can’t sing the praises of the cafe enough – you all know I LOVE my food, so when we had lunch I was really pleasantly surprised by just how delicious everything was. I highly recommend the coffee too which I can’t say for many cafe’s attached to these types of resorts. Grab one if you’re a spectator and if you’re having lunch, I loved the cajun chicken wrap.
Anyway, after our morning with the brilliant Quarry karts, we headed over to the second location we were visiting, the Zip World Fforest, and this has to be one of the best places we have *ever* visited for adventurous children. No joke.
Zip World Fforest is home to the tree tops nets (age3+) – which we had 2 hrs on and absolutely LOVED, the Zip Wire Safari (age 9+) – which just looks amazing – if you’re local to me (Yorkshire) think Dalby Forest but SO much bigger and better, the tree hoppers (age 5+) – similar to above but more platforms and things to balance as you walk across instead of just zips and aimed at younger adventurers, skyride (age7+) – which looked AMAZING and takes you flying along through the forest in a bench like seat, plummet 2 (age 7+) – which Reuben said “NEVER!” to and the absolutely awesome Fforest Coaster (age 3+). It was simply fab! Just look at the joy on our faces!
We spent 3.5hrs at Zip World Fforest and if it wasn’t for the fact that we are too far from the site and Edith is too young to go on most of the things, we would go back next week when we are in Haven (in fact we’re still discussing going back anyway as it’s only an hour away and the boys have asked).
Finally, I wanted to touch on the Slate Cavern site, we really want to go to this BUT the bounce below is only suitable for ages 7+, which is SUCH a shame but safety has to come first and as you can imagine adults love the caverns just as much as kids so we don’t want any little ones being bounced by exuberant grown ups! Bounce Below is exactly the same as tree top nets but, unlike anywhere else in the country, it’s in the actual cavern which is amazing.
All in all, if you’re looking for a fabulous family friendly day out filled with adventure and lots of fun, then this is the place to go. If you have kids over 10, then Zip World Penrhyn Quarry is the place to go, under or just looking to fill the rest of the afternoon, then you absolutely can’t go wrong with Zip World Fforest.
H x
This is really wonderful. Zip world always a great place to visit with kids. I did not come to this place yet but how much i hear about this place its a wonderful place. Your pictures also tells the story.
I’ve yet to go to Zipworld Fforest but I reckon the kids would love it. It’s a shame that Zipworld got rid of their Junior Bounce at the Caverns because you could take under 10s on that one. If you ever want to do something more adventurous then Caverns is certainly the one to go on. As you say, shame about the age restriction though.