Diggerland Devon is somewhere I’ve been thinking about taking the children for a while so when the opportunity came up to visit I didn’t hesitate. I never told the children where we were going so after an hour long car trip that morning they were eager to see where we ended up. And what a warm welcome we got as we drove into the carpark!
Mister B was a little shy and stayed in the car but Miss M was keen to jump out and meet Duggy and Dotty, Diggerland’s own mascots that wandered round the theme park all day saying hello and posing for pictures
The park is very well laid out with a simple path to follow round to each of the activities. It is very clean and tidy and you won’t get muddy (as I thought we might), the only mud is on the tracks you drive the diggers through. When the children saw the real JCB diggers lined up in a row their eyes lit up and they couldn’t wait to have a go, to be honest I was incredibly impressed and hadn’t realised that they would actually be able to operate these themselves unaccompanied being only 7 and 4 years old.
The mini diggers were great fun, with three different activities available, digging for gold, dippy ducks where you had to hook the ducks out of the pool and skittles. My children went on these constantly rotating between which activity they did. I have to say the bonus of visiting just after the half term holiday did mean it was pretty quiet meaning we didn’t have to queue for anything!
Miss M was an expert on the skittles as you can see here:
When I saw these giant JCB’s, I never thought Miss M would be able to control one, but she did and she was amazing!! What a fabulous opportunity to be able do this, one of the unique things about this theme park is that most people will never operate a JCB like this in their life, and here is my 7 year old having the time of her life digging up mud!
As an alternative to digging, there are several driving activities that proved a big hit with my two, particularly 4 yr old Mister B who can be shy and has never really attempted driving before (he won’t even ride a bike!). I was a little nervous about him trying a go-kart alone, but I have to say he took to it like a duck to water and was absolutely brilliant. In fact he went on it numerous times over and over, in his words “I loved them”.
There were also mini Landrovers to drive around in a lovely setting which Mister B also loved. Miss M thought they were a little slow and was eager to get back to driving her diggers! lol
The highlight of driving for Miss M was the JCB bobcats! I have to say I went round the thick, deep, muddy track with Mister B on my lap and they weren’t the easiest to control. Miss M however drove one as if she did it everyday. I was honestly stunned at a) a 7yr old controlling one alone and b) how well she managed it! She thoroughly enjoyed herself and it gave her a great introduction to controlling a vehicle by alone (I can see her passing her driving test first time in 10 years time, although I’d expect her too, following in the footsteps of her mummy! Ha Ha!!)
Not only did she drive bobcats, but also dumper trucks and mini tractors. What a fabulous experience for a 7yr old!
In total there were quite a lot of rides and activities to occupy your day including the Ground Shuttle, a ride for multiple people that did figures of eight across the dirt throwing you from side to side. Also a giant JCB which you could ride with supervision and a Landrover which took you on a “Safari” of dirt mountains and “wooden animal” spotting.
The digger swings and Diggerland train also proved a lot of fun!
The Skyshuttle looks a little scary but raises it’s height really steadily and slowly with you being totally secure inside. It does go exceptionally high but the view is quite fascinating and doesn’t feel half as scary as it looks.
The biggest, scariest ride has to be Spin Dizzy! Miss M braved this multiple times with daddy although did drag me on once, which involves sitting in the scoop of a large digger and being spun round in the sky.
I must give a mention to the kids play area which is fabulous, four zipwires to play on plus a super high wooden construction with various slides and shutes coming off to play in. My children loved it and being a grassy area we used this area to have our picnic at lunchtime, leaving the kids to play for a while before heading back to the main digger area.
For us as a family, I have to say we had a super day out, the weather was glorious, and the children went on what they wanted numerous times from 10am when Diggerland opened until 5pm when it shut!! The children were rather pleased with their certificates they received on leaving the site and left with huge smiles on their faces. We certainly made the most of the day out and it proved a bigger hit than we expected!
All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received tickets in order to write the review.
