Wednesday 20 July 2022

A family day out to Fantasy Island near Skegness.

 During the half term holidays we had a family day out to Fantasy IslandLocated in Ingoldmells on the sunny East Coast of Lincolnshire close to Skegness, Fantasy Island is a fantastic destination for the whole family!

Fantasy Island

There are so many things to do at Fantasy Island. Rollercoasters for the bravest thrill seekers and plenty of other rides for those looking for something a little tamer. According to the website there are over 30 rides. Fantasy Island is also home to Europe’s largest seven day market where there really is something for everyone. There is a whole host of restaurants, cafes and bars across the park too where you can take a break.

It really is a great day out. We went with my dad and his partner. They had no interest in the rides but spent hours walking around the market. The kids were of course just there for the rides! 

How it works is the whole of Fantasy Island is free to enter but to ride on the rides you have to buy a wrist band which can be bought in advance or on the day when you arrive at the kiosks.

There are 3 types of wristband:

Little Explorer Wristband.
This wristband is for the youngest, under 0.9m ride for free. There are a selection of children’s rides they can access if they meet the individual height requirements, they may however need accompanying by a paying adult.

Adventurer Wristband.
This wristband can be purchased by anyone 0.9m or above but please note by purchasing this wristband you only have access to both Adventurer and Little Explorer rides only. Individual height restrictions apply.

Discovery Wristband.
This wristband can only be purchased by people who are 1.1m or above. This wristband provides unlimited access to all rides. Individual height restrictions apply.

Arriving at Fantasy Island

Prices vary depending on what time of year that you visit. The rides are open from late March until late October so it's best to check the website for the day you are going to visit. We paid £27 for the Discovery Wristband and that is the most you will pay. You can use an iCard and put credit on it and pay per ride and the ride prices vary from £6 for the rollercoasters down to £2.50 for the little people rides.

I have read that Fantasy Island have a no refund policy so if it's wet or windy and the majority of the rides are closed you won't be entitled to your money back. It is something to think about if you buy your wristbands in advance. 

I was in two minds about paying £27 each for the girls but by the end of the day it was worth it when we totalled up all of the rides that they went on. We arrived just after 10am and were near the front of the queue to buy the wrist bands.

As soon as the girls got their wristbands they were off and rode lots of the rides, there were hardly any queues and most of the rides they were walking straight on and then off and straight onto the next one. Some of them they were even going on two or three times.

Twister
Dodgems

What I did like was that the people manning the rides were really on top of it when it came to safety. Ellie couldn't get her seatbelt on her on the dodgems and the guy checking made sure that she had it secured before he set the ride off going. He also stopped it mid way through the time on the dodgems because a little boy looked upset and overwhelmed with it all.

What took some getting used to was the rollercoasters going over your head when you were queuing for other rides. I would duck every time one came near but it added to the excitement of the day.

rollercoaster
rides at fantasy island

The girls had a couple of hours of riding the rides and we started to need the toilet, there was plenty to choose from and thankfully they were all clean. We then thought about getting some lunch and came across and American Diner which looked so cute and the prices were reasonable. My dad and his partner joined us just after we had ordered and I had an argument with the lady serving.

We placed our order 3 milkshakes, a cappuccino and 4 burgers and fries. What arrived was a milkshake, a latte, a tea and water along with the burgers. I told the person who brought the drinks they were the wrong drinks and they said sorry and walked off to clean a table so I took the drinks back to the counter and the woman was so angry that I did, she was rolling her eyes at me which left me fuming. My dad was talking to a woman who complained her burger wasn't cooked and she'd been talking to someone who had a stale bun and their order was wrong too. It's a shame. I am putting it down to there was one woman in charge then a ton of kids making the drinks and serving them.

Burger, fries and shake

Our bellies were full and the kids went off to ride some more rides while Stu and I left them to it and went for a look around the market. There really is something for everyone! There were clothes, home furnishings, jewellery, toys and much more. Be careful though as there are a lot of copy cat stalls selling fake Gucci, Versace, MKors etc. 
There were also fortune tellers and tattooists. It was only when I saw the tattoo shops that I realised those people I'd seen walking around with kitchen roll taped to their arm had got a new tattoo. It isn't the place where I would trust getting a tattoo. Stu and I stopped off for a pint in one of the bars and by the time we had got back outside at about 2pm we realised that the whole place had really started to fill up and the queues were getting longer and longer.

Sky ride
Techno Jump

By about 3pm it was taking about 15 minutes to get on a ride so we decided to have a play on the arcades but it turns out the arcades at Fantasy Island only accept the pre-pay cards so we crossed over the road and played on those. hehehe 

Fantasy Island is pet friendly and we saw plenty of dogs walking about, obviously on leads. The only places they are not allowed is inside but considering most of Fantasy Island is outside it's good for our furry friends. 

It was a great day out and when my dad's partner said we should arrive early I wasn't convinced but I am glad we did, the girls got to enjoy the rides with hardly any queues. The car parking nearby is rubbish and we heard so many complaining about getting parking tickets but there are plenty of other places to park a 15 minute walk away, near Ingoldmells police station. My dad paid £4 for the whole day.

Have you been to Fantasy Island before?

3 comments :

  1. We like to arrive early to parks and things like that too as it really does make such a huge difference in wait times and crowds. It sounds like a fun day out.... aside from the lunch order. We often struggle to get decent food at a decent price when we visit amusement parks.

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  2. Fantasy Island sounds like a great day out and those wristbands sound like good value for money given how much fairground rides tend to cost. I like the fact they have different levels of wristbands too. Shame about the poor service with the food though - I would have been fuming too. Glad you had a good day out overall.

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  3. Thisiswhereitisat21 July 2022 at 20:20

    I haven't been here in years, but I what a fab day out x

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