Last month when Jasper was 15 months old, me and James took him to Cbeebies Land. We went on a Thursday, stayed overnight in the Cbeebies Land Hotel and then came home on the Friday. It was a really fun trip and a great place to visit with children, even as young as Jasper. It was quite expensive though and I found there wasn’t as much interaction with the characters as I would have liked. I did a lot of research before we went to make the trip run as smooth as possible and so we could get the most out of it. I also learnt some things whilst we were there so I thought I would share my top 11 tips for parents when visiting Cbeebies Land at Alton Towers.
Find out the times of the shows – our main reason for wanting to visit Cbeebies Land was so that Jasper could meet the Teletubbies (his favourite cartoon characters). We wanted to make sure he could see them as much as possible whilst we were there so the first thing we did when we got there was find out the times of the shows, including the Teletubbies show. The Big Fun Showtime is located right in the middle of Cbeebies Land so it’s really easy to find and it has a board at the entrance with the times of all the shows. Just take a picture of the board at the start of the day and then you can refer back to it.
Get to the shows early – As our main reason for coming to Cbeebies Land was to watch the Teletubbies show, we wanted to make sure we could get the best view. By the third time of watching the show we realised if we got there a few minutes early then we could sit at the front in the middle and be able to see the show really well (although I was a bit worried when they danced right in front of us that they would fall on us!). This is also where the front of the line is for having your picture taken with the Teletubbies. So we got to have our pictures taken first and get back to the rides which didn’t have queues because everyone was waiting to have their pictures taken.
Download the resort app – The Alton Towers resort has a app with loads of useful information about the whole park (not just cbeebies land) including ride wait times, a map of the park and times of the show. You can also make reservations for restaurants on the app too so it is worth downloading if you can.
Rides suitable for babies – When we booked to go to Cbeebies Land I thought Jasper would be too small for all the rides but it turns out there was a couple he could go on. For children less than 0.9m they can go on 4 rides with an adult: Postman Pat Parcel Post, In The Night Garden Magical Boat Ride, The Numtums Number Go Round, Get Set Go Tree Top Adventure. There is also the Something Special sensory garden that they can explore.
Take a packed lunch/lots of snacks – I found that the snacks at Alton Towers were quite expensive and there wasn’t a great choice in that it was not always healthy and struggled to find something plant based. I also found that there wasn’t much choice for Jasper either. Luckily we had packed quite a lot of our own food which kept us going throughout the day. The meals that we had in the Cbeebies Land hotel were quite good and did have better options for children.
Use the monorail and a travel pram – A day at a theme park can involve a lot of walking for little legs. So we bought a travel pram so which was cheap enough that we didn’t mind leaving whilst we went on rides and that folded down small so we had room in the boot of the car for our suitcase as well. This was money well spent for us and we have continued to use at as an everyday pram since we’ve been back. Also to save some walking there is a free monorail that you can use to get from the car park to the park entrance and Cbeebies Land is located right by the entrance to the Alton Towers theme park.
Visit the Sealife Centre – At Alton Towers there is a Sealife Centre and the entry to it is included in the price of your park tickets. This is a great indoor activity to shield from too much sun or too much rain depending on the time of year of your visit. It’s also a nice way to break up the day from the rides, especially if your little one likes fish as much as Jasper.
Make the most of babies nap time – There are plenty of things to do if your little one has a day time nap such as play adventure gold, go to one of the restaurants, visit the gardens, or just wonder round the park. I also heard that Alton Towers have a parent pass so you don’t have to queue twice whilst one of you waits with your children – we didn’t use this because neither of us fancied going on any rides so I don’t know too much about it though.
Entertainment in hotel – If you stay over night in the Cbeebies Land Hotel there is loads of kids entertainment on in the afternoon and evening. You can pick up a timetable up at reception or I think there is one in your room so you don’t miss meeting the In The Night Garden characters!
Child friendly rooms – The rooms at the Cbeebies Land Hotel are, as you would probably expect, really child friendly. We stayed in a standard bugbies rooms and it was really well kitted out. There is a separate children’s sleeping area in the room with an activity wall that Jasper enjoyed playing with.
Book a table at the restaurants – The restaurants book up quite quickly particularly during peak times. So if there is a specific time you want to eat breakfast and dinner it is worth booking in to the restaurant in advance, even a few weeks before your trip.
Have you ever been to Cbeebies Land or stayed at the Cbeebies Land Hotel? I would love to know about your experience and what you thought in the comments or on facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Also if you have any questions about our stay or want to know about anything I haven’t covered, then just let me know.
Thanks for reading, Jen x
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