For those who follow me on Instagram, you’ll have noticed a distinct spamming this weekend from an incredible place we took Lily for the night. For those who are staying and don’t want any spoilers, don’t scroll any further, as it is an incredible place to take the kids for an adventure, and it would be rude not to share how amazing it was!

The Adventurer’s Village is part of the Gulliver’s Land theme park in Milton Keynes! It is about 3 minutes away by car from the theme park itself, so if you’re staying there as part of the Stay & Play or the Sunday Specials, I’d put in the village into your Satnav and park there – it’s only a 2 minute walk to the park itself, but is easy to park near the entrance to the village for unloading/loading your car when you check in.

The deals and prices

We stayed as part of the Sunday Specials, which is from just £99 for the night accommodation in a themed den, all the entertainment and activities in the village, your access for a family (2 adults and 2/3 children) in the theme park for the day of your stay, as well as 2 hour access to the Splash Park water park in the village the following day too – which is just incredible, as you can often pay more than that just to access a theme park for a day for a family.

You can also access the Dinosaur & Farm Park from the Adventurer’s Village, which would be amazing to visit next time we are there, however we didn’t have time this visit. I believe you have to pay extra to visit on top of your ticket.

The themed dens

The themed dens are all amazing. We had previously stayed at the Matlock Bath Gulliver’s Kingdom in a pirate den, which is a room as part of a block, whereas the Adventurer’s Village is made up of separate accommodation dens in their own themed areas.

You can camp there, park up a caravan or campervan, or choose one of their themed dens, from the dinosaur dens and Wild West park through to beach huts and safari tents – all which looked fantastic!

Each den is completely decorated around each of the themes, and each in its own area, with the beach huts all surrounded by their own sandpits and the Wild West looking like you’d see cowboys throwing lassos down the alley. Each of the themed areas also have their own special play areas, with the Lost World area having a playground, dinosaurs, eggs, and a huge sandpit lining the street.

The Dino Dens

We stayed in a Deluxe Dino Den which not only had the incredible dinosaur-decorations, inside and out, down to the tiny details, but also had a VW Campervan attached to it which served as our bedroom – so unique from anywhere else I’ve ever stayed!

Inside was our own little shower room / toilet / sink area, which had lovely hot water, its own little kitchen area with microwave, kettle and fridge (hint: take your own milk for cereal etc as there’s nowhere on site to buy it!), as well as cups, cutlery and plates.

There were also sleeping areas for up to 2 adults and 3 (small) children, although to be honest, I slept in the camper with Lily, designed for children as the beds are super small. I slept diagonally, and rolled a  blanket along the side of her bed to ensure she didn’t roll off. In the living area there is a sofa that doubles up at as bed, with a padded back that could be used as another bed on the floor, although it would be a squeeze. For a night or 2, plus for the experience, it would be fine I’m sure.

It helped that the rooms were super cosy and so were the duvets!

There was a little metal table outside to be able to enjoy a tea or some food outside, and we had our breakfast out there on our own little decking area.

The Entertainment

As part of the Sunday Special package, we also had evening entertainment included. We could get our wristbands for access to the theme park at 10.30am, but then could check into our den from 4pm at the reception area. They quickly gave us our keys, and we could see the entertainment lineup for the evening.

There is a pedalo/boat lake with rides, however for us this was closed for maintenance, but we get involved with some of the other entertainment, from the scooter safari and movie night with milk and cookie for the little ones, through to the marshmallow toasting on the campfire.

The girls (age 3-4) were exhausted as this was quite late for them, with the movie at 7.30pm and toasting at 8pm, after an exciting day in the theme park, however they really enjoyed it and were instantly asleep afterwards. There was also a 6pm storytime for the younger visitors, however we didn’t go to this, nor the family games afterwards, as we decided to get some dinner then.

The food

You can get food in the cafe or the restaurant. The restaurant is open late, and serves stonebaked pizza, and various hot foods for adults and children, with both indoor and outdoor seating. It worked out about £9/£10 for an adult meal and £6 for a children’s meal, which we all enjoyed, especially as we had taken a picnic to eat in the park earlier in the day to save some money. They were also fast at serving, which is a bonus with hungry little ones!

The cafe also offers breakfast boxes for £3.95 including juice, croissant, banana and a few other bits, and it serves Costa coffee throughout the day too, where you can also grab lighter bites/snacks. You can also make use of your own little kitchen areas, seating areas outside, and the picnic benches across the site too, to make your own food.

The verdict

Lily asked me if we were staying there for 3 weeks – she loved it! I’d love to go back and for the price I think it is fantastic value, especially as the price stays the same, no matter how many of your family are in the den, and the themed dens are just incredible – especially as you get access to the park for the price too!

We visited on a Sunday Specials night and there must have only been about 4 other families in the entire park too that night, meaning it was incredibly quiet, despite being the last weekend in June, so the weather was fantastic for it!

There is so much to do there, and the girls loved everything from the play areas through to the entertainment, not to mention the excitement of staying in the Lost World!

I’d really recommend it, and as much as we loved the Matlock Bath pirate experience, this was completely different experience, which made it even more fantastic, as we loved both of the visits in their own amazing ways – we’d happily go back to both!

Would we come back? Yes! Would we recommend it to people who wanted to go for a short break or weekend with children? Yes! That is all!

Visit the Adventurer’s Village website here 

For my review of the Explorer’s Retreat in Matlock Bath, check it out here

Tips for visiting with children

• Book one of the Sunday Sessions for fantastic value tickets including theme park access, entertainment and accommodation when it is quieter
• Bring your own milk and any food items with you as there isn’t a shop on site to buy it
• Bring a pushchair/pram/trailer to transport your things to/from the carpark as it can be a long walk if you have little ones in tow too