Adventure Island, Southend-on-Sea, Essex

My mother-in-law suggested that we take the kids to Adventure Island, which is a small little amusement park by the sea. You don’t need a wristband to enter the park, but you do need them if you want to ride the rides. They charge you based on height because that determines what rides you’re allowed to ride. You can save money by ordering your tickets online and they were able to change my son’s ticket (the guy wanted to measure him and he got to move up one level!), and subsequently was allowed to ride more rides! Because my daughter was under a meter tall, an adult had to ride all the rides with her.

The best “ride” that my kids wanted to keep riding was the Lighthouse Slip–it’s a tall, faux lighthouse; you climb several steps to the top with your burlap rug, and then you sit on your rug and go down the slide that wraps around the lighthouse. The American Whip was a bit dubious, especially for someone as small as my daughter to be whipped around like that (it gave my neck a jolt). The Kiddi-Kosta was also a lot of fun, although a bit too fast for my daughter even though she was allowed on the ride.

My son really loved the Drop ‘N’ Smile and all the rollercoasters he was able to ride on his band. The one ride he hated was Over the Hill, which is more like a spooky haunted house ride. He was genuinely terrified riding that, so if your little kid gets scared easily it is best to avoid this ride.

Rage is probably the biggest rollercoaster they have at Adventure Island, and I believe the only one that goes upside down. And as a person who has grown up close to both Kings Dominion and Six Flags I can tell you that this rollercoaster is not something to write home about (even though I’m technically doing that right now). It didn’t fulfill my thrill seeking, so I don’t think it is entirely worth the extra money to be able to ride this ride. The lines were just too long, even on an off day, that it wasn’t worth waiting in line for to ride again and again.

Overall it was a nice little outing, and we lucked out with the weather since it was warm by the sea. It is a bit pricey if you want to do the rides. But it may be worth it if you have adventurous little kids. Probably not worth the price for the littlest ones, but if they already have a big sibling riding anyways, they get jealous because they want to partake (at least that’s what happened with my daughter). If you are bored with country walks and playgrounds, perhaps Adventure Island may be a nice treat.