Gulliver's Theme Parks Reviews 199

Review of Gulliver’s World, Warrington - August 2024

I visited Gulliver’s World in Warrington during August 2024, expecting a fun family day out. During my visit, I went on a water rapids ride with my child. Afterwards, I needed to change my child in one of the park’s toilets. From there, I purchased a coffee from the Costa concession stand before heading home after what seemed like an ordinary trip.

Unfortunately, what followed was anything but. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, I woke up with abdominal pain, leg cramps, and a fever. This quickly progressed to diarrhoea. By the time I woke up later that morning, I felt extremely disoriented, had no appetite, and spent most of the day falling asleep. By evening, my temperature had spiked again to over 40°C, and I was feeling very unwell.

After calling 111, I was advised to attend my local hospital for a GP out-of-hours appointment. Upon arriving, my temperature remained dangerously high despite taking paracetamol throughout the day. My heart rate had climbed to 122, and my blood pressure had dropped to 84. I was immediately treated for suspected sepsis and flagged as a potential meningitis case, requiring a lumbar puncture procedure.

As my condition worsened, the diarrhoea turned to black water and later to a sticky, tar-like consistency, causing severe kidney pain. I was diagnosed with a severe case of E. coli/Shigella and remained in hospital for a week. While I am now out of hospital, I have not fully recovered from this traumatic experience.

To add insult to injury, the response from Gulliver’s World’s management has been deeply disappointing. Despite reaching out to the operations manager and CEO, I received no follow up response to my concerns. Worse still, I run a charity musical theatre company, and a member of my group —who also works for Gulliver’s—requested to borrow a prop from their entertainment department. Their manager made an inappropriate comment, stating they “wouldn’t want to loan anything from a riddled E. coli park.” This individual was unaware of the specific circumstances of my illness, raising serious concerns about trust, professionalism, and potential breaches of GDPR. I hold proof of this.

While I cannot definitively prove that my illness was caused by Gulliver’s World, I can confidently highlight their appalling handling of my complaint. Their lack of professionalism and disregard for customer concerns have been shocking, and I would urge others to think twice before visiting this park.

Warrington - Paid full price to get in and most of the rides were shut. Told a manager how disappointed we were and she told me there’s nothing she could do and to email in. They didn’t tell us when we paid that lots of rides were shut and we feel completely ripped off. I’d avoid at all costs.

Went on Santa sleep over 7th Dec 2024, been going a few years. But usually stay in hotel but could not accommodate us this year as we 2 adults 3 children stayed in one of the caravans which where nice till 3am woke up freezing no heating no hot water thinking might be on timer 5am walked to reception had a man on desk he could told me to press reset button offered me a hot drink but I had hot water in kettle.7am I went back to reception there now a different man and women explained why I there asked was there any mobile heaters as the kids where due to get up none available no offer of a room was told maintenance not start till 9am the bloke came to caravan to try and help .had to get kids up and leave PJ's on under there cloths went over to entrance to get in for breakfast could not find my booking even thou we had our meal there night before. Kids still freezing waiting on repeated emails and messages I am still waiting for Gulliver's to get back to me
On the good point the grotto and Santa was brilliant
Just don't understand why they not got 24 hour maintenance as this was the weekend of storms

Our recent Santa Sleepover experience at Gulliver’s Land Explorers Lodge left much to be desired, especially considering its festive promise. Unfortunately, there was very little about the accommodation or atmosphere that felt truly “Santa” or “Christmas” themed.

Accommodation:
The Explorers Lodge was basic and not suitable for families seeking comfort. With only two single beds and the rest being children’s beds, it was challenging for anyone to get a good night’s sleep. The lack of essentials, such as cutlery and proper cups (only four paper cups were provided), made the stay feel unwelcoming and poorly thought out.

Food and Dining:
While meals were included, the quality was unacceptable. The burgers were served cold, and the nachos, which we paid £20 for, were also cold and unappetizing. Overall, the food did not meet even basic expectations, and the lack of attentive service further worsened the dining experience.

Entertainment at the Lodge:
The “light show” was visually pleasing and might work well for a general holiday season display. However, it lacked a Christmassy vibe, which was disappointing given the festive theme.

Gulliver’s Land & Santa Experience:
The second part of the experience, hosted at Gulliver’s Land itself, was a noticeable improvement. Breakfast was better compared to the Lodge, and the morning show was enjoyable. The park featured more Christmas decorations, creating a festive ambiance that was previously missing.

The Santa experience was the highlight of the trip. The wonderland was beautifully crafted, and Santa himself was fantastic, making the visit special for our little one. The present selection in the workshop was thoughtful, though the elves could have been more engaging with the children. The rides, while dated, were a hit with our 4-year-old, who thoroughly enjoyed them.

Final Thoughts:
While the Santa experience and decorations at Gulliver’s Land were enjoyable, the overall sleepover package was underwhelming and overpriced. For families considering this trip, I would recommend skipping the overnight stay and instead visiting for the day. The Santa experience alone does not justify traveling long distances—especially for a short 15-minute interaction.

If improvements were made to the accommodation, dining, and service, this could become a magical holiday experience. Unfortunately, as it stands, it falls short of expectations.

Land of lights was amazing but the best part of our Christmas experience was the father Christmas visit! Magical. Top quality in every way. Especially Loved Santa's special helper who had the naughty and nice list!! What a lovely touch! So special!

Went to Warrington Gullivers World park very run down . We were a party of seven doing the Christmas experience. The food was awful, cold and tasteless. The staff did there best won’t be going back not worth the money.

Absolutely amazing.
A group of us went for the Christmas breakfast & show deal and we had a great time.
The Chrismas show and decoration were all great. The Santa experience was AMAZING and very well designed. You get to go all the way to the North Pole in a lift and then get a tour of Santa's home!
Despite it being the weekend, there were no queues for any of the rides or food and drink. And none of the staff were too busy to make the experience special for the children.
Gullivers has it all:
A mini zoo
Outdoor theme park rides, including roller coasters for the kids
A massive indoor bouncy castle
Indoor rides
Soft play
A role play village
Bumper carts
Photo opportunities
Food and drink but also plenty of places to sit indoors and out with your own food.
A hotel in the middle of the park!
Individual and personalised cabins.

And probably so much more that i can't think to list.

We had a lovely time and all the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.
This will 100% become a Christmas Tradition for us until the kids grow up! And I am sure we will visit many many more times throughout the year too.

I would give this place 5 stars for the Christmas Cracker experience on Sunday 17 November but the park could do with some updating and not all rides open. It wasn’t busy for the rides, no queues but I put that down to the weather and people being at the shows or seeing Santa. Staff went out of their way to make sure we got in when we realised had wrong date on tickets and had my 7 year old grandson with us to see Santa. The 4 stars is because the park is very dated and could do with some more indoor experiences as it was a very wet day and nowhere really to dry off. I would give marks of 10/10 for the ride in the magic elevator and the really lovely Santa who was very believable and didn’t make any promises for presents he couldn’t keep, but told our little one it would have to be a surprise though Santa knew what it will be as he’s going to be bringing all his gifts but he would have to be asleep or Santa can’t come in with his presents. He then told him he could go and choose a gift from the grotto

AVOID LIKE the plague. I have had the worst experience the website is already confusing so I booked tickets and arrived with the SEVERELY autistic child and was told it was all closed for the lights only so I called and I spoke with a really rude woman who offered no help or zero solution me being stuck in gullivers with my disabled child I headed to the hotel for advise where I was given a number they told me they can’t refund me which is absolutely disgusting after the unclear website their policy states if 5 days before it can be refunded and nothing has been done I’m now sat in the hotel with my disabled child waiting for the light show that I had to pay an extra £60 for ontop of the £100 I’ve already lost. They told me they’d exchange the dates but that doesn’t work for me as I’m leaving the country next week for a family emergency and don’t know when I’ll be back. I want this refund disgusting behaviour from a multimillion pound company. AVOID. Especially if you have special needs children

This rating is specifically for Gulliver's Land Park at Milton Keynes. I have visited the other locations which are considerably better. I visited with my family and a guest (Group of 3 adults and 3 kids). We arrived the park after mid day and found the place a little quiet for a half term break Saturday. But unsurprisingly the place looked quite rundown with rides a few decades old and not well maintained. Many rides were non-functioning or in state of disrepair, unkempt and gathering dust, missing or displaced props, Most rides were quite basic and could be covered in a couple of hours. Overall I was very disappointed with the amount of money spent and the value delivered. I wish I had chosen a more regular Theme park over this one. I did provide a feedback to the park authority and I hope they will take some notice. It feels like the park either needs a massive revamp or needs to close down. It is disappointing so see a Theme park in this state so close to London

Cheap and fun day out

2 adults, 3 children visited on 31st August this year (on the hottest day if the year). On entering, we were told that the park was at "full capacity" meaning you couldn't pay on arrival as the day was completely sold out. Not an issue for us as we had indeed pre booked.

It was noticeable how busy the park was that day, which isn't a suprise as it was school holidays and Gullivers had a fire work display on that evening (which is why we opted for this day).

After being in the park for a hour or so, I went to purchase a 2 coffees and ice creams for the kids. When I went to pay with my phone (after these were served to me) I was told it was cash only as the pay machines were down. Now luckily for us, one of the kids had brought his spends so I borrowed his £20 note to pay. At dinner time we walked over the cafe to purchase some fries to go with a few wraps I'd brought with us as I knew it was going to be a long day as the fireworks weren't on until 8.30pm. I could see chaos and disgruntled people all over the dining areas and soon got chatting to another mother whoskids couldn't even get a drink as the cash machines were down. It was then I found out that it wasn't just the coffee shop who's machines wifi was down.... it was the whole of the theme park!
Luckily for my children we had a few wraps they could eat, but unfortunately some families didn't bring any food. I actually witnessed 2 small children drinking from the tap in the toilets as there mum hadn't brought any cash so couldn't even get them a bottle of water.
Needless to say, by 6pm my kids were starving hungry and thirsty so we didn't stop for the fireworks. By the look of the car park on leaving it seemed not many did. You'd think on the hottest day of the year Gullivers would have at least given out free bottles of water to their guests who couldn't even purchase drinks fir their children through no fault of there own. Cash is still very much king and id advise any one visiting Gullivers to take cash so this doesn't happen to you!
I have emailed customer service on 6th Sep and received an automated response stating 'they will get back to me within 7 days". It's now 23rd October and still heard nothing, customer service does not exist with this company!

This is a great place for younger kids, rarely have to queue for rides, I think the tickets are reasonably priced too, so while the rides are fab and age appropriate the food is dire! The food service is dire, it’s expensive and downright disgusting. So take a picnic and then you won’t feel ripped off or disrespected.

The staff at Gulliver's World Warrington is what makes it a warm and welcoming place. Two outstanding team members worth mentioning are, Matt Wilde and Ella Loran:

1. Matt Wilde
Matt was ever so thoughtful and respectful of all guests. He was very attentive to not just people who were struggling, but even with people's belongings and bags, placing them away for them, which he clearly didn't need to do. He especially was going out of his way to help guests with disabilities, e.g. taking their walking aids, placing them aside before the rides commenced, and then remembering exactly who they were and bringing their walking aids directly to them when the ride was over. We applaud him!

2. Ella Loran
Ella very diligently made safety checks with one of the rides. Come rain come shine, she smiled through it all, communicating with the Engineers. We could tell that she was going above and beyond to try troubleshoot the issues so as to not let eagerly waiting children down. We were very grateful for her being so thorough! We applaud her too!
Big thanks to all!

Park is ok (a little run down) and good for a few hours.
Service is dreadful. Firstly my son has an access pass and they told me they don't accept the pass they only accept a dr letter saying he can't queue. Yet to be able to be awarded an access card you need to have submitted the relevant evidence.
Then there is the service in the park, or lack of service. Most of the ride operators seemed like they didn't want to be there, apart from a nice young girl operating the Buccaneer. There was a dance group with someone dressed as woody and buzz, well there was not an ounce of enthusiasm, it was so bad that we thought it could be a comedy act.. but nope they just really didn't want to be there. Also other customer service interaction though out the day that was poor.
We most definitely won't be coming back.

Great park, terrible food!
The park was great fun for a 4 and 8 year old with plenty for both of them and we all had a great day. The park was clean and the staff friendly, there was one member of staff that stood out with his warm friendly attitude, unfortunately I didn’t get his name.
The toilets although clean were rundown and need some maintenance.
The biggest disappointment was the food which was dreadful and expensive. Two of our party opted for hot dogs which were tasteless and looked anaemic, the difference between the child’s and adults was minimal in size but big in price! The drinks with the ‘meal’ were unbelievably small. The other two of us opted for sandwiches which were marginally better, the children’s lunch box was possibly the best option, it had a basic normal size sandwich, probably too large and not very appealing for the age range it’s intended for.
I would say don’t buy food there take a picnic, there are plenty of places to sit and eat a picnic which I’m sure will be far more enjoyable

Disgusting customer service - we needed to move our tickets to a different date as my nephew broke his arm a few days before and required surgery - they said it would cost us £10 admin fee to move the booking, despite it being exceptional circumstances. Refused to waive the £10 fee and refused to escalate my complaint, they were extremely rude. Would not recommend - it’s a shame they are not using the money to reinvest in what I have read to be an extremely run down park.

Great day out with me and my uncle. We managed to get on a few of the rides but it was very busy. But other than that it was a class day out.

Some one at the top must be creaming all the profits from this place if you look at what they made last year, I’ve stayed 7 or 8 times and always booked the Gullies suite which I must say is expensive but worth it, when we arrive it’s spotlessly clean and very roomy, it all goes downhill after that, bar and breakfast areas are filthy, sticky tables and very stained seats, the food is barely edible and for the price it’s a rip off nothing at all nutritional and very limited, the stairs bannisters were so sticky with god knows what, I washed my hands 4 times before I felt safe, there were no food hygiene ratings to be seen and the staff seemed like they were working for community service, no enthusiasm, very amateur and around college age, seen no senior staff or management at any time, the starlight theatre was dirty leaking rain and the hygiene was none existent, the times I have been there we had some rain but no one wiped the wet off or made sure the rides were safe from slipping, when I was checking out the hotel there were 5 families at reception complaining, I even heard the cleaning staff asking for sheets and I presume it was a senior staff member saying I’ll see what I can do, very poorly managed if not at all, to keep families coming back an injection of capital needs putting over the winter with a massive upgrade and refurbishment in stead of taking it out, get your act together Gullivers.

I paid £120 for 2 adults and 2 children and was very disappointed. The queues were so long you'd be lucky to get 4 rides in one day. The staff were very slow at getting people on the rides. One would wait until everyone sat down and then make people get up and swap seats with their children rather than telling them which side to sit in the first place. The whole park is very run down and needs a major refurbishment. Even the rollercoaster car we sat in smelled disgusting. The toilets weren't nice. At £30 per person, you'd think they'd reinvest a little bit back into making it an enjoyable park. We won't be returning.