Disclaimer: We were invited along to the Sooty Land press day launch at Crealy Theme Park free of charge in exchange for this review, but words and pictures are mine.
The Sooty Show was an integral part of my own childhood and, with only a tiny bit of forcing on my part, my kids have learned to love him too. We had visited his previous home at Brean Leisure Park in Somerset, and were excited to be invited along to the press day launch of the new Sooty Land at Crealy Theme Park in Devon to review the rides and new attractions.
A must-visit attraction for families who live or holiday in south west, this was our second visit to Crealy, but Sooty Land was all new to us.
You can read our review of the accommodation at Crealy Meadows Resort here!
Our Day at Sooty Land at Crealy Theme Park
Our visit to Sooty Land at Crealy Theme Park started with a drinks reception in Blackbeard’s café, with a speech from the Josh Haywood (Crealy’s General Manager) followed by a welcome from Richard Cadell, who you might recognise as the presenter of The Sooty Show.
He explained how he was offered the job as Sooty’s “right had man” (yes, you’re supposed to groan at that…) by Matthew Corbett – the man most of us parents will remember as the presenter from the 80s – and was later able to purchase the rights to the show to bring Sooty back after he lost his way and disappeared from our screens. You can see the recent episode of The Sooty Show set at Crealy here.
The Pier
For a full and comprehensive Sooty Land review, we had to try out the food, so after learning a bit about The Sooty Show and Sooty Land, we headed to Sooty’s fast food diner for lunch.
The burgers were actually really good, particularly for theme park food. Lots of meat and not fatty or cheap. I was impressed, because I’ve learned not to expect a lot from such places but you definitely won’t go hungry. Even the kids’ portions were plenty big enough.
If you don’t fancy burgers or chicken nuggets, outside there is also Sweep’s Hot Dog Stand, where you can get normal or vegan hot dogs. There are several other restaurants in the park, or you can take picnics if you like!
Inside The Pier there is also a large soft play, a Mirror Maze (which makes you feel slightly drunk…), and a Hall of Fame where there is loads of Sooty memorabilia which will make you feel ancient!
There’s also a gift shop where you can buy your very own Sooty, Sweep or Soo puppet (and your children will badger you to do so until you give in. Try not to, because then you’ll have to sit through endless puppet shows. You have been warned).
After lunch, once I’d prised the kids out of soft play and – of course – bought them a puppet each, we went to investigate the new rides at Sooty Land and the rest of the park.
Towards the end of the day we went to ‘Sooty’s Big Top’ to see The Sooty Show, which was a 20 minute-long performance with magic and music. It’s held three times a day and well worth a watch if you happen to be there, as any Sooty (or Sweep) fans will be delighted.
Finally, we got to meet Sooty, Sweep and Soo (and Richard) and get our photos before the park closed!
The new rides at Sooty Land, Crealy Theme Park
There are four new rides at Sooty Land at Crealy Theme Park which can all be ridden by children over 92cm (and some smaller) if accompanied by an adult.
Izzy Wizzy Let’s Get Dizzy is one of the four new rides at Sooty Land. If you’ve been on Boulder Dash at Chessington World of Adventures, it’s essentially the same as that. Suitable even for young kids, they’ll love rushing around in their car and the near misses every time they pass another car!
Soo’s Sweet Balloon Ride takes you up into the air, and if you like a bit more of an adrenalin rush you can twist the balloon around, similar to the Windy Castle ride at Peppa Pig World. The ride is Suitable for toddlers with parents, or slightly older kids on their own.
Sooty’s Flying Circus is the classic aeroplane ride which you might have seen at Butlin’s for example – with the added bonus of flashing lights and the ability to make noise by pressing the buttons in the cockpit, as well as making the plane fly high into the air. Again, a brilliant ride for kids the same age as my two, or even younger as parents can go on too.
Sooty’s Magic Bus is much the same as the Hippopotabus at Drusilla’s; you sit in the bus which goes up and around, but not too fast and not too high – again, perfect for tots.
Picture provided by KPR
We visited both on the Saturday and the Sunday, and the queues weren’t particularly long even though the park itself seemed fairly busy.
Our Sooty Land review is be very positive; for children from toddler age to even 9 or 10, there is enough to entertain and delight them for at least a few hours, and that’s before you’ve even visited the rest of the park. It seems really clean (although it is new!) and the staff were all very friendly.
Crealy Theme Park
There is so much else to see at Crealy Theme Park; it is a huge space with a lot to see.
In fact there’s so much to see that we went back the next morning to see what we’d missed. This list is by no means exhaustive and you can see all the attractions, along with their height restrictions, on their website.
Some of the highlights for us at Crealy Theme Park
The first ride we went on was the log flume which every single one of our party of four children hated; a lovely start to the day! I liked it, but we decided then maybe to stick to the less adrenaline-junkie rides, although there are a few available for bigger kids who want more of a thrill.
Atlantis is up towards the top of the park; it’s an indoor, all-weather area with a soft play and some sweet little rides that toddlers will be able to ride, some on their own.
My six year old’s favourite rides were the driving school (pictured below) where he learned how to stop and wait patiently at a red light as a bunch of toddlers rammed into him. He would have gone on it endlessly had I the time or patience.
The two of them enjoyed Aqua Blast, mainly because they got to squirt the onlookers (i.e. me) with water. Joke was on them though; you can pay £1 to squirt them back, and some kind souls had left 90p in two of the water gun machines. They’ll probably remember that next time…
There are play areas all over the park, from toddler-safe areas in Sooty Land to the Pirate’s Revenge which you really won’t want to climb up after your kids if they decide they don’t want to come down the slide.
How much is a ticket to Sooty Land?
Tickets for Crealy Theme Park cost £24 for guests over 92cm and £22 for concessions.
When we visited in 2019, they offered a ‘7 days entry for the price of 1’ offer so that you could go back all week with your ticket, but sadly it looks like this is no longer offered however you can get there from 10am and leave at 5pm if you want to make the most of your day!