SpyZone – Gulliver’s Kingdom Matlock Bath

I was recently asked if I would like to review the brand new SpyZone at Gulliver’s Kingdom in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire. With three little budding spies I was more than happy to agree.

SpyZone

For energetic kids with big imaginations, enter the hidden headquarters of Gulliver’s Spy Zone, the base-camp for budding secret agents!
Fun, adventure and action packed challenges await you on a unique journey of discovery and surprise!
As a spy apprentice you will combine skills with thrills as you scramble through secret shafts from one spy challenge to the next, all against the clock!
You will learn to steer a steady hand, crack codes and dodge security lasers as you train to become a top spy!
Only then will you be ready to set off on an undercover top secret mission…
Whenever your country needs you…
Whenever the time comes…
SpyZone

Debrief Room - SpyZone

I’ve never visited Gulliver’s Kingdom before (despite several pleas during my own childhood) so the only idea I had about the site was from reviews I’d read online. Many are quite scathing about the site’s location (on a hillside), however the SpyZone is located by the car park and before the actual theme park, so no steep climbs. We visited on the hottest day of the year so far, fortunately I chose to wear shorts (the SpyZone is not the place for skirts!) The kids were all very excited as you might imagine, which does add an extra pressure for the attraction (living up to expectations).

Inside the building you are greeted by ‘Secret Agents’ who take your tickets and ask you to wait in a comfy lounge while your training is prepared. This is also where the parents of older kids can wait while their children train (under 10s must be accompanied by an adult in the SpyZone). There are lockers to store your handbag etc, take advantage of these as you will be climbing and crawling.

Next you are invited through to a debrief room where a head spy explains the training ahead. Everyone is fitted with a bag containing gadgets such as blacklight torches, bug detectors, pens and paper. Once everyone understands the rules you are sent through a small tunnel where you climb up a shaft and into your first training room.

spyzone

Listening to audio instructions

The basic premise is that you enter 8 training rooms, each with code words that need to be cracked. In one you must send teammates into a tunnel while you jump about pressing symbols (never touching the floor) and the kids in the tunnel shout back the letters you have cracked. In others you must scan the room for bugs (finding one reveals a codeword) or flip switches on a reactor.

Obviously this is very much a kids attraction but forget the kids…. I had a wonderful time!! So did my husband, it’s sort of like playing a cross between the Crystal Maze, Jungle Run and Knightmare (remember that one!) Teamwork is essential, so is speed (each room has a time limit) and it’s just seriously good fun! So if your kids are over 10, find a younger child to take to give yourself the excuse to go as well!

Spyzone

Launch Control

As for the kids, they all loved it. My daughter did have one ‘moment’ in a corridor full of laser beams where she froze in the middle terrified of setting off an alarm. Quick as a flash a Master Spy appeared and helped her through (I really appreciated the attentive nature of all the staff). This was perhaps my least ladylike moment as I hopped, limboed and scrambled across the floor 🙂 My youngest (4) was un-phased by the laser beam corridor, so it’s not a given that your child will be scared.

SpyZone

Scanning for bugs

When you finish your training you embark on a daring mission to save Queen and Country. I would tell you more about this mission, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but you’ll be leaping and code-breaking aplenty trying to disarm a bomb.

When you finish you give in your Spybook (where you recorded your codewords etc) and receive your final score. We managed Secret Agent status, hurrah!

Would I recommend SpyZone?

It’s probably no surprise that I would! We all had a wonderful time and it’s so different from your average attraction. There’s something quite magical about entering a world you can normally only find on TV. Plus I think it has a secret educational benefit:

  • They have to practise teamwork
  • They are decoding and spelling words
  • They must listen attentively to instructions
  • Read extra instructions
  • Write down codewords
  • Plus the physical aspect of crawling and climbing

I should also mention the wonderful staff who were friendly, patient and genuinely seemed to enjoy their work and helping kids have fun.

Could it be improved in anyway?

No, although I hope they will update the codewords and/or rooms periodically so that we can visit again in future and have just as much fun. It would be a real shame if it was a one time attraction. Perhaps posting up on the web when changes happen so parents can check before a return visit.

As I said earlier skirts/dresses are a no no really. You need to visit being prepared to climb, crawl and generally scramble about.

Finally…

The Kids gave me their own review scores (with Spy names of course):

Agent Ninja – 10/10 because it was very exciting and when I grow up I’d like to build my own SpyZone

Agent J – 9/10 because little kids might get scared (although ours didn’t!)

Agent Storm – 10/10 because it was really fun and great

Agent Little – 10/10 because I loved it!

Details

SpyZone is open all year round after school, at weekends and all school holidays.

It costs from £7.95 per junior spy.

SpyZone is included for Gulliver’s Gold Passport holders.

For full details and to book click on the SpyZone website here.

Abi Day Gulliver's Kingdom

We also popped into Gulliver’s Kingdom after the SpyZone (the child in me was pleased!) and saw dinosaurs, bobbed about on water rafts and rode runaway horses. The site is indeed steep, so if you have a pushchair start at the top and work your way down. However a themepark especially for kids (and those of us who don’t love massive rollercoasters) is a wonderful idea. We had really good fun and would be happy to visit again (perhaps on a slightly cooler day).

Parties That Wow! Book Review

Time for another book review. As I am sure you are all well aware the party season is well and truly upon us. But do you cower away from such social occasions or embrace, decorate and enjoy!? With this question in mind I was very grateful to receive a copy of Parties That Wow by Jonathan Fong from GMC Publications.

This book is filled with so many gorgeous ideas for a party theme that it is hard to choose, but being as our party was instead of a Halloween party I let the children decide and they wanted a Spy Party!
In truth our party took ideas from two themes detailed in the book, elements which we thought worked well together to create the look we wanted. The end result?

Our Top Secret place settings.

 

Holographic gemstones, this little device is a blog post in itself, but it worked brilliantly for our Spy theme

We couldn’t leave James Bond out of the proceedings so he very kindly decorated our Pumpkin (big thanks to my husband and his rather excellant carving skills here).

A UV light reveals what was hidden on the place cards (this caused a lot of fun and giggles as everyone found their places).

 

The completed table, with it’s laser lights, coins, spooky spiders and more. There was also a map with the secret location of Spy headquarters, but naturally I couldn’t reveal that 😛
So…..
Would I recommend this book? Yes I would. It’s a great source of ideas and inspiration for all year round events. The author Jonathan clearly goes above and beyond for his party guests and even if you can’t completely replicate all his ideas they are a great starting point.
Could it be improved in anyway? Yes I think it could. Unfortunately not all the themes have the same depth of instructions or ideas, some are perfect others a little shallow I felt. I would also suggest that some of Jonathan’s ideas would be hard to reproduce, so perhaps a few alternative suggestions. I also would have liked to see some ideas for themed food, although the author does admit that he is no cook. But overall I loved the book and can’t wait to plan my next event!
Book Details
Title: Parties That Wow

Author: Jonathan Fong

ISBN: 9780823099788

RRP: £12.99

Publisher: Watson-Guptill

Publication Date: Autumn 2007.