ONE little-known holiday park has scooped up two awards for its accommodation and it’s right next to a UK theme park.
Sundown Adventureland is a popular spot for families with over 30 rides and attractions as well as a huge soft play – and the adjoining holiday village is now award-winning.
Wild Acre Village in Retford won two awards at the recent Hoseasons’ Diamond Awards.
The accommodation came first place in the categories ‘Best in Britain – Holiday Park’ and ‘Relax & Explore – Heart of England – Small Park’.
Winners were chosen using reviews and ratings from Hoseasons’ own customers, who share their views after their visits.
Debs Griffin, director at Sundown Adventureland said: “When we opened the lodges, we knew there would be a demand for staying overnight at Sundown Adventureland.
“But we never could’ve anticipated that three years on, we would be consistently fully booked with so many of our customers returning for repeat visits.
“Offering families a good value, very clean, comfortable and entertaining stay has been central to the success of Wild Acre Village, and our team works extremely hard to ensure every guest has a memorable stay, wants to keep coming back and laps up the magic and exciting nature of Sundown Adventureland.”
While Sundown Adventureland first opened its doors in 1968, Wild Acre Village just three years ago in 2022.
The self-accommodation style village was built after feedback from visitors who said they couldn’t fit all their exploring into one day.
As Sundown Adventureland is catered towards families with children 10 years old and under – the accommodation is too.
There are single cabins which sleep five people with a king-size bed for the adults and triple bunk beds for the kids.
Double cabins can sleep ten people and are ideal for multiple generations holidaying together with interconnecting doors.
Each cabin and lodge has a living and dining area, bathroom and well-equipped kitchen.
There are outdoor patio areas with picnic benches and disposable BBQ stand – some even have hot tubs.
Currently, Wild Acre Village has offers from £299 for a three-night break, which includes free park tickets for guests.
Over at Sundown Adventureland, families can enjoy over 30 rides and attractions that are specially designed for younger children.
It also has a huge soft play area called Crash Landings which is jungle-themed and over four storeys high.
Inside there’s also a newly extended cafe with hot food, snacks and drinks.
Rides include the Giddy Piggies to the Jolly Pirate Boat Ride to Robin Hood’s Merry Adventure.
The Lillipoppet Castle is a huge, sweet-inspired castle with an ice cream centrepiece, and it even smells of liquorice.
Storybook Village is based on popular fairytales like Humpty Dumpty and the Three Little Pigs.
Across the theme park are eight themed play areas like Shotgun City, a wild west town with a traditional saloon and an animatronic sing-song show.
Here’s the English theme park with world-first rides crowned best in the UK…
ThemeParks-UK.com announced the winners of this year’s best parks around the country with this one scooping up awards across 10 categories…
The theme park in question is Paultons Park which has over 70 rides and attractions, as well as Peppa Pig World.
Found in Hampshire just outside of the New Forest, the theme park has nine Peppa-themed rides as well as rollercoasters, splash parks and even an animal park.
At the recent UK Theme Park Awards 2025, Paultons Park was crowned Theme Park of the Year beating the likes of Thorpe Park and Legoland.
Not only that, but it also scooped up nine other awards including Best New Attraction for Ghostly Manor.
It also topped the two categories for Best Theme Park for Families and Best Theme Park for Toddlers.
Next year, the theme park will open a new land called Valgard – Realm of the Vikings.
It will be a viking-themed world with the park’s first inverting rollercoaster, called Drakon.
Drakon will be the park’s most thrilling ride with a vertical lift hill and two twists taking riders upside down.
Also in the Viking world will be the Vild Swing that swirls riders 12 metres in the air, two brand new thrill rides, retheming of Cobra – a famous ride at Paultons Park, into a bobsled adventure.
For more on family fun, here are six UK theme parks that you can easily reach by train – and how to find the cheapest fares.
Plus, hear more from one travel writer who went to one of Europe’s biggest theme parks with more than 40 attractions and record-breaking rollercoasters.