IoW - Blackgang Chine

[cocksstrideintheevening]

We are going to IoW for half term. I haven't been to Blackang Chine for about 30 years so my memory is somewhat hazy...

Is it too young for 12 year olds?

Thanks

I thought it had fallen in the sea by now. Used to like going there 40 years ago.

It's retro brilliant! I am sure your twelve year old will find some stuff to do there. My ten year old loved it. Bloody expensive though.

My then 8 year old absolutely loved it. It's not Alton Towers or anything like that though- it's very old fashioned and not much/anything really in the way of thrill rides. I would say 12 is about top limit - depends on your 12 year old and if they are still prepared to be a bit silly.

I agree that 12 is probably about your limit.

My kids loved it - we live nearby and had annual passes for years until my eldest got to about 11/12

They’ve opened a couple of new rides this year, but Alton Towers it isn’t. My kids used to love buying pop guns and shooting each other in Cowboy Town and stuff like that. More like a big play park than somewhere with rides if you see what I mean

They've got fiesta of the dead up there this Halloween due to Robin hill suddenly closing, it's usually great at rh so give blackgang a go & stay till later in the evening. Terror island is also on but we went in last week for blue light night & though amazing felt like something from saw & not child friendly, so check the dates & give it a go. We will be there a lot this half term as they've said we can transfer our annual passes from Robin hill to blackgang

You have to get into the spirit with the 12 year old, I reckon, then it will be brilliant. It's all about the imagination. My kid is older than 12 and desperate to go back (although was younger when we visited). We all had so much fun.

Omg, has Robin Hill closed? I’m not sure my dc will cope with that news! That’s very sad, we always go when we are on the IoW

@ElfDragon It closed for the season early and is now up for sale. Not sure if they plan on reopening it at the start of the season next year if it isn’t sold by then though.

Thanks, alloalloallo. I just googled and read the update on the site. That really is sad - we’ve been visiting for years, since before dc3 was born (and he’s 11 now!).

We went to BGC earlier this year with 4 and 6yo - they loved it and talk about it all the time. Expensive but free return within 7 days so we properly milked it and went 3-4 times. Loads of retro cheesiness. The food is school dinner type crap though.

BGC has 2-3 scary type rides for older kids, not always open during rain and wind though.

thanks everyone. I think we will give Blackgang a swerve considering how much it is, I don't think there is enough for DTs.

It is really sad about Robin Hill. I hope they manage to reopen under a new owner, we were there last year and loved it.

My nieces and nephews are coming over for half term too - specifically for Blackgang. They've been going since they were toddlers and they're aged 15 to 21 now!