Can you believe that I have lived in Wales since I was 18 years old, and before now I had never been to Wales' largest theme park; Oakwood? Given that in my younger years I was a bit of a thrill seeker and loved nothing more than heading to theme parks with friends, it's even more surprising! So when oakwood invited us to come along for a visit it was the perfect opportunity to finally tick this popular attraction off our South Wales bucket list.

We already knew from our week staying at a theme park in Holland that both Oldest and Youngest were thrill seekers and would no doubt love Oakwood, but Middle is always a bit nervous about rides and wants to talk at length about the mechanics of it all and spell out any and all risks he can think of. Which when you're already a lot more reluctant to go on the big rides as you were in your youth, doesn't help to convince you! So we spent most of the day taking it in turns to take Oldest and Youngest on rides whilst one of us (usually me) looked after Middle.

Never one to visit somewhere new unprepared I had already had a good look on the Oakwood website and knew that their "Neverland" themed area was probably our safest bet at getting all 3 children on rides together. So we started our day there, and I'm glad we did as it really helped to alleviate Middle's nerves and meant he could go on a few rides. I was really impressed with the range of rides in Neverland, and as a big fan of Peter Pan I felt it made for a lovely themed area for the children to explore.

There was even a large soft play area in Neverland, which would be great if the weather was changeable, and on this particularly sunny day when we visited, was perfect for when we needed to have a sit down and the kids were still going at 100mph.

After spending a bit of time on these smaller rides Oldest dragged us all to Speed so she could finally get her thrill seeking on. Youngest was too small, much to his dismay (and my relief), so Hubby took her on whilst the boys and I looked on in horror.

I watched the ride for a while, and I think that kind of counts as experiencing it right? Because it's as close as I'm ever going to get. Teenage Rachael would have been there no questions asked, she was a thrill seeker. Older, Mum of 3 children Rachael, not so much. Please tell me I'm not the only person who has become very risk averse now they are a parent?

Hubby and Oldest also went on Megaphobia, a huge wooden rollercoaster that is as terrifying as it sounds. Oldest wasn't phased one bit, but Hubby admitted to being a little scared on this one! I can respect that, I mean look at it...

Treetops however, was my kind of rollercoaster, racing through the trees so close you feel like you might hit one any minute, nothing too scary, just good fun. So fun I went on this one twice. Youngest loved this one the most too, some thrill seeking he was tall enough for, coudn't convince Middle to come on it with us though sadly.

We did manage to find one ride that all 5 of us could go on together, the pedalos. A lovely little oasis of calm, with megaphobia hurtling past in the background, reminding you that you chose the right ride!

There were lots of different areas to explore at Oakwood and a great variety of rides. We had a full day out there and made the most of the summer after dark event that was happening and stayed till as late as the kids could manage, which meant we weren't rushing to try and fit all of the rides in and everyone got to go on everything they wanted. It was such a fun day out, I can't believe this has been on our doorstep this whole time and we've never been before! We will definitely be back.

You can find out more about Oakwood by clicking here.

*Our day out was gifted to us by Oakwood, but the opinions in this blog are my own.