Special year for Twinlakes with world-leading customer rating and new bypass link
This is a special year for Melton Mowbray’s Twinlakes – it’s just been named one of the world’s best loved theme parks and it’s also had the major boost of a new bypass route opening right outside the entrance.
We visited the attraction, which has been operating on the outskirts of the town on Melton Spinney Road since 2003, to chat to staff and find out just why it is so popular with families from near and far.
It’s a vast complex with a multitude of different rides, interactive experiences and leisure venues and, with the sun beating down on Thursday, hundreds of excited youngsters were enjoying themselves with happy parents and grandparents.
Park manager, Simon Wilson, told the Melton Times: “We just think it is a great day out for a family.
“We have a theme park, an animal park, a water park and also indoor attractions if the weather is bad.
“We have everything covered and something for everyone.”
The park has been boosted by the recent opening of the Pork Pie Way, which links the A606 Nottingham Road with the A606 Burton Road and passes by Twinlakes with one of its six roundabouts at the entrance.
Simon commented: “It’s been a real positive so far – the bypass makes it a lot easier to get to us.
“We get a lot of customers from Nottingham, Leicester and Rutland, and even Birmingham, and they can now use the bypass to come here.
“People living in the Scalford Road area of town have a direct road they can now use rather than spending a lot more time being stuck in traffic in the town centre.”
Twinlakes has just been recognised in the ‘Best of the Best for Amusement & Water Parks’ in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards, which impressively places it among the top one per cent of experiences in the world.
Management and staff at the attraction are proud of the rating because it is drawn from positive customer feedback over the year.
Philip Bendall, a director of Twinlakes Park, said the theme park was ‘absolutely thrilled to receive this recognition’.
He added: "To be ranked among the best attractions in the world is a huge honour for the team.
"This award is especially meaningful because it is based on guest reviews - it belongs to every family who has visited, enjoyed the park, and shared their experiences with us.”
Twinlakes employs up to 200 people during high season and another 100 when there are big annual events such as the Halloween attractions.
“We’ve probably employed thousands of Melton people over the years and we also have staff who live in places like Grantham and Nottingham,” said Simon.
The government recently announced it would be slashing VAT on family attractions including theme parks this summer to enable ticket prices to be more affordable.
Simon said Twinlakes was ‘waiting for more details on this proposal’ before making any changes to entry prices.
He added: “We have a lot of regular families who come to Twinlakes all year round and the annual pass is very good value for people like them.
“We have lots of people who say they came here as kids and now they are bringing their kids, which is lovely for us.”