At the weekend we visited Xscape Yorkshire near Castleford. There is seriously so much to do. We did a full day of activities but there were still many things that we didn’t manage to cover. We were there specifically to write about the activities so you wouldn’t normally do as many things as we did in one day (unless you have lots and lots of energy!).
Firstly we visited Volcano Falls mini golf. It’s themed with boulders and dinosaurs with a prehistoric feel. The whole family enjoyed this one. You can even keep score online.
There were 18 holes in total, which took about an hour to complete. There is a second completely separate course that starts downstairs and then ends upstairs too if you wanted to return. The course we did didn’t involve steps, so would be better for those with mobility issues.
Right next door to Volcano Falls are Digital Darts. This is the first time I have played digital darts and thought it was great fun.
There is a real dartboard surface and you throw real darts (I mention this as I wasn’t sure before we went). You can choose from lots of different dart based games that are then projected onto the wall in front of you.
Your scores are automatically calculated (which was great for me as that’s the bit I dislike about darts). You can choose to play regular darts or one of many fun variations.
Post darts we had a bit of a relax in the Tiki Bar while youngest teen indulged in a bubble tea.
Our next port of call was the Escapologist escape rooms. We love an escape room and are generally quite good at them but this one was tough (and, no, we didn’t escape!). We tried out D3lir1um, a horror themed room, with blood on the walls and a creepy sound track. The teens loved it!
If you haven’t tried an escape room before, and you like puzzles and conundrums then you really should.
I can’t give too much away (obviously) but you need to solve puzzles to work out codes and open padlocks in order to receive more clues. The difficult bit is working out what the puzzle is in the first place!
After our escape room adventure, we were starving so headed over to Frankie and Benny’s. We don’t have a Frankie and Benny’s in York anymore so it was lovely to be able to do this.
We had a nice booth which was perfect for the four of us (I do love a booth!). We didn’t have a great deal of time before our next activity, so plunged straight in with main courses. Mr W ordered a whole slow-cooked rack of BBQ ribs:
Eldest teen went for the Barbecue chicken and fries with a half rack of ribs:
Youngest teen went for Frankie’s Classic Meatballs:
While I went off piste and ordered two starters rather than a main. These were both fabulous and I would do the same again. Here we have NY potato dippers topped with cheese:
As well as Sticky chicken wings in a BBQ sauce:
I do miss the Frankie and Benny’s in York so this was a real treat!
From lunch we headed to the Funstation to play on the video arcade and toy grabber machines.
We didn’t manage to grab any toys, but they do have a deal on at the moment where if you top up your Funstation card you get to choose between a chick or an Easter bunny plushie. We went for the bunny, who is lovely and a decent size – very impressed!
Finally, before we headed home we took a turn on the Gravity E-Karting track. You need to arrive before your track time in order to attend a safety briefing, and be fitted for a balaclava and helmet. Once in your car you get a quick ‘how to’ (two pedals, one is go, the other is stop!).
This was something I have never done before and I was quite frankly a bit scared! Mr W and eldest teen loved it though, and while I won’t go as far as to say I loved it, I am very glad I was brave enough to give it a go!
All in all a brilliant day out with something for everyone with lots more activities (think skiing, swimming, VR, Immersive Gamebox etc) that we didn’t manage to do. The activities do have offers on, so do check ahead to see if you can save some money (and try more things!). If you haven’t been to Xscape for a while, it should definitely be on your list!
We were invited to visit and review. As always, all opinions are my own.
