Our Travels In The UK | A Day Out At Coral Island, Blackpool

We were gifted with a VIP goody bag for Coral Island plus meals for the purpose of review. All thoughts are our own.

I’ve mentioned before that we are trying to explore more of the UK and with a couple of days together, Steve asked where I would like to head to. Having visited Blackpool when I was younger, I was keen to take the kids and do some things I’d never managed to do then. Whilst there, we had the brilliant opportunity to review Coral Island.

Coral Island is located on the seafront in Blackpool, just a minute or so from Blackpool Tower. It is Blackpool’s largest indoor free admission attraction. It has amazing outdoor decor of a pirate skull which really gets children excited – Jack was very eager to get inside. There’s also another entrance which has a handy map to show you what there is to do.

We were provided with some vouchers for meals at a couple of the restaurants in the attraction (we only managed to visit one however due to horrendous traffic all the way to Blackpool), £30 cash to spend on the different things in the amusement arcade, some sweets for the kids, 200 prize tickets and some Coral Island gifts – Jack adored the hat! We also received a VIP card which enabled us to have unlimited rides on the ghost train and the pirate flyer and some free games on the prize bingo and camel derby.

So what did we get up to on our visit to Coral Island?

Rides

There are a couple of different rides available at Coral Island – the Pirate Flyer, the Ghost Train and the Camel Derby with various kids rides available too.

The Ghost Train is a super fun ride. You ride a pirate ship through the ghostly shipwreck of the Coral Crusader Galleon. You are meant to hit the buzzer every time you spot the ruby but Jack was hiding his face most of the time each time we went on the ride as he was a little scared – which is what a Ghost Train is there for, right? I loved where we came out of the darkness into the arcade for a minute or so, it really added to the experience.

As we didn’t take Olivia on the Ghost Train as we thought she may be too scared, both Jack and I took her on the Pirate Flyer. This ride takes you above the arcade on a monorail and above all the people in there which is great fun, looking down from a great height. The kids both enjoyed it although Olivia was a little scared for the brief few seconds we went into darkness. She loved trying to hit all the targets and being able to wave at Daddy down on the ground. This is such a fun ride for kids of all ages.

I love a camel derby. I wish I’d got a photo of us playing the Camel Derby here but it is quite difficult when you’re trying to roll three balls into the holes. I get very competitive on this and was more than a little sad that I didn’t even come into the top three each time I played, haha! Jack and Olivia had lots of fun. The man running it was very kind, friendly and bubbly and really made us feel welcome – Olivia and Jack both left with a prize too!

There are a number of rides around the site which the kids had a go on including some horses which Steve had to put a lot of work in whilst Olivia just sat there and let him – the things us parents do, eh?

Amusements

As you would expect from an attraction such as this, there are plenty of amusements/arcade games. There are some seaside favourites, some newer games and the one that Jack was most excited about, the Virtual Reality game. Even now, four days on from our visit, Jack is still talking about it and says it was his most favourite part of the visit. It was so cool to watch him in his own little world, having lots of fun in the VR world. This is definitely a fantastic addition to the attraction and very popular too, we had to keep going back to see if it was free as there was always people waiting to get on.

There were also various other amusements available. Olivia loved the Hello Kitty ride and she really enjoyed the 2p machines – Steve could barely tear her away. The kids loved popping their faces through the Toy Story cardboard cutout too!

Another fun thing – and a great photo opportunity – is the Giant Deckchair. I tried to get a decent photo of the two of them in it but they just would not stop moving – apparently a Giant Deckchair is just too much fun.

The deckchair does a great job of promoting the Kids Eat Free deal – all day at any time of day at any of the restaurants on site – one free under 10’s kids meal per paid adults meal. This is a fantastic deal and helps keep costs down during the summer holidays which we all know can be sooo expensive. I also loved that the deal was well advertised throughout the site, making people aware no matter what part they were in. It is nice to see Coral Island supporting families in this way. Which leads me on to…

Food

As I mentioned above, we were meant to be checking out two of the restaurants on site however didn’t arrive until very late. After a couple of hours exploring the wonders that the attraction had to offer, we were very hungry and so popped along to the fish & chip restaurant for some much needed sustenance.

I opted for fish and chips, Steve had pie and chips and the kids chose fish bites and chips. I was very impressed with the portion sizes for the kids – especially when you consider the fact that kids meals are free! They also cooked the kids fish bites fresh which I was very impressed with – no one wants the stuff that has been sitting there for ages!

My fish was extremely good quality, the chips were just as chips should be and the curry sauce was to die for.  Steve enjoyed his pie and the kids really enjoyed their meals too although we had to take some of theirs away as they couldn’t manage it all in one go – just goes to show how generous the portions truly are! I was very impressed with the food selection on offer and will definitely be checking out the other eateries if we ever happen to be back in Blackpool.

Competition

Whilst we were there, we noticed a fantastic competition to win a car, yes – a car! You know how much I love a competition so Steve entered (as he is the one with a driving licence!). If you happen to be in the area, be sure to give the competition a go.

My Final Thoughts

What can I say? We had a fantastic time. After a long day travelling, this was just the tonic we needed – plenty of fun as a family doing some exciting things, trying out some old favourites and some new games and generally just getting to spend time together. If you are ever in the Blackpool area, I urge you to check out Coral Island – you won’t regret it.

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