50°58′49″N 4°23′02″W / 50.9804°N 4.3840°W / 50.9804; -4.3840 The Milky Way Adventure Park (Downland Farm) is an amusement park in North Devon. It was named as Devon's Large Attraction of the Year by Visit Devon in 2023/24 and as one of the UK's best amusement parks by Trip Advisor every year since 2015 in their Travellers Choice Awards. The Milky Way park has over 110,000 sq ft of indoor and outdoor activities.
The Milky Way park has roller coasters, adventure rides, indoor dodgems, bouncing pillows, exhibition of Sci-Fi memorabilia (including Star Wars and Doctor Who costumes), a mini-train, birds of prey displays, archery, and huge indoor soft-play areas for all ages. It also runs a daily programme of shows, with some featuring Merlin from Britain's Got Talent.
Its soft-play centre, Little Stars, opened in 2014. It is designed specifically for children aged 0–6 and has areas set aside exclusively for those aged 0–3 and 0-6, including a sensory room for babies.
History
On 1 April 1984, changes to European Union milk quotas resulted in the Stanburys' successful dairy farm and cattle dealing business collapsing almost overnight, through no fault of their own. Trevor and Christine Stanbury made the decision to diversify, and opened the farm to the public three months later on the 1st of July. Over the years, the family have transformed the farm into an all weather adventure park with the addition of various attractions, rides and shows.
In 2007, Trevor Stanbury was awarded a MBE for his services to tourism in southwest England. In 2009, he said he was keen to promote businesses in the area as he felt the most qualified of workers in Devon tended to move away.
In 2015, the park opened The Old Barn, a DIY wedding venue in a converted 17th century barn located on the edge of the site. In 2016, the park was listed by Tripadvisor as one of the ten best amusement parks in Britain.
Attractions
The park organises events all year round. These include an annual Santa's Grotto. In 2015, the theme park started offering weddings in the ground, complete with rides on dodgems.
The Lynbarn Railway is a 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in (597 mm) narrow gauge railway inside the park's grounds. It is a renovation of the old Lynton and Barnstaple Railway and uses coaches that were previously used in Thorpe Park. The park also has the cosmic typhoon roller coaster, cosmic caterpillar roller coaster and ziggy's blast quest, a unique mix of a dark ride and rollercoaster.
References
- "Winners & Finalists". Devon Tourism Awards. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- "Best of the Best Amusement & Water Parks in Europe". Tripadvisor. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- "Award winning family day out North Devon & Cornwall". The Milky Way. 2 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- "Sci-Fi Memorabilia at The Milky Way in North Devon". www.themilkyway.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- "babies, toddlers, preschoolers". The Milky Way. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ "From dairy farm to a top tourist attraction". North Devon Journal. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- "The Old Barn".
- "North Devon theme park named in UK's top 10". North Devon Gazette. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- "Rollercoaster DIY weddings at The Milky Way Adventure Park could be smashing". North Devon Journal. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- "The LynBarn – the L&B's Fund Raising Railway". Lynton and Barnstaple Railway. Retrieved 15 August 2016.