The recent half-term was so lovely, with some amazing sunny weather to enjoy, finally! We finished our half-term week off with a trip to GoApe at Leeds Castle. We have visited Leeds Castle as a family before, and the children have been on school trips too, but not to the GoApe there so we were looking forward to seeing what it was all about. I have done GoApe at another venue in the past, but the children hadn’t, so I was interested to see how they would get on with the Treetop Adventure + course and how high it actually is for children.
Arriving and check-in
When you arrive there is plenty of free parking, and then the check-in process was really simple. You go through an online disclaimer, which can be done before your visit, and the height of the children was checked (you need to be over 1.2m to do the Treetop Adventure + or over 1.4m to do the adult course). The staff were really friendly and helpful, making sure that everything was clear and we knew where to go and when. They also checked everything was COVID safe, with hand sanitiser and so on. We were handed some gloves for the course and then off the children went (with daddy).
Safety
When you get to the base of the Treetop Adventure you get kitted out and fitted with harnesses, complete with pulleys and carabinas to make sure that you’re secure around the course. One thing that is different for this route than the adult one is that with the pulley, the children never come off the line. That goes across all platforms, and only the carabina needs to be clipped on and off. On the adult course that I have done elsewhere, there are some times on the platforms where you aren’t clipped on for a few seconds, so it was good to see an extra safety step for younger ones.
One of the members of staff took the children through the safety briefing, where they get to grips with clipping themselves on and off, and knowing the rules around how many people are allowed on a crossing, platform or zipline at one time. When they had a little go themselves on the safety route, it was time to go higher.
Treetop Adventure Plus at GoApe Leeds Castle
The course itself has three different levels; easy, medium, and hard. The easy level was what they did first, naturally, finishing in a zip line. The children found that one absolutely fine, so then they went onto the medium or intermediate level. This one was definitely trickier in some parts, especially for Chloe (age 7). Max (age 9) breezed through it. The different crossings are all similar, but do vary slightly, and they do build up to get a little tougher each time. There were staff all around, though, so they could easily come over and help if they get into any trouble. I didn’t worry about how high they were, it didn’t bother them, and it was easy to spot the trained staff. It felt safe and the children really enjoyed themselves.
Both children said that the zip line was their favourite part, and importantly, they both said that they would be happy to do it again! We were lucky with the weather, which can make a difference I think, but it was a great morning at GoApe Leeds Castle; we had a really positive experience! You can get gloves with grips on the course, and I would definitely recommend sturdy shoes if you want to take part.
The details:
Treetop challenge is the course for anyone over 1.4m and can take 2-3 hours. The Treetop Adventure takes about and hour and is for children under 1.2m. The Treetop Adventure Plus, the course we did, takes about an hour and is for children over 1.2m in height and at least over six years of age. You don’t have to have an adult do the course with them, although their dad did, as long as someone over the age of 18 is supervising from the ground.
Address: Go Ape Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent, ME17 1PD
Price for Treetop Adventure Plus: £25 per person
Have you ever done GoApe before? There are various locations across the country, but if you’re in the southeast, Leeds Castle is a great choice! We all had a great time!
*our tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review. All words and opinions are my own and I would only recommend something that I would be happy to pay for myself.
