Crealy Theme Park & Resort, formerly Crealy Adventure Park & Resort, is Southwest England's largest family theme park attraction with over 60 rides, attractions, live shows, animal attractions and Sooty Land. Just outside Exeter in over 100 acres of countryside, it also has a large lodge, campsites and variety of entertainment and sport facilities.

History

The land for Crealy Theme Park & Resort was bought from

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

in 1982. Its first visitors arrived in 1988 when it was operating as a farm, coming to see the cows being milked using its state-of-the-art dairy unit. It officially opened in 1989 as a working farm, Crealy the Great Farm Adventure, the same year its restaurant and Treetops playground were opened. In 1992, the name of the park changed to Crealy Country and more attractions were introduced, including

quad bikes An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

and the bumper boat lake. In 1994, the cows were sold so that their barns could be used for undercover attractions. The next year, the Adventure Zone was opened. In 1997, the Magical Kingdom (formerly Buddy Bear's Kingdom and now The Pier) was opened. In 2000 the park's first

rollercoaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

was added – a

Vekoma Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory) which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. History The company originally ...

Junior Coaster called Maximus. Further rollercoasters were added in 2014 and 2015. Its 2015 addition, Twister Rollercoaster, a spinning wild mouse, is the largest ride in the park. In 2011, following some refurbishments, Devon County Council granted owners Maximum Fun a licence to keep various exotic animals and operate Crealy as a zoo. The first animals to be exhibited were

Meerkats MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...

. In 2012, the park opened accommodation nearby at Crealy Meadows Caravan and Camping Park. Now known as Crealy Meadows, the site offers

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

and

caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

pitches, themed tents, and luxury lodges and

glamping Glamping is a portmanteau of " glamorous" and "camping", and describes a style of camping with amenities and, in some cases, resort-style services not usually associated with "traditional" camping. Glamping has become particularly popular with 21 ...

. In February 2019, Crealy abandoned

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s for its staff in favour of permanent roles. The park speculated that it was one of the first theme parks in the country to do this. In February 2022, the park announced the opening of a

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

-themed area for the May Half Term. It features four rides, a themed store, other themed attractions and a live show. It opened on May 28, 2022.

Rides

Presently Crealy has over 60 rides, attractions and live shows. These include thrill rides, rollercoasters,

water ride Water rides are amusement rides that are set over water. For instance, a log flume travels through a channel of water to move along its course. Notable types *AquaLoop *Bumper boats * Fishpipe * FlowRider *Lazy river *Log flume *Old Mill *River ...

s, and indoor and outdoor play areas. The Animal Barn houses zoo and farm animals.

Camel Creek Adventure Park

Terry Sandling bought Trelow Farm in Tredinnick and opened the property to the public in 1989 as The Shire Horse Centre. The property was then sold to Crealy Great Adventure Parks in 2004. Following an acquisition in 2015, John Broome CBE purchased Cornwall's Crealy and rebranded it as

Camel Creek Adventure Park Camel Creek Family Theme Park is an adventure park located in Wadebridge in Cornwall, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Iris ...

. The park attracts approximately 200,000 people a year. Major rides include the new 5D Simulator, Morgawr, The Beast, Raging River and Thunder Falls. Camel Creek targets younger children up to the age of six. Swampy and Dina are resident characters.

References

External links

www.crealy.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crealy Theme Park and Resort Amusement parks in England Buildings and structures in Devon Tourist attractions in Devon 1989 establishments in England Amusement parks opened in 1989