Our visit to Dreamland

We have been meaning to pay a visit to Shay Kinsella’s Dreamland since it opened in Limerick last year and a few days shy of the twins third birthdays’ we did just that.

Our eight year old nephew came along too and whilst I think overall it is suited to slightly younger kids, he did give it a thumbs up and a nod of approval when asked would he go again! There is an age limit of 9 years old here for children.

Dreamland is Ireland’s first all-inclusive play centre for all children to play together regardless of their ability or disability. Dreamland is the vision of the Share A Dream Foundation.

This is different to your typical soft play centre, I would describe it as a wonderland role-play world. As you turn the corner of the wide ramped entrance a bright colourful village waits for you to visit. The first thing you notice on the way down the ramp is a window into the inside of an airplane and as you enter Dreamland you duck under the plane’s nose! To the right is a castle with climbing frame and a big shiny slide to escape down from. You get to visit the post office, do your grocery shopping in the onsite supermarket and experience a computerised floor light game which had both adults and kids enthralled!

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Little boys and girls alike had great fun dressing up as fire officers in the fire- station before heading over to the construction site, games room and finishing the shift off with a dance in the disco cave. When noise levels got too high we paid a brief visit to the sensory room which is a calm room with bubble lights, textured cloths and lighted carpets.

No visit would be complete without visiting the dress up parlour where you could run around Dreamworld as a princess, knight or fire-man. Then if you were undecided if vetinary, hairdressing, or medicine was for you, there were opportunites to play in the hospital, hairdresser and vetinary offices.

Donald Duck went down a treat with the twins and it was great that he happily posed for photos with each and every child that wanted their picture taken at the throne.

Parents can if they want sit upstairs and have teas/coffess but to be honest it was so much fun playing and interacting with the twins and other kids, that we spent the entire time slot in Dreamworld too. The big shiny slide is a big attraction which meant we spent a lot of time travelling up and down this area (strict height /age restrictions apply to sliding solo) but it was a good excuse for us to enjoy the slide!

There has been debates over the price and it would be remiss of me not to mention it, yes I think compared to a soft play centre it is priced higher given the adults pay but this is an experience the whole family will truly enjoy. The price for adults helps subsidise the cost for sick and disabled children to visit for free. I am happy to pay that little bit more to one place where all children can play together on equal playing ground then I am happy to pay that little extra. For two adults, and three kids we paid €40.

We left Dreamland with memories of great family fun, flying planes, buying all the croissants in the supermarket, manning the fire-station and sliding down the slide and will certainly be back again to make some new memories with the twins!