Xscape Yorkshire

Xscape Yorkshire is in a great location, just off the M62 in Castleford. It's a great place for leisure activities or to grab a bite to eat.

There are many things to do here, which would certainly be suitable for families, adventure seekers, cinema lovers and co, including Tenpin bowling, a Cineworld Cinema. There is also a gym and rock climbing area.

For food and drink, you're also tempted by a wide array of brands including Nando's, Ask Italian and Pizza Express. There is also a Starbucks here, although it didn't look too welcoming. It felt so uncomfortable that they openly admitted they did not trust customers to have food items in the fridges, and kept them all in the back - I totally understand loss prevention but I've never seen any Starbucks locations do this other than this one.

The car park is HUGE, it felt way too big, but I'm sure due to the varied things to do and eat here, it can get quite busy, especially in such a peak location, being right off the motorway it makes it easily accessible through all points of the country.

PRO TIP: If you're going on a longer journey, make this a stop off to get a bite to eat or something to drink, you have a selection of brands and you're not paying the high prices of motorway service stations.

There is a small selection of shops here too, but nothing too special, this isn't really a place you'd come to shop. There's a sporting goods store and a WHSmith Travel location as I could recall, that's pretty much it.

4* - I like this place, it's pretty cool and certainly a good spot for a family day out.

Xscape is a great place to go when your bored mabie on a rainy day it is a great family attraction as there is loads to do.

My main experience with Xscape is from using their most excellent laser quest services. My boyfriend's birthday was coming up and so I decided to organise a huge surprise laser quest session with a whole bunch of our friends. Booking was easy, I phoned in advance and put a deposit down for us, and it was sorted.

On the day everything was dandy, we settled the rest of the bill, and we were ready to go! The only downside was of course the fact that as there was only 14 or so of us there weren't enough of us to fill the laser quest capacity, and we had to play alongside children. Beyond that, it was immense fun. Being a massive Call of Duty fan I fancied myself somewhat of a sniper, but alas, in "real life" this was not quite the case. Not that this marred the fun, the laser quest was awesome and much bigger than I expected!

As well as laser quest, Xscape also has a cinema, bowling, health and fitness suites, dodgems, a skate park and even climbing activities - which, most excitingly, are held in the humungous entrance hall over the escalators - very exciting!

It is a leisure centre literally filled with things to do. You really ought to pay them a visit.

Loud and bright and busy - if you like that sort of thing. I visited for the Imax cinema but had a look around at everything and this place is quite the centre of fun. From arcade games to win tickets for prizes to air hockey to milkshake and fast food places and even an ice cream van outside. What most caught my eye was the climbing wall and over head walkway hanging course that is right in the middle of the centre and on above everything else! scary stuff but a great challenge - may have to go back to try it out - see the pics - they also have an immersive (i think 6D?) cinema pod.

Let me start by saying that I review individual businesses at Xscape on their individual merits and that this review is about the general set up and management of the centre. I have held off writing this review but have found that my observations have been confirmed several times.

for all it's claims Xscape is not a good place for young people to go without the protection of at least one adult. The security employed by Xscape are aggressive and racist. They target young people and, as long as there is no-one with authority around, will use verbal and physical aggression to intimidate. Members of the public who dare to speak out are verbally abused.

Of course it is highly unlikely that all the security personnel are as bad as this example but until Xscape get their house in order parents would do well to either accompany their children or make sure their children use facilities elsewhere. When I see evidence of an improved regime I will, of course, update my review.

Let's face it there is so much entertainment and cinema to offer in the city centre that sometimes it's not obvious to look a bit further a field but I beg you, do. I know that was a feeble attempt at begging but I've been on my knees way too long this week already so you'll have to take my word for it. And my word says Xscape is a complex that should be explored.

We're not talking the other side of the world here. It's a quick drive down the M62 to the rather amusingly known "Cas-Vegas" aka Castleford. For that short drive the pay-off is good. It's an entertainment hub with loads of stuff under the one roof. Of course you have the rather immense snow slope but that warrants its own inclusion so I'm sticking to the other stuff on offer.

How about a big multi-plex cinema with all your latest blockbusters. It's a decent cinema and part of the Cineworld group. If a film isn't your bag then what about bowling? Again, we're talking a decent amount of lanes and I've never waited much longer than 20 minutes to play which is a good sign. If you want to be a big kid (and I do quite often) then you've got more arcades than you can throw your unwanted (or wanted) change at. Just for my own note, I think you'll find I am the undisputed Air hockey queen so if you ever see me hustling around the foyers be warned, I rock!

Now if that isn't enough then really what is wrong with you? However, you have crazy golf. I can recommend avoiding the cosmic golf though. It's about as cosmic as septic peg and nothing else. You've also got some militant laser action and dodgems. Phew!

As for eating, well take your pick. Italians, pizza, fast food, chicken and the lot. There are some shops too and a few nice bars and a few so less nice bars. At least one of the bars shows live football and there are some shops too to add to its appeal. Just be warned, a different species seem to come out in Cas-Vegas on a Friday night so go fully expected feeding time at the zoo.

I live one motorway junction down the m62 from Xscape, and to be honest it's pretty handy having such a variety of cheapish restaraunts, a cinema and kids play area so close.

Have been to the Chiquitos, Nando's, Pizza Express, Ask and Frankie and Bennys, and as you would expect they are all decent enough. The indian buffet place upstairs is also okay'ish'. It's not the place to go if you're looking for something different, but great for families like mine.

The cinema is of decent size, and is a cineworld, so we save a fair bit of money with my wife's cineworld card. It has a decent selection of mainstream films, but is generally quite busy. I also still can't quite stomach the price of the popcorn and pop, but it seems like the norm nowadays!

Last of all, I am often dragged along to 'Xplore' for kid's parties, and again it's decent enough. It gets the kids quite excited, but in my opinion it has a strange layout in which you can go for ages without actually seeing your kids (which is a bit worrying when one is still not fully potty trained!). It is definitely inferior to 'Polka dots' in Garforth but still worth a visit if you fancy letting your kids loose for a wee while!

So yeah, it's not the sort of place I like to go too regularly (the strange looking gypsies put me off!), but it is definitely an asset to the region, and has been a huge success.

Both of my kids have had birthday parties here one in the laser quests which went down well with the kids although the service was pretty slow with one member of staff doing most of the work whilst two others stood around and had a chat. When booking this party they offer the cosmic golf at a reduced rate I wouldnt waste your time with this one. Cost wise I think it was £12 per head.

The soft play area does an excellent younger kids party with each child coming away with a teddy and a separate area for the parties to have their food, the staff are extremely helpful and friendly. Cost wise I think it was £16 per head.

The sledging parties get bonus points for being unique but be prepared for the kids to feel a little cheated and complaining it was all over too quickly. I'm not sure about the costs.

Xscape is practically on my doorstep so, as you can imagine, I pretty much live there! Though there are several other cinemas, eateries, bowling alleys and shops in the area that I live in, Xscape is always my first choice. And I'll tell you why.

Restaurants: Bella Italia, Flaming Dragon, Chiquitos, Ask, Frankie and Bennys, Nando's, Pizza Express and The Winter Seam are my favourites (especially The Winter Seam). I visit at least one a week and the service is always exceptional. There are other places too (I just prefer to stick to the places that I'm familiar with) and I'm sure their standards are equally high.

The bowling alley is a BowlPlex and is fantastic, but is more pricey than your average Super Bowl.

Cineworld at Xscape is exactly as you would expect, apart from the fact that this one is HUGE!

If you're looking for a shopping experience, you should probably visit Junction 32. It's a 30 second walk over the road, and packed with a variety of good stores. I'm not saying that Ark, Ellis Brigham or any of the various sporting stores aren't acceptable. Just that Xscape advertises itself as 'The Ultimate Entertainment Destination', NOT 'The Ultimate Shopping Destination'.

In a nutshell, you'd be silly not to give your nearest Xscape a try. After all- it doesn't cost a penny to go in and have a look around!

This is a great place to visit whatever the weather.


The main focus is the skiing, which is on REAL snow. Don't ask me how they make it, but they do! There are also numerous restaurants, a cinema, several sports shops and other sporty things like climbing walls.


Good for families with different interests: my husband often goes skiing while I slink off to the large Outlet shopping village next door, and we meet for lunch in Chiquitos or Pizza Express. There's a good kids play area too although parents have to stay as it isn't a creche. There's crazy golf too (indoor) but I've never tried it. Sounds fun though!


Free parking, which in my opinion contains far too many disabled spaces as most of them are always empty, compared to the number of parent & toddler spaces, which are always full! Probably because everyone parks in them without kids though. Or maybe the times of day I visit. Anyway, only a minor point - otherwise this is a great place to visit. Pricey though!