Jungle-themed play area that's a town centre 'staple' finalist in competition
An adventure play centre that has held children 'in awe' for nearly 10 years is vying for Best Indoor Family Entertainment 2025.
Amazonia is based in The Vaults at Bolton town centre's Market Place. It has been chosen by readers as a top ten finalist in Bolton News' competition.
Its rainforest-themed play areas and arcades have proven popular with children of all ages – along with 18 holes of 'Lost Valley' adventure golf.
But in 2019, it nearly closed for good.
Jonathan Sangster, owner of Amazonia, said: 'It closed when the owners went out of business and we were all made redundant.
'But we were given the opportunity to reopen it for the Christmas period [that year] as a Santa's Grotto to raise money for Bolton Children's ward. That was supposed to be it.
'I felt strongly that Amazonia was a great place for families to visit that we needed to do everything we could to get it back up and running.
'We got such a great response from the Santa's Grotto that we thought it was viable to keep it going and [that's what] we did.
Jonathan Sangster (Image: Public)
'Coronavirus hit in March 2020. We shut again and thought that would be the end of it.
'But again, customers stuck with us and kept returning. Since then, we've gone from strength to strength.
'Amazonia has been open for around 10 years now. A lot of people have been coming here for a long time.
'There are people who came when we initially opened as teenagers that are now bringing their children in, which is great to see.
'We feel like we're a real staple of the town centre.'
(Image: Public)
When asked what it felt like to be nominated, Jonathan said: 'I was very excited. The team do a great job so it's nice to see it's been noticed by our customers.
'We've been lucky having some great staff over the years who go above and beyond for people.'
Now, Amazonia boasts a new under-5s play area and have refitted a large indoor play area for children aged four to 14.
(Image: Public)
Jonathan said: 'We've got something for everybody, from the jungle café which serves hot and cold food to mini golf and arcade machines.
'A jungle-themed experience like this is unusual, too. There's nothing like it in Bolton. When kids come, they're in awe of the place.'
To vote pick up a copy of today's paper.
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