Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland Review
Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland
York Designer Outlet, York
22 November 2014 – 4 January 2015
www.yorkshireswinterwonderland.com
Reviewed by Jenny Seymour
What a lovely family day we have just returned from at the Yorkshire Winter Wonderland. From the moment we arrived, the staff were really helpful.
First we had our session on the “Ice Factor!” The changing hut was very clean and organised for putting on your skates and handing over your shoes. Everyone took their first tentative steps onto the ice – all grabbing the rails for their first go around the rink! But by the end of the session, my boys were going around themselves and loved it. Wrap up warm though, it is very wet when you fall, as the ice seemed to melt through the session, which left puddles in certain areas. There is a machine which goes round and cleans up the ice ready for each session though.
The tickets were £9.95 for adults and £8.95 for kids, but you could buy a family ticket for £34.
The children in our party were 5, 6 and 7 years. The 5 year old could use a penguin (luckily not a real one a la John Lewis!!) to guide him around and this enabled him to gain confidence a lot more quickly. These penguins were £2 to hire for the session. The older two were too tall for the penguins though and so it was the first time they had skated unaided. They were very nervous at first, but there are at least 3 skate marshals in high-vis jackets on with each session and they quickly zoom around the rink helping those who need it. We called on them quite a bit to give tips to our little ones and their words of praise seemed to bolster the children much more than my words of encouragement (must be because I was still teetering myself!?!?).
For the more eager of you, there are skate school and masterclass sessions available and evening sessions would be nice all lit up too.
For those not skating, you can watch from one side of the rink, or from the large windows in the PapaKitchen. It was a dry day for our session, so my husband and baby watched from the side and waved as we skated past. It made me laugh that it was often the mums on the ice with the kids and the dads taking the photos!
Next, we went to PapaKitchen for a much needed hot chocolate (with cream and marshmallows of course!), lunch and a warm up (and dry out!). The PapaKitchen café was great. It didn’t feel like a temporary café at all – with wood decking inside and authentic wooden benches. There were blankets and beanbags and even a “create your own snow scene selfie”, with lots of dressing up clothes. The food, hot chocolate and mulled wine was nice and the winter vegetable soup was really warming (with a warm crusty roll to go with it – yum!). My one gripe here was that there were no high chairs. There is a portaloo next to the kitchen, but otherwise you have to go inside the outlet to go to the toilet, which was a bit of a trip with the kids. Whilst we were there, they were setting up a reserved table for a child’s party –what a great idea for a unique party venue!
When we were all rested, it was off to meet the big man himself – Father Christmas in the grotto. BIG TIP – If you pre-book, you avoid all the queues, but don’t worry if you didn’t – you can join the line and wait your turn. There was a moving Rudolph, which was a great photo opportunity in the queue, but if you pre-book, you do actually miss that.
The camera was down the day we went, but they do offer gifts you can buy with your souvenir photo of Santa (baubles, snowstorms, key rings). We went into the little house with the elves (who were really friendly and made us all feel welcome!) and Father Christmas was great. The boys all seemed to gel with him and he chatted away so personably.
Finally, it was time for our speedway ride – this was a traditional speedway ride from 1938 which had been refurbished and renewed. It looked amazing, and boy was it fast! Having said that, it was suitable for all the children in our party and they came off having enjoyed it and laughing.
We also tried the dodgems, but left the rest of the fairground rides today. You purchase tokens for 50p and then the rides are all various tokens (the speedway was 4 tokens per person and the dodgems 5). There are also a few little merry go rounds and trains for the younger visitor and a sizzler (twister type ride) for the not so faint hearted.
As we were leaving, we took a walk past the festive wooden huts, which line the path to the Outlet Centre. It tells the story of the Nutcracker and was lovely to read and to see. Each hut had a little quiz question for the children to answer too, to make it more interactive. Our kids liked it in the “sweet land” hut best.
All in all a great family trip to get you in the festive mood and also a great way to keep kids occupied on an otherwise boring Christmas shopping day. One of you could even dash round the shops as the other is with the kids in the wonderland.
Rating: 4.5/5
For more information or to book tickets visit www.yorkshireswinterwonderland.com.
York Designer Outlet, St. Nicholas Avenue, Fulford, York, YO19 4TA | 01904 682700
