Winter Wonderland Manchester Review

We had a wonderful time at Winter Wonderland last year and could not wait to return to the event this year.  We wondered if it would be as much fun visiting a second year in a row and I can honestly say it was even more fun.  Here’s our Winter Wonderland Manchester Review.

Winter Wonderland 

Winter Wonderland is the largest indoor Christmas theme park and is a wonderland packed with rides and offering families a great day out.   Held within EventCity, the attraction has more then 40 family rides and attractions including new rides for 2015, and all included in one ticket price.  

This year there was additional new stage featuring fabulous festive shows including a dazzling ice princess show and the Little Mermaid will serenade visitors with her fishy tales of under the sea.  There is a brand new addition for 2015 with The Magical Van Buren Show, a fun & unique mix of magic, illusions, escapology, circus skills and a few surprises thrown in.

What we thought

We arrived early this year and the children loved to meet the stilt walkers, fairies and watching the amazing singers greeting everyone into the  made sure we noted the times of the shows before we set off inside.  I loved the little touch of the snow falling as you made your way into the attraction, the little adventurers were super excited by this and it really gets you in the festive spirit.

We went with little adventurers aged 9,6,4 and 2 years old and there was different things that they each wanted to have different rides.  As the rides are all placed close together it was great to have them sat on different rides and being able to watch them all.  The ride selection is great from lots of fairground rides for the younger children to a few rollercoasters for the older ones.  Maya was disappointed she was a little short for the big ride but as there was so many other options, we did not let it dampen her spirits and moved on!

The shows are at various times during the sessions so make sure you know what time these are.  We watched both the Sooty show and the circus.  The Sooty show deserves a special mention here as it was one of the most interactive shows that I have seen for young children.  The assistant who starts the show really gets the children dancing and on their feet and it was so lovely to see the children all dancing along!  The show itself was really good and as I looked around the children were really captivated by it.  We also watched the circus and the acts are amazing.  My favourite was the clothes changing act with the finale being one of the most impressive optical illusions I have ever seen.  The acts of the circus are aimed at older children so the youngest (like my boys) may get a little fidgety towards the end.  However, both shows were the ideal length and means that you can use these as a good way of breaking up the day with the children having a little sit down in between all the rides.

What we love:

It is indoors.  I do love getting the kids out and about for walks and fresh air but it’s refreshing to have a mini theme park and adventure land indoors especially in winter.  I loved that the children were able to run from one ride to the next and not worry about the cold, rain etc. It made my life a lot easier.

There are so many rides. Event city is huge and Winter Wonderland have 40 rides inside the space.  The children will literally be spoilt for choice on which rides to sit on.

There is something for all the family: winter wonderland covers off all children from the age of 1-12 really well and there is enough choice for them all!The queue times are short. We are theme park junkies but one major pet hate especially with young children.  We never waited more then a couple of minutes for any of the rides the children chose and it means that you can easily pack it loads of rides into your time.

The shows are lots of fun! The circus is the perfect length and perfect for older children from 5+ whilst the Sooty show was one of the most fun for children.

You can bring your own food: we usually eat before but attending events like this I like that you can bring your own snacks which is perfect as after hour or so it helps to keep the children happy and avoiding a meltdown or two!

Things to be aware of:

Last year one of our highlights was the snow globe but they didn’t have that this year, which was a shame as i thought that was a great wintery touch to the event.

Presents aren’t included in the visit to Santa and are payable at an extra cost of £3.

There are lots of fun fair games so your children (like mine) may want to try their luck on lots of things!

Tips for winter wonderland

Arrive early, there isn’t much queue time for each ride but I would recommend that you are there and checked in before the start time. So you can pack in as much as fun in the time.

Bring water. The children will be running around from ride to ride and if there are anything like my adventurers they will get thirsty really quickly.
We went in the evening and it was freezing outside.  However, inside it is nice and warm and add in the  running around our children were very hot and started to take off jumpers and coats.  I would dress appropriately for being indoors and hot children racing around.  It got very tiresome lugging lots of clothes around as they started taking off the layers.  There is a cloak room in the area at the entrance if you wished to use this.

Shoes, wear easy to wear shoes as they will be taking them off lots of times for bouncy castle and slides etc.

We had a fantastic evening at Winter Wonderland and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to families looking for a fun, family activity to do over the festive period.  There is so much to do, you will have a great time and most importantly very happy children 🙂