It’s always amazing to get to spend some time exploring what is on our doorstep and a few years back we made our first trip to Wollaton Hall & Deer Park and enjoyed the visit.
COVID hit and we then next had a chance to go back. So this year we were lucky enough to get some time off this festive period to do something as a family and we headed to see the Christmas At Wollaton event on the last Friday before Christmas.
I am not going to sugarcoat things so firstly I need to cover the price. There are stage ticketing prices depending on the time of day and I would say for a family it can be slightly costly for an activity. Especially if you then spend in the gift shops and Christmas market on site.
Parking also needs to be paid for onsite at the gift shops for £3 this is on top of your entry tickets.
When we arrived parking was slightly chaotic but we were directed to the car park nearest the entrance. After a day of full rain there wasn’t a dry bit of flooring throughout the visit so please do make sure if you go that you wear some sturdy waterproof footwear.
As we walked up to the entrance it was fair to say the light display looked amazing with the hall lit up purple against the night sky adding to the even more dramatic view of this beautiful hall.
Once through the entrance, we followed the beautifully lit pathways to each main area.
There are several areas that set out to take photos but due to the sheer number of people, there were some massive queues of people waiting so we did skip around the first couple and found space to take our own photos in other areas.
There was the most spectacular display of boats that was accessed by a wooden walkway which was was utterly breathtaking but it was slightly spoilt by the jam of people it caused and no way to get round it. For me there should have been wider walk ways or several photo stations along the route so people could keep the flow moving.
Joshua and Jacob decided they wanted to use the firepits that were located in front of the giant christmas display which was a really nice idea but was disappointed that each kebab skewer with 4 marsmallows on was £3 each so felt £6 for the kids to hold over a fire for 2 minutes and it be done in less than 2 minutes was a little steep on the price.
The main tree display that lit up the hall was by far my most favourite and there was plenty of spaces to take photos from every angle which was nice so it felt more relaxing and since the light show for this lasted a few minutes we were able to watch the whole thing and get some amazing photos.
Overall we totally loved the display but after spending the best part of £80 on tickets, £3 parking and £6 on marshmallows for a fairly costly 2 hours it wouldnt be somewhere we would like to visit every year. Last year we visted Rufford Abbeys light spectacular and it was cheaper, had free parking and I felt it was more widely laid out so there was no pushing and people getting squashed all together. There were also marshalls located around the event to help create flow where needed. All of which werent at Wollaton, which was a shame as this probably tainted my feelings toward Wollerton.
Towards the end there was an option to go on a ferris wheel and a traditional old ride but these were also chargable so we didnt partake.
It was nice to see the gift shops were open but the courtyard was quite dark in comparisson to where the wooden huts were the food and drink kiosks where. There were some lovely little picnic areas for people to sit and eat but not enough of them for everyone to take a rest and sit and eat or buy a drink and sit so maybe a few more seating options in the courtyard could help this?
The kids totally enjoyed the visit and I personally enjoyed the visit but there were elements I thought could have been done better with the customer experiance as the top prioity instead of it feeling a little like we were being fleeced from the moment we booked tickets.
Obviously everyone views of something are relative to them and these were just my personal views. I am not sure we would be looking to return here for this event unfortunatly. However are looking forward to visiting the location again as a family in the spring.
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