Birmingham's Winter Funland

A Winter Funland just half an hour from the centre of Birmingham? It's becoming a tradition for the NEC to host this fun family event. I headed there with my family to experience a day of fun last Christmas and below I share my 10 top tips about visiting.

Choose a date that suits your family. A pre-Christmas visit will definitely make your family feel festive. (You can't help it when there are elves everywhere you look!) Before Christmas, Santa's grotto is open so you can visit Mr Claus in person as part of your experience. Post-Christmas there are likely to be discounts on tickets. We got a great Groupon deal and

greatly appreciated some indoor fun on a cold January day.

Take a photo of the 'show times' board. The shows are excellent and included as part of your ticket price. People queue in advance to get into the shows. So maybe park a grown up in the queue so you get the show that you want and a choice of seat.

Under 3s are free! This is brilliant. We saw lots of families with just under 3s. There is plenty for them to do. My youngest daughter was 2 when we visited and she was worn out! One of her favourite things was the rocking horse area. She tried every single horse and

the lady staffing it was absolutely delightful with her.

Take your push chair! It's a long walk to car park or station and the halls in the NEC are very large too. There are plenty of parking spaces and if nothing else,
the pushchair is good place to store all your outdoor coats.

Take your own snacks and drinks. There are plenty of food options available
but it's expensive for a family and not always the healthiest.

My girls loved the free craft area. I wish we'd done the crafts earlier as you can leave them there to dry and collect later. (Rather than having to carry wet painted items home like me!)

Head straight to the ice skating! It's a very popular activity and has the

longest and slowest queue as you have to wait for a 'session' to end.

We paid for nothing extra on top of our tickets and some food we wanted. Your child can have endless goes on rides that they like. They are totally allowed to just keep joining the back of the queue. Up until 24^thDecember, you decide whether you want a pre-bookable Santa slot. There are also some 'games' such as hoopla which you can choose to spend money on. You don't have to as there are so many other things to keep children occupied.

Kids should wear shoes that are easy to get on and off for all the inflatables.

You and your children will be exhausted by the end of your visit.

It's a busy day and you'll probably want to end it with a family movie night.

To book and find out more check out the Winter Funland website:

https://www.winterfunland.com

Winter Funland is open in Birmingham from 10th December to 2nd January.

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