Yorkshire Winter Wonderland Review – Days Out Diaries

Written by our North East Days Out Diaries reviewer - Jade Mccrossan

Where better to go at Christmas than a winter wonderland?...So off to the grand ol' city of York we went! On arrival at the large carpark we couldn't miss the bright lights of the ice rink and fun fair, nestled next to the entrance of the York designer outlet. We quickly collected our wristbands from the festive cabin, along with an additional skating aid for little Eddie, only £3 for a penguin.

After a very short wait, in fact the time it took us to put on our skates, we were on the ice and wobbling about! It only took a few minutes before we started to get the hang of it... Well some better than others, after all it was the kids first time on the ice, and me and Gary hadn't been since we were kids.

However, we were all loving the experience even though it did start to rain quite heavily, it just added to the fun. The whole place looked amazing, well lit up, great music and a large Christmas tree right in the middle of the rink. There were also some assistants on the ice whizzing around and scooping up the less experienced of us. The hour flew over and although soaking wet we all had a great time!

Our voucher included four hot chocolates and biscuits from "The Chalet" which was right next to the rink, so we took our soggy bums in to warm up and enjoy our hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream. There were also lots of other drinks and snacks available the Chalet, which had lots of wooden benches and tables and felt very cosy and festive inside. The large glass windows overlooked the rink so you could enjoy the next group earning their own soggy bums!

Once warmed up and full of hot chocolate, we headed to the funfair, to enjoy a ride (also included in the voucher) the minis chose a carousel which was great fun. The funfair also had dodgems, swings, train ride and a hook a duck stall. There was also a Santa's grotto, which looked amazing. It was surrounded by Christmas trees and Santa had elves helping him out. We had already seen Santa so didn't visit, however it was only £5 per child which we thought was a very good price!

After all that fun and excitement, we spent a couple of hours in the York designer outlet on retail therapy and a bite to eat. We will definitely be making this a yearly visit and looking at doing a lot more skating in between. Top tip, wrap up warm and prepare to get wet it's all part of the fun!

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