Snowdome Tamworth – Toboggan Day Ticket Family Fun

5th August 2019

DISCLOSURE: We were given complimentary admission and food voucher for the purpose of this review. All words, opinions and images are my own

With the summer holidays well under way, I am constantly finding ways to keep the kids amused. We were contacted by the folk at the Snowdome in Tamworth asking us if we wanted to have a family fun day with them. We had never been to the Snowdome at Tamworth before, but many friends have recommended it. We were gifted a Toboggan day ticket which includes three activities for you to enjoy all for just once price. The day ticket gives you admission to the inflatable swimming session, tobogganing and a mammoth two hour ice skating experience.

Snowdome Tamworth

Swimming

On arrival we headed to reception and got our wristbands for the day, Our first activity of the day was swimming and the session was 10-11.30am. The swimming pool has two separate pools – the larger pool one has the bigger inflatable and the smaller kids area has a mini inflatable and there’s also one slide. You need to be over 1.2m to ride on the slide and my girls are just shy of this so couldn’t go on. It was very busy when we went in meaning that the kids pool was very cramped but luckily my three like a challenge so we spent most of our time trying to crack the large inflatable – which only charlie managed to do successfully! It was great fun and really amusing trying to see each of us slip into the water.

Snowdome Tamworth

As it was so busy and the fact there was two pool evacuations due to teenagers going on the inflatable and not being able to swim, we got out after an hour in the pool. Obviously this can’t be helped as it;’s school holidays and it’s bound to be busy, but we still stayed a good our. We got changed and the changing rooms have free hairdryers, which we definitely needed to use as we were about to go onto the ice! Just be aware that there is no communal changing area for families, so split your towels/showers gels etc which I stupidly didn’t so had to go running out in my towel to shout my husband!

Lunch

Snowdome Tamworth

As we had a bit of time before our tobogganing session, we headed for lunch in the Aspen Food Company. The restaurant looks very new and modern, with cool snowboarding themed areas dotted around. They also show people doing some amazing tricks on TVs so the kids were occupied whilst eating. The restaurant also looks out onto the main slope, so we caught the end of the snowboarding session which was really cool to see.

Snowdome Tamworth

They have a good variety on the menu and do a separate kids menu too. My husband opted for the burger, Charlie and I had the fish and chips and the girls went for the goujons with fries. We ordered at the bar and our food came out really quickly and was super fresh, hot and tasty. The waiting staff were really friendly and attentive. I had the biggest fish in the world and think the food was excellent quality and value for money. It definitely filled our tummies after swimming, and prepared us for our busy afternoon on the ice. There is also a Starbucks upstairs where you can just have a snack and drink and this overlooks the ice skating area.

Snowdome Tamworth

Tobogganing

This was the activity we were all most excited about. I haven’t been tobogganing since I was a kid so it brought back lots of  wonderful memories. All children must be over 5 and at least a metre tall to be able to go tobogganing. Anyone under the age of 10 has to go in a toboggan cart with an adult.

Snowdome Tamworth

Our session was 12.30-1pm but you need to be there 15 minutes before to watch the safety video. There are lockers where you can put all your stuff, but you will need a 20p to use them. WE all wore our wellies, coats and gloves. I did think about putting on the girls waterproof trousers but we only got a little bit soggy and don’t think I’d bother with waterproofs in the future – just gloves as it does get cold!

After watching the video, you go through and are given a toboggan cart and off you go. Initially when I saw it was half an hour, I thought it should be longer but after doing it, I can confirm 30 minutes is perfect! You have to carry the toboggan on the two escalators which take you to the top of the slope then you have loads of fun bombing down! Charlie got the bug (spot him flying by below!) and raced around so we hardly saw him as the girls took a slower pace.

Snowdome Tamworth

Charlie came off and declared it the best fun ever! He could not stop raving about it and as he slips into teenage grumpy ways, it was so lovely to see him talking so excitedly and animated about something. It is definitely something he wants to go back and do, and I have been having a look at parties as I know he would love to come again with all his mates.

Snowdome Tamworth

Ice skating

Our ice skating session was 1.30-3.30pm. Skate hire is included in the price of your day ticket; skating aids can be hired for ea\n extra charge and cost £6 for 50 minutes. You can choose from a sit on seal, penguin or a polar bear which are all suited to different heights. There is a smaller rink just as you come out the doors and also a larger rink which goes round the back of the main rink. People who were more confident skaters tended to go round the back and do the larger circle.

Snowdome Tamworth

I always forget how tiring ice skating can be so I think I would have maybe had lunch after tobogganing and had an hour on the rink as I know there’s no way I’d have been able to push two kids round for two hours! I absolutely love ice skating but the boys in the family aren’t as keen or confident, but the girls slowly built up their confidence and we had lots of fun.

Snowdome Tamworth

Just be warned that there is a smaller snow play area next to the ice rink for smaller kids, but this costs extra and isn’t included in your day ticket price. It is £7.95 for juniors and £3.95 for adults. I think they should sign post it better that this is an additional charge, as we went to go in with our wristbands but the staff quickly refused us entry saying we had to pay more. I didn’t spot any visible signs with the charges and had said to the girls they could go in afterwards, but after finding out it’d cost an extra £32 for us all to go in for half an hour, and given how tired we were after skating, we probably wouldn’t even have stayed long, we decided against it.

Snowdome Tamworth

Verdict

We had a really great family dun day at the Snowdome in Tamworth. A toboggan day ticket costs £19.70 for juniors and £20.70 for adults. I looked locally and for us to go ice skating alone would cost £10 per adult. The fact you can do three activities, all under one roof that are such great fun for me as a parent is a winner. Having three kids, I always like to see places offer some sort of family ticket so would love to possibly see this an option which would definitely draw me in. When you weigh up the cost of doing these activities separately, plus add fuel, parking and lunch into the equation I know that to do these individually you would end up spending at least double the price and only fill an hour or so. We had a full day out and did something unusual in the tobogganing that the kids had never done before.

The Snowdome offers loads of different deals and activities, including a fun looking climbing wall area, skiing, snowboarding and tubing. I know this won’t be our last visit to the Snowdome and have already been eyeing up Santa’s Winter Wonderland which is on sale now. If you’rte looking for a great family fun day out in the Midlands this summer holiday then I definitely would recommend the Snowdome, as I know would my three children!

B xx

 

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