Good Friday fun at Snetterton Park!

My Easter weekend started off in a somewhat traditional fashion of being stuck in traffic on the way to Norfolk. We were not as some of you might assume on our way for a romantic weekend or a camping holiday though, we were on our way to a....model shop!

If you know me, you know that this is probably one of the last places I would have wished to be spending my Good Friday, but I was playing the part of dutiful wife and mummy.

Two and a half hours after setting off on what I was told would be a forty-five minute journey (I had only been told that we were going to 'a model shop'), we arrived at the slightly underwhelming Snetterton Park. The reason we were there was because my husband had been given a glowing review of the place by a colleague and thought it would be a nice day out.  I am so glad that H likes to sleep in the car and slept most of the journey.

We walked through the almost empty car park to the warehouse-looking building, which from the outside looked tiny compared to what we had been told, and went straight to the Coffee Shop/Restaurant because H needed to be changed and fed before we ventured any further.  The changing facilities are extremely basic and could definitely do with updating and I had to 'go' with the cubicle door open because there was no designated cubicle for mum and baby, which is a huge bugbear of mine.  I feel that a lot of changing facilities are an afterthought and this abundantly clear with the little effort that is made with them.

Having changed H, he needed to be fed, so we made our way to the Restaurant and ordered a coffee each which was extremely strong and bitter but was pretty cheap at least and proceeded to feed H in his buggy because the one highchair they have was in use.

With H fed and changed, we set off into the chilly shop and were met with a huge array of toys and models.  I have to say that I was very impressed with the variety of children's toys because I had assumed it would be stocked with more adult 'toys'.  We were greeted by a large Thomas the Tank and huge pair of dinosaurs made entirely of Lego which H gazed at in awe and provided a good photo op, and the further we strolled, the more we realised that this place is a LOT bigger than it first seems.  They have an overhead railway with a working train and lots of different models put up to display what their goods are capable of, however a lot of them have broken or missing parts and are quite dusty on closer inspection.  This is not something that children will notice though and I witnessed many of them staring at awe at said displays.

As we wandered through, I did notice that there were very few members of staff around, and did consider that this was because it was a Bank Holiday.  Hubby then pointed out that this should have been one of their busiest times-especially considering the traffic jam on the way there!  On the subject of staff though, the ones we met were extremely sweet and helpful and seemed knowledgeable about the products they were selling, and the restaurant staff provided us with a jug of hot water to warm H's bottle before we left with a cheery smile, so quality really was better than quantity in this instance.



Another good point is that I feel that there really is something for most people to be interested in there-even me!  Be it puzzles, train sets, toys, RC cars, gardening products, nail varnish and hand cream or Yankee Candles.  I even found some craft 'bits' for my nappy cakes, which cheered me right up!



We had decided that we would choose a toy for H for his Easter present as he isn't allowed Dairy products and settled on a wooden tow truck made by "Wonderworld".  It is not a brand that we have come across before and it is lovely.  Having read the accompanying leaflet, I am pleased to see that this company help to replant two trees for every one used for these toys and seem to have a great knowledge of child development and how to spark the imagination of children of any age, and at a pretty good price too.

Having made our purchases and had a little play on the Formula One car made of Lego, we decided to let H burn off some steam in the toddler play area.  This area is well stocked with toys, and a pretty good size, however the toys are quite dirty and tired-looking which would probably be understandable anywhere other than a toy/model shop!!

On the whole, we had a lovely day at Snetterton Park as we are firm believers in a day out being what you make it, and we are very happy with the purchases we made there, but unfortunately it didn't quite live up to the claims on the website or in the leaflets, despite the fab array of merchandise.  It conveys an image of a venue that used to be great, but that has been forgotten and got a bit dusty along the way.  If I had older children however, I think that it would be the perfect place to take them to spend their Christmas or birthday money and allow them to let off some steam.

And H even slept most of the way home too!  Perfect end to a fun day!!!

Disclaimer:  I have not been asked or paid for this review-I just did it for fun!