Winter Illuminations at Stockeld Park

Stockeld Park is located just outside of Wetherby near York and was really easy to get to by car using your phone sat nav and clearly signposted in the local area as you approach. Parking on site is more than ample and they have helpful parking attendants on site to help make the most of the space. 

We arrived around 11.30am, you need to book a time slot online to enter the park and it’s open from 10am until 9pm but there really is so much to do we wanted the whole day to explore! It was super quick booking in and getting our wristbands to gain entry, just make sure you have your order number to hand.

There’s a few different ticket options, but we opted for the basic illuminations, forest and maze package and we added on tickets to the Playhive, which I would really recommend! My eldest loves mazes so this was really the main attraction for us. But you can upgrade to the gold or silver package on the websites to have all the extras included. There is a handy table online to show what each ticket option includes.

There are a few maps dotted about to help you find your way and loads of cool little installations to keep the little ones entertained as you make your way through. One of these is the model TARDIS shown in my photos, this was really cool!

There is also a cute little castle you can climb to get a good view of the maze spread out around you. If you manage to find the centre of the maze there is a huge globe installation that tells you cool facts. I had to drag my eldest out in the end to explore the rest of the park but he made me promise we could come back once it was dark.

We headed over to the central Play Park after this which is farm-themed. The boys loved pretending to drive the tractor climbing frames and rolling down the little hill here!

Our Playhive session was booked for 1:40 and again we had to force the children out of the farm play park, they were having so much fun!

You need to accompany your littles into the play area, so everyone needs to take off their shoes and coats. They have handy lockers to pop your things in while you play. I’m not exaggerating when I say this is the best soft play we have ever visited. It’s huge! And the areas are brilliantly themed!

Kit loved the space-themed areas and spent ages inside a little spacecraft with lights. All the climbing frames are huge and more than big enough for the adults to enjoy too! Your session lasts for 90 minutes but we could have easily spent a whole day there. For me, this was the best part and definitely worth booking as an extra!

My kids especially love the big book of books slide and the teapot slide! The lights are magical and with the sun setting it was so Christmassy and perfect!

Thomas thought it was extra fun getting to play in the play parks after dark! Towards the end of the walk, there is a light show across the lake which you cannot miss!

Although we tried ice skating last year and loved it, we didn’t find time this year as the kids chose to visit the maze again in the dark before we left.

You can also book to visit Santa’s grotto, this was booked up during our visit but we got some glimpses of the grotto experience and it looked magical! I’ll definitely be booking this next year! Stockeld Park also runs a Christmas pantomime in their own indoor theatre, this is included in the gold and silver ticket package.

If you’re after hot food you can pick up a breakfast bun or pastries from the on-site cafe or enjoy a tasty Pizza in the Playhive Cafe. There are also plenty of outside and inside picnic benches if you’d prefer to bring your own packed lunch.

It’s a long time out in the cold so don’t forget your hats and gloves! I dressed the kids in a base layer, joggers and jumpers then wellies, coats, hats and gloves so they were toasty the whole time.

I popped some leggings on under my jeans and wore a few layers myself. There’s nothing worse than having to leave early because you’re starting to feel the chill.

While I sent the kids off to choose one gift each I managed to browse alone and secretly bought some stocking fillers for the big day. They also sell essentials like Calpol at a really reasonable price, hopefully, you won’t need it but it was a lifesaver as our youngest was feeling unwell in the afternoon.