Boggles and Twiggles at BeWILDerWood

BeWILDerwood characters, courtesy of Google Images

A couple of weeks ago I recieved a call from a good friend of mine asking whether we would like to join them at Bewilderwood for a day out. Always happy to go on family days out we jumped at the chance. 

For those of you who don't know, BeWILDerwood is a Norfolk Broads based Treehouse Adventure Park. 

Its set in a woodland area and is the setting for the book, 'A Boggle at BeWILDerwood' by local children's author Tom Blofeld, this gives the whole place a mystical and intriguing atmosphere.

Parents are encouraged to become Twiggles and Boggles for the day alongside their children, they are encouraged to stop being a grown up and to play, to climb, to build dens and to swing or slide their way to fun!

The park is open 10am-5.30pm daily during the main season

2016 Admission prices

Prices are based on height as there's a few bits and bobs in our park that require longer arms and legs (like our big zip wires)!

 

Born to BeWILD (Under 92cm) Free

Almost WILD (92-105cm) £13.50

BeWILD Now (over 105cm) £15.50

Used to BeWILD (65 years+) £9.00

Food and drink are available throughout the park to purchase but families are equally welcome to bring a picnic with them. 

We arrived shortly after 10am on the Sunday morning and made our way through to the ticketing booth. It was pretty quite so the main booth wasn't actually open, but their were two smaller ones within the entrance gates and we were given our wrist bands and through quickly. The children were each given a pencil and treasure hunt card. These gave you clues to find in the park, once you found these you had to make a crayon rubbing on the card. At the end you present these on the way out and children are awarded with a button badge. 

We decided to jump on the boat ride that you can take in and out of the main area, last time we visited this had been really busy but today there was no queue. The driver of the boat was very cheerful and helped our friend on with her pram. Once we were aboard we set sail and en route the driver told us the story of BeWILDerwood and introduced us to Mildred the Crocklebog (watch her she likes to spray visitors with water!) and about Swampy, one of the main characters found in the park and in the stories. For those who prefer to walk through there is the Treacherous Trail which is wheelchair and buggy friendly. 

Mildred was ready to say Good morning!

We disembarked at the other end and here we found the Snack Shack on the jetty and a map of the park. and found ourselves in the first play area with Toddlewood Valley, The Broken Bridge and Tricky Tunnels. We all enjoyed ourselves here and our children being that little bit older and more confident were soon running off ahead and then cheering to us to catch up!

After a good play in this area we ventured off to find the Wobbly Wires and Slippery Slopes. The girls had great fun zooming along on the zip wires and the giant slides were enjoyed by all. We noticed large swings with bars across the front in all of the playareas and signs up telling you that these were accessible for disable users, I thought it was great that a few alterations to the equipment meant it could be enjoyed by all. 

We spotted some curiosities high up in the trees and learnt that this was the Twiggle Village, the Twiggles live up high, whereas the Boggles are ground loving residents. 

We happened upon the Muddle Maze and the girls had fun rushing around to see who could be the first to reach the centre.

Whilst the kids (young and old!) were enjoying themselves here I ventured off to find refreshments. I needed warming up! I found the Not-so-Large Yummy Yurt, the Large Yummy Yurt and the Munch Bar in this area and treated us to drinks and chocolate bars. I was a bit surprised by the price; a regular coffee, a bottle of water and 4 chocolate bars cost £12.75! The coffee and water were priced and were comparable to buying out in most places, however the chocolate bars had no prices displayed. 

Soon it was time for lunch and we headed over to the Story Telling area on the other side of the park, stopping a few times to allow the children to play, at this point the Dad's were sent of to get the picnics from the car. Despite there being food available to buy onsite we had opted to take a picnic. But I did snapshot the menus for you! (I've included these in a large size than usual so that you can see the items and costs clearly.)

We settle down in time to see the StoryTeller whilst we ate, this was a fun interactive show where the audience are invited to dress up and to join in with the story. The show only lasted 15 minutes or so but gave us some entertainment to enjoy when having our picnic.

     

After this it was time to head over to the den building area, the kids had been desperate to get to this all day! A large open area with branches of all sizes scattered about for people to build their own dens. They had lots of fun rushing about collecting their props and struts! 

(They had a good try but there was a fantastic den already built by someone else which was too tempting in the end and they gave up on their own to play in there!) 

Next to the Den Building area was the Sky Maze. As our friend was sitting this one out with her baby and buggy I stayed back with her to chat whilst Chris and the girls had fun racing to the top. Its a large wooden structure with ramps and steps to the top, however, all isn't as it seems as you race along one platform and you can see your destination, you are suddenly faced with a barricade and have to rethink your route.

At BeWILDerwood they also offer free face painting, During this visit they had a frog theme going on with it and our girls decided they didn't fancy it but our friends son was keen when he spotted it next to the Big Hat (craft area). I think he makes a pretty cute frog! 

The craft area has different themes depending on when you go, this time it was swimming fish on sticks!

Before we knew it, it was time to leave. we had decided to walk out but as we past the boat dock we saw that there was no queue so we decided to take the boat back. Again we had a friendly and cheerful driver who made the trip fun for all. 

So what did we think?

BeWILDerwood is a fun place to visit and its great that there is something like this in Norfolk. It always features high on tourist "Top Tens" etc and we can see why. We have taken our friends from "Here Come the Hoopers" here before and they certainly seemed to enjoy themselves.

I like that BeWILDerwood has varying themes throughout the season and if you follow them on Facebook you can see their upcoming events. They also offer Birthday Party packages. 

The only down side was it's a little pricey for what you get, however you can fill a whole day there so it's comparable to other attractions and for us the food, we just prefer to take picnics. 

So why not check it out for yourself and share your day out with us!

Jaimexx