Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park (review)

If you're trying to decide whether Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park in London is worth a visit, then I'd totally say yes! After four years of trying to meet up at this annual festive event with my blogging friend Steph (who blogs at Was This In The Plan?), we finally made it this year and I LOVED it!

Hyde Park is pretty easy to get to in London, with lots of tube and bus links. This is the scene which greeted us at the North entrance - so many more rides and stalls as you wander further in though. We were amazed by how big the whole site was - you could easily get lost in there after a mulled wine or two we reckon! That's where the Winter Wonderland app comes in handy - there's a map on it, as well as times of shows and lots of other useful information. My top tip would be to go for opening time, preferably on a school day! It was so nice and quiet, and even by 2pm it hadn't started to feel crowded. We've heard reports that it can be packed at evenings and weekends though - fine for older children but not much fun for the young ones when it gets like that I suspect.

We headed into the Magical Ice Kingdom first of all, and we were amazed by all the ice sculptures. You can see more of them in my video clip at the end; they are very impressive.

Towards the end there is even an ice slide which you can take a ride on, and a throne to sit on - how could we resist?! It was cold in there though - I'd recommend thermal gloves if you like to linger and look at all the detail.

There are plenty of places to get food and drink, from sausages to garlic bread and pretzels to crepes. I had a delicious burger for lunch washed down with another mulled wine, and followed it up with a chocolate fruit kebab for dessert; fruit = healthy, right?!

After lunch we headed off to the big top to watch a performance by Zippos Circus. Acts included a roller skater on a trapeze, a juggler, a magician, acrobats and a particularly entertaining fireman on a ladder - you'll have to watch my video to see what I mean...

The circus show lasted about 45 minutes and was the perfect combination of skill and slapstick - something to lift the spirits if the mulled wine hasn't already done that job....

The two Stephs at Zippos Circus Big Top!

Winter Wonderland is totally free to enter and wander about but the key attractions do of course cost money (well seriously, they're not going to run it for free, are they?!). The picture below gives you an idea of the main event charges (you may have to zoom in - or you can visit the website, hydeparkwinterwonderland.com).

There's a big ice skating rink and big German style bier tents too, and there are dozens of rides ranging from teacups and swing seats, to the mega Munich looper roller coaster and of course the big wheel. 

I took so many photos that I couldn't possibly fit them all into a blog post - so please do see my video below. It's short but should give you a flavour of what's on offer. Look out for the super high drop ride, the giant moving man with bird, the clever juggler at the circus who only dropped his pieces once or twice, and me showing Steph how to ride an ice slide with style...

As I mentioned above, it's free to enter Winter Wonderland; we were gifted tickets for two of the main attractions in order to give our honest feedback.

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