BeWILDerwood Is Open For 2019!

Hurrah! BeWILDerwood is OPEN for 2019 and our little Rocknrollerbaby posse couldn’t be happier! We went down this week to check out what’s new in the land of Boggles and Twiggles for the season! It’s February half term and that means the gates will be open every single day for this week before they softly open at weekends only until the 5th of April – But they’re back, they’re back and boy we had another great day as always! Whoop, whoop! Fun in the forest anyone?!

Now for those of you not in the know (what bog have you been hiding in?), BeWILDerwood is the brain child of author Tom Blofeld who turned his family estate into this magical park bringing his children’s stories about Boggles and Twiggles to life. Literally to life! My children fully believe that Boggles live in all bogs and Twiggles in the trees. They have invested fully in the belief that there is a vegetarian Crocklebog called Mildred, the Thornyclod spider and her many shoes create potions and there’s a not AWFUL witch called Hazel about the place. They also KNOW that there’s a whole population of Grubbles who darn their socks and dye them red with Grubble juice berries! And… When they visit BeWILDerwood they are always mindful that this is their home, that they are visitors inside story books that they love and there’s something a little bit more than magic about that don’t you think?!

With tiny houses in the trees and marshes it’s hard not to jump on this belief as a grown up and little walkways over the marshy bogs have elements of fairy tale at every turn. This is all before you reach the park with fantastic zip wires, awesome slides, mazes (in the sky AND on the ground), tents for Twiggle twirling, crafting and dancing, a story telling stage, an area to build dens in the forest, tree top walk ways, Toddlewood areas for tiny Boggles and much more in between!

What I love about this place so much (aside from all the thought that’s gone into it) is that it’s so accessible for all. Babies, children with disabilities, adults… Everyone is welcome here and with a whole playground for accessibility which welcomes ALL children to play it’s just so inclusive. If there’s a big slide then there’s a little one near by and even the zip wires have a Toddlewood area with tiny zips for babies! It’s also great that there are no hidden costs – no extras for craft materials or even to have your face painted! What you pay on the gate is what you pay all day!

And at every season they make a really big effort to make it a little bit extra special! We love Halloween week at BeWILDerwood the most – I mean we love them all but there’s something truly special about the Glorious Glowing Lantern Parade that we HAVE to say is our favourite however… We think opening season with the Boggle Wish Bonfire comes a close second! The fire burns all day and all you have to do is make a wish for someone else, roll the paper wish inside a pine cone and shoot it down the tunnel into the fire. Last year Florence made a special wish for a lady in Australia and it cemented a firm friendship for her and us – this year they all made lovely wishes again and we just adore this!

And if that’s not enough for you then there’s even a new area opened up just by the tunnels and Sky Maze! Florence came away saying it’s her new favourite and we all spent ages climbing and having fun at the Towering Treetop Tangles!

Now… I have written other posts about my top tips for visiting BeWILDerwood but for this time of year we’d say the best tips are: Wrap u warm with layers – when the sunshine comes out and you’re running around you will want to take some off but the chill is very present so don’t get caught out! I often say take the boat tour at the beginning of the day to avoid queues but find that February half term sees people go home earlier than they otherwise might so if you’re a die hard stay all day kind like me then leave it as an end of the day treat and walk straight on! And don’t worry about making packed lunches – the food at BeWILDerwood is DELICIOUS and inexpensive. Jimmy ALWAYS has a hot dog (£4.50) and he even has his picture in the BeWILDerwood leaflet eating one while Florence chooses chili nachos every single time!

We’re never totally thrilled that a day at BeWILDerwood is over which is why I thoroughly recommend buying an annual pass. I write a post not so long back on the best family annual passes in Norfolk and of course BeWILDerwood features. Ours has actually lapsed for the minute but we will definitely be buying one again at some point soon!

Until the next time BeWILDerwood!

For tickets and booking please see www.bewilderwood.co.uk.

We were invited as guests of BeWILDerwood.