Days Out planning for 2017 in the Midlands

So a new year and time to look forward beyond the grey sky outside my window.

• This entry is not a rant or moan, it's just a commentary on my thoughts. 
• The prices are those published on line 09/01/07
• This entry does not compare like with like either
• I want to do all of these.

Some may know I have 7 children and so that's a family of 9 :)  and so a day out is not only a rarity and special event but also a test of logistics and planning. I wouldn't change it for the world.

The summer holiday is booked and we're looking forward to a return to Cornwall for the first time in 5 years having traveled round the uk.

So this year I have decided to create an excel sheet with the costs of days out and activities to do. To do this I have looked at prices for booking on line and tried to identify the cheapest way of doing it without any offers.

If all of 9 us do each activity once in 2017 the cost is £2238.69 , some of these will change as the year progresses and we miss-out on prices such as West midland Safari Park currently has a winter price etc. And there is a small repeat with Tamworth Snowdome as I have included the combi ticket as well as the individual prices.

each of attraction listed has a link to their website.

Attraction	Activity	Day out/single visit price for 9 of us
Alton Towers		£288.00
Drayton Manor Park		£260.00
Snow Dome	Combination  day ticket (tob, skate, swim)	£174.55
Go Ape		£174.00
Gullivers Kingdom		£127.60
West Midlands Safari		£127.00
Twycross Zoo		£126.60
Waterworld stoke		£122.49
Sealife centre B'ham		£102.00
Alton Towers waterpark		£102.00
Dudley Zoo		£94.00
Black Country Museum		£86.45
Jump Xtreme		£80.00
Snow Dome	Ice Skating	£78.75
Ash End Farm		£66.55
Snow Dome	Tobogganing	£61.25
Tiki Golf Star City		£48.20
Strykers		£47.00
Tamworth Castle		£46.50
Snow Dome	Swimming	£25.75
Wilnecote Leisure centre	Swimming, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday	£0.00
	total	£2,238.69

So the question is which ones do we not do and which ones are a must ?

Wow that was a tack and a half -

• I also wonder what I've done to get the individual prices for Snowdome activities cheaper than the combi ticket price, Ah yes I remember I used the age limits etc on different things to decide whether to include our 15 month old or not. 
• I have also had to apply some thought to other attraction such as at Gullivers Kingdom, is that child over 1.1m 
• Ash End Farm, would the 15 year be an adult ticket or would she want to have a bucket of feed
• Whats a junior and whats a student?
• Also why is Tamworth castle the only one that has 4 levels of charging, 2-4 years, 5-15 years, adult and concession? (I really should know this and will ask the question).

So lets say I can't afford or don't want to spend that much, what decisions do I make?

Alton Towers is the most expensive, but only £28 more than Drayton Manor and we have only been there once and Drayton Manor quite a few times. We like Drayton Manor and know our way around, plus there's the zoo, it's also local. Then Alton Towers has the bigger rides or the older kids. Big rides and a Brand Name, going to consider this one

Drayton Manor, I grew up here so remember it fondly, and some of my points are included above. wow this place has changed over the years but its a compact site with loads to do an queues are no where near that of Alton Towers, there seems to be more to do for the younger ones too with Thomas land, Personal view I prefer it to Ceebies land of Alton Towers but again that could be because its familiar. 

Gosh there's a big gap between the 2 big theme parks and the rest.

Snowdome combination ticket seems reasonable and we don't use this doorstep asset as often a we could. so at £174 its the 3rd most expensive, but I have 2 children under 5 and then the 8 year old will need escorting on the toboggan and i cant see an option to swap a session for something else. maybe have to make it up to the 2 littlest with a different treat another time.

Go Ape, Not done this but watched it a lot, under 10 years can't go so that excludes 3, the venue however at Cannock is at the same place as the Stickman walk 2016 and the Gruffalo sculpture, so the three little ones could do that and run around the woods. Hold on that means an adult will have to miss out and look after the little ones. some thought needs to go into this one. 

Now there's another drop down to the group of £127-£102, 

3 involve animals, 2 involve water and exercise and 1 is a theme park.

Gullivers Kingdom Matlock, I used to go there as a kid, Its aimed at 2-13 year olds So the eldest 2 are not target audience.  But I'm sure the older 2 can either dumb it down for the day or take pleasure in the fun their siblings are having, and there are things there such as the Blue John caverns (I might have made that bit up). There is a lot of walking up and down hill. Still it less than half the price other 2 theme parks, but has no big rides

West Midland Safari Park, firstly its the other side of Birmingham from me so a bit of travel and has the positive/negative of being close to the in-laws so a visit may be included. the prices on the website are the winter ones and do not include rides so its likely a drive around the animals in the frost or rain, still can get up close and personal to Africa's Big 5 oh an of course they had  baby rhino last year. I think this ticket includes a return trip (will have to check) so I might be able to go and then later in the year go again and pay for the rides element. If only I had included that in the budget pitch above. I've just though the little one sleeps in cars so may miss the good bit. Its always good to see animals wandering around semi open rather than in a cage

Twycross Zoo, Just up the road, when I was in my teens I used to cycle there with my mate and our sisters, Lots of  monkeys/primates, also getting seems to be constantly developing. it always seems to be either really hot or really cold wet and windy on the top of that hill, I suppose they cant do a lot about the weather, Its a good day out but a lot of walking an watching rather than interacting. Always fun to see people trying to communicate with the primates and them looking back with a facial expression that seems to express "don't you look a fool"

Waterworld, Never been guess the children would love it, comes in at the most expensive swimming activity on my list and its in stoke so a bit of travel up the M6, what if I forget my trunks,  Looks like fun on their website, and it would be a change. 

National Sealife Centre, always seems expensive for an aquarium but they all are so maybe its me that's wrong. It's in Birmingham city Centre so the kids get a ride on a train which for them is a novelty. I wanted to take my children there in October/November half term but on line the vouchers page wouldn't work so I didn't get to us my 50% off voucher and because I'm fickle I chose not to go at all last year. I do like the sealife centre and its all weather. Might even touch a starfish.

Alton Towers WaterPark, OOH this look interesting, just over £100 and a complex variation of ticket prices mean I think it can be quite cheap, Looks good and had the Branding of Alton Towers which I've always thought of as quality. again near stoke so its the M6 or a trip along the A50, one of the kids has been before and feed back well so could be worth a look. still it a swimming pool and I'm not sure everyone likes waterslides/flumes do they?

We are now sub £100

The first 2 are definitely days out and are what you make them, also next to each other

Dudley Zoo, not been there since I was a kid, My late Gran took a photo of a polar bear there I believe. Its the cheapest zoo on the list and has whats left of a castle to provide some variety for the day. The website also boasts some Techon architecture, personally not my thing all looks concretey maybe I should broaden my horizons? I wonder if they're developing n responding to the changing demands on zoo's?

Black country museum, that seems reasonable and i think that despite protests the children could really get into it, I used to love watching the blacksmith and then there was the tram and the old fair with the cake walk. I wonder if they are still there, at £86 it seems reasonable too, this one might be a goer. one of 2 museum on the list

Now we are into half day and 1 hour activities

Top one for short trip Jump Extreme  - 1 hour Trampolining, £80 for an hour !!! but that said i think an hour trampolining is going to be a killer and I think I will have had enough. I passed the planning permission on this place and its walking distance. again one that the little one cant o so its childcare or someone misses out. 

I'm not going to repeat what I have said about above the Snowdome individual activities but they can each stand alone as activities on my options list.

Ash End Farm . Now here we have the makings of a day out well at least half a day, Combined ticket so younger ones can feed and stroke animals then play in the play barn. Aside from the animals and the novelty of there's not a lot to keep the older ones engrossed, we went before Christmas an whilst it was fun once we'd moved from the farm to the play barn it was obvious that some were enjoying it more than others, not too bad though. And now I want to buy a goat as a pet. yeah this is fun and cheap, i could go a number of times for what same price as the bigger attractions, But how many times can a child look at farmyard animals before the excitement wears off, And I have found a Pygmy goat for sale for £75, it will keep my grass short so no need for a green bin?

Tiki Golf, This is fun and only 18 holes so not take too long but be long enough with a crowd of 9. Hold on not one for the littlest and I'm not sure my nerves will stand the bickering that will ensue, unless we tee off on different courses and split. Still not much change from £50 and near other in-laws so potential visit again, its one of those that's not quite a half day but certainly more than an hour activity.

Tamworth Castle, Interesting pricing structure, with the extra level for 2-4 year olds, I wonder what the impact would be of dropping the child age range down to 3 and letting upto 3's in free would be. Tamworth castle suffers from people not going twice "I've seen it once it hasn't changed". but we all forget stuff and now they have some of the hoard in there plus its cheap enough to go with the next item to make a day out locally castle then bowling. Still £46 and I've been there loads throughout my lifetime. 

Strykers Bowling £47 and a good hour of fun, but with bowling 1 game is not enough and with the MTV generation having grown up and been replaced with the tablet and phone generation 2 games is beyond attention spans, its different on the Wii you can pause it and wander off. so if i did the castle and Strykers its nearly £100 but its local and 2 different things, Variety is the spice of life after all. 

Of Course we till have free swimming at Wilnecote first come first served but this is going to be used this year I feel.

And there is what I call the Free Zoo !!! Planters Garden centre have loads of animals and fish and we always end up buying something so they get secondary spend. yep this one will be frequented too 

So what do I spend my wages on ? 

I think I'm going to have to be savvy with offers and keep my eyes open for vouchers and deals, I want to do all of them but not sure I can afford to spend that much.  Its ll about budgeting, so its less takeaways and look to save for some days out. I really want to do all of them!

If nothing else this thought process has given me some insight to the competition of the leisure industry,

 Which ones will get my cash? What will seal the deal? Who will benefit from secondary spend?