Haigh Woodland Park
Woodland trails, big playgrounds and a hall lawn made for picnics, with a miniature railway, high ropes and crazy golf as the paid extras. The free bits alone fill an afternoon.
Imagine That! Wigan
Wigan, Greater Manchester
Imagine That opened in Wigan on 18 July 2026, taking three floors of the Grand Arcade for the same idea as the Liverpool original: a child-sized town where the role play is the whole point. The Big City has an emergency services dispatch to run, the Village has a patisserie, a stocked supermarket and a building site, and the Entertainment Pavilion has a large dino dig and a slime factory. More than 40 set-ups, aimed squarely at two to ten year olds.
It is not cheap. A child is £24.95 and adults pay £9.95, so a family of four is a proper outlay before anyone has eaten. The redeeming feature is time: every session is three hours, which is a real morning or afternoon rather than an hour against the clock. Everything is pre-booked, and at the moment weekday sessions in term time are for toddlers.
Being in the middle of town helps with the logistics. Both stations are a few minutes' walk, and there is a cafe on site for the adult who has run out of ways to be a customer in the pretend shop.
What it costs: Hours and pricing page on 25 Sept 2026: child (3 to 13) £24.95, toddler (1 to 2) £18.95, adult £9.95, with discounted family tickets on the booking page. Every session is three hours: September weekends run 10am to 1pm and 1.30pm to 4.30pm, and October times vary. Toddler days on Thursdays and Fridays from 17 September until half term, 10.30am to 3pm, arrive when you like; weekend toddler sessions 9.30am to 11am from 10 October.
Know before you go
- Book the Grand Arcade car park on Crompton Street ahead and it is £4 for the whole day, according to the venue's directions page. Wigan Council's own car parks are free at weekends.
- Look at the family tickets on the booking page before buying singles; at £24.95 a child the difference adds up quickly.
Worth knowing: Designed for ages 2 to 10.
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