kidzdays
Illustration of Mini Monsters Funhouse

New Hall on the Chester High Road at Neston has free parking, a cafe, and a large shed full of plants that will absorb any adult who has had enough. Sticking a soft play in the middle of all that is an underrated move, and it makes Mini Monsters an easier sell than a unit on an industrial estate.

The play itself is scaled for small children: slides, scramble nets, squeeze rollers, a ball pond and a spinning bar indoors, plus a separate baby and toddler area for nought to twos. Prices step properly by age. Six pounds covers two and over, one-year-olds are £4, babies are a pound, and adults and any over-nines who tag along pay a pound each, which tells you where the ceiling is. Two practical things then. The outdoor play area with the swings only runs in the summer months, so a February visit is the indoor frame and nothing else. And the opening hours are simply not published anywhere on their site, which is irritating enough to justify a phone call. Weekends and school holidays they want you to book a session online.

Know before you go

  • They ask you to pre-book weekends and school holidays. Weekday mornings you can walk in.
  • The £8 eat and play deal beats paying £6 entry and then buying lunch, and it runs every day and not just midweek. Ring ahead about opening times though, especially out of season when the garden centre hours may govern.

Worth knowing: Dedicated baby and toddler area for nought to twos. Over-nines pay £1 and are clearly not the target.

Seasonal: The outdoor play area opens in summer only. Check before travelling.

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