Ribby Hall Village

Cost: Day visitors pay per activity, swim price not listed
Ages: 1 to 12
Where: Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
Weather: Works in the rain
Booking: Book swimming online, slots open 24 hours ahead

Ribby Hall Village is a holiday village on 130 acres at Wrea Green, near the Fylde coast, and you do not have to be staying. Day visitors can book the family leisure pool, which is the main event: tropical theming, racer slides, a 48-metre tube slide that runs outside the building and back in, poolside hot tubs and a shallow splash lagoon with mini slides and tip buckets for the smallest.

Some of the activities are open to day visitors too, booked online: archery and archery tag for 8 and over, balance bikes for 2 to 5 year olds, mini and junior gymnastics, pottery painting in the treehouse. Many of the shows and crafts are for holiday guests only, and the activities page says which. The arcade and soft play in The Hive need no booking, and Pirates Bay Adventure Golf is £8 a head with 4 and unders free.

The Wild Discovery zoo is on the same site and has its own page here. From 13 November the village becomes a Winter Wonderland, with Santa's grotto and a pantomime that day visitors can book. The irritation is cost: prices for most of it only appear once you start a booking, which makes it hard to plan a budget.

What it costs: Pirates Bay Adventure Golf is £8 a person, children 4 and under free, with a refundable £10 deposit per group of up to six. Day-visitor prices for swimming and the bookable activities only appear in the booking system.

Know before you go

Day-visitor swim slots are released on a rolling basis 24 hours before each session, so book the evening before, not the week before.
Pool ratios are strict: one adult per child under 4, one adult per two children aged 4 to 7, and 8 to 11 year olds need an adult swimming with them.

What’s on at Ribby Hall Village

Santa's Grotto Experience at Ribby Hall Village

Ribby Hall Village, Wrea Green · Lytham St Annes

15 November to 24 December (closed Mondays in November, Monday evenings only in December except 21 December)

A lit woodland walk-through on The Island at the holiday village: Rudolph at the start, reindeer food from Mrs Claus, Santa, a gift and a family photo. You do not need to be staying, day visitors book online. At from £29.95 a child it is not cheap, and the photo is part of what you are paying for. A baby coming along with a ticketed older sibling goes free.

From £29.95 a childDay visitors book online

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