winter wonderland ice rink, Cardiff

Bright lights, shiny ice, shouts and laughs, spectacular flying chairs, candyfloss and winter woollies – Cardiff Winter Wonderland is a real draw for all the family and there’s even a half decent pint of Brains in the beer tent.
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Definitely worth the trip if anywhere near Cardiff over the festive period – recommended.

I go pretty much every year, great family fun. Could be kinda to the old wallet though, beers especially over priced. skating’s good but again could be cheaper, it’s usually very busy more so towards the end of the night.

Open every winter in the heart of Cardiff the winter wonderland gives a very magical feel the the festive season.

Although being very expensive it is worth the price tag just to be part of the magical occasion.

If you dont fancy a skate on the ice then there are a number of rides and stalls for you to enjoy.

LImited parking and disabled access difficult.

I went on the big wheel at the Winter Wonderland last week and it was fantastic! There is nothing like wrapping up in a hat and gloves and having a trip round a big wheel in the fresh air to make you get into the wintery spirit of things!!

It’s a good trip round, you go round about 5 times (and it costs £5) the view is fantastic and I just generally love being up very high! Do wrap up warm as it is a bit chilly!!

The winter wonderland is a nice festive touch to Cardiff city centre, the stalls are nice and there’s a big wheel and some other fairground rides. It is really expensive for the rides and for the ice skating. You can’t always get on the ice if the session is full so it is worth booking in advance. Thes sessions don’t last long for what you pay and the skates you hire are not great and usually really uncomfortable.

Every year Cardiff has the winter wonderland, which is an outdoor ice rink, some fairground stylie amusements, hotdog/burger vendors etc. Its a good event & ice skating is fund to do, even funner to watch first timers! At very reasonable prices.

The winter wonderland comes by every year. I’ve been in Cardiff two years now, and have noticed a number of changes (notably, the council/organisers appear to be attempting to make the ice rink a little larger).

There’s food and drinks stalls (with mulled wine, which is aways amazing at Christmas time, and really helps to get you in the Christmas spirit), some mini-theme park rides (mostly, if not all, aimed at children), an ice rink and a (now giant) ferris/big wheel (which isn’t a good idea to go on if, like me, you get bad vertigo, and it happens to be a windy night in Cardiff!). The big wheel costs £7 a go (in 2007), and they have changed the design since last year. You ride on it for about 10 minutes, which I think is long enough, but for £7, it seems quite expensive (especially to students or families, although they do offer a family ticket at a discounted, although still expensive, rate).

The winter wonderland does get very busy. You have to book tickets in advance if you want to go on the ice rink, however you can go on the ferris wheel/theme park rides without going ice skating. Be warned - the tickets appear to sell out fast, so if you want to skate, then order your tickets quickly. There’s information on how to book them at cardiffswinterwonderland.com, and in local papers when the wonderland comes to town.

All in all, it’s worth visiting, but only once.

Over Christmas, City Hall Lawn is transformed into an open-air ice rink.

When I see it being built every year at the end of October I truly think Christmas is on the way! The best time to go is when the weather is ice cold so the ice is in prefect condition, can get very miserable if it happens to rain while your ice-skating. Advisable to book tickets before going since it is very popular and only open for a short period of time. Going Christmas eve is the best experience I have had on the ice rink, there is nothing better to get you in the right mood for Christmas than Winter Wonderland!

Very reasonable prices and a wide range of small vendors and cafes around the ice rink which do hot chocolate and mulled wine which is prefect after a good old skating session!

Winter wonderland 2007

I ventured over to winter wonderland a few weeks ago, and I’m quite surprised that they have made some changes, instead of the small ferris wheel which stood just next to the ice rink they have put a much larger version and instead of the brightly coloured carriages which seemed to brighten up the ferris wheel they have been replaced with dull white boxes , charging £7 to go round about 3 times makes you think that it has lost it’s magic which has been implied in previous years.

The tree from the middle of the ice rink, seems to have disappeared, yes this does make the ice rink look bigger, but what about the poor useless ice skaters which used the fence surrounding the tree as a small break to cling on to or to help from falling over and having to enduring painful massive bruises (like me) The rink seems empty without it’s glistening tree standing in the proudly in the centre

The last change they have made is to the stalls surrounding the ice rink, instead of small cosy wood cabins there is now a large modern cafeteria, this gives the place an artificial feeling.

I can only hope that next year Winter Wonderland wont fall deeper and deeper into these modern trends.