Here’s what we thought.
Our toddler loves to climb, so we thought Mini Trek (Mini trekking) would be the perfect activity for him.
It’s just one metre off the ground and designed for children aged two to five. Kids are harnessed in, so they can’t fall, and a parent or other adult is required to help them around the course.
Parents can easily switch over if they want to, so in our case, both Mum and Dad got to have a turn at helping him.
While the website says you can only go around once, they actually let you go around as many times as you like during the allotted session time.
There are movable gates that allow parents through the obstacles to help the children, and it’s worth noting that children need to wear suitable footwear such as trainers – no wellies or sandals allowed.
The instructor was lovely and helped all the children into their harnesses, making adjustments where needed.
We found it quite crowded overall and would have preferred a quieter session.
As the children can take any path they like, there was quite a bit of waiting around and bumping into one another – not the easiest when stubborn toddlers are involved!
While my toddler enjoyed it, he did get fed up quite quickly and had had enough after around ten minutes.
Of course, this wasn’t Center Parcs’ fault, but it’s worth considering how long your little one is realistically going to spend on there compared to the cost.
For us, it felt like a very expensive ten minutes, especially when there are so many lovely adventure play parks around the Longleat site that he probably would have been equally happy playing at.
So, in hindsight, two and a half was maybe a little young for this activity.
Were he a year older, we think he might have managed quite a bit longer on the mini trek.
However, it’s not something we’d rush back to do.
While you can arrive at the activity a bit early, I’d actually advise against this with very little ones.
Ours found it difficult waiting around for ten minutes beforehand and then concentrating on the activity afterwards.
Where Is Mini Trek at Center Parcs Longleat?
Mini Trek is located next to the lake, on the opposite side to the beach. If you’re coming down from the Fir or Oak area, turn right once you come through the trees (the opposite direction to the spa).
How Much Is Mini Trek at Center Parcs Longleat?
According to the example activity price list on the Center Parcs website, the cost of this activity is around £19.50.
However, prices can vary depending on the season and which Center Parcs village you’re visiting.
We paid around £15, as there was a discount on when we booked which made it slightly cheaper.
There are also seasonal versions of the activity which include a cuddly toy prize, so I’d assume these cost more than a standard session.
Is Mini Trekking At Center Parcs Longleat Worth It?
For us, it just wasn’t worth it on this occasion. As we had several activities booked for our seven-year-old daughter, we wanted to treat our toddler the same and book something that was just for him.
He’s two he didn’t care!
And we failed to anticipate just how little time he’d actually spend on the activity.
However, for some children, this might absolutely be worth it especially if they have an older sibling doing the larger tree trekking activities and want to feel like they’re doing something similar.
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