Hocus Pocus Play

Fantastic play area for young children, and a great cafe with lovely food.
May 1st, 2023

Apr 26th, 2023

Apr 20th, 2023

Apr 3rd, 2023

I am struggling to understand how some people have given this 5 stars, I was disappointed from start to finish, there were no signs for Hocus Pocus Play into the carpark so I wondered if I was in the right place, even when we drove upto the cafe I couldnt see any signs. We managed to find the entrance into the cafe, we tried to find a table to sit at to feed the toddlers and ourselves but there wasnt any space so we ended up sitting in an undercover outdoor area which luckily wasnt cold. We had to go up to order food 3 times as they didnt have half of the ingredients on the menu, what was on the menu is very overpriced for what it is (10 for a jacket potato), we ordered and the food was ok. Whilst waiting for food and while we were eating the toddlers got bored in the highchairs so we let them crawl / walk around on the floor whilst we finished up and they got filthy. We then went to the entrance of the play area and were told we only had half an hour left as the booking is only for 1.5 hours, we had spent an hour in the cafe with how long it took to order and receive our food. Then when we walk through to the play area we saw that there are lots of tables in there so in-fact we could have ordered food to there and the toddlers could have played the entire time instead of restricting them to a high chair and a dirty floor for an hour! This is what annoyed me most, the young lad on the till knew we couldnt find anywhere to sit which is why we had to sit in the outdoor bit, they even bought us highchairs and not once was it mentioned that there was more seating in the play area! The play area was mediocre, it was very small, we drove 30 mins each way so were extremely disappointed to find out it is a play area on the side of a cafe on what looked like a caravan park, I just expected more, but thats probably my own fault for comparing it to other soft play areas we have been to. I would have expected someone to greet you when you arrive in the cafe and ask if you are here for the play area or the cafe and explain everything, we didnt even know where the toilets were. I dont think we will ever come back for a poorly stocked, overpriced cafe with a tiny play area.
Mar 23rd, 2023