Marsh Farm Animal Adventure Park — Attraction in Chelmsford

I took my toddler to Marsh Farm yesterday for the last day of thier 'toddler festival' with my husband. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I've got to say, it was marketed very well, when I read toddler festival, I was excited, as things arent usually geared towards younger children. we drove over an hour to get there and was met with a very lack luster experience.

As you enter, there's lots of space, there was an unattended bubble machine which wasn't really working and a few animals along the walk to the main area. Now, when I read festival, I thought music, atmosphere, consistent character presence, food and fun! Now, that's not what we experienced and honestly I'm wondering how the farm is when you don't have a marketed event on.

As standard, like with most zoo/farms, there were a couple of set times in the day to meet a character or feed an animal. A foam party, which is just background music and foam spurting from a cannon into a small space, which seemed to be a hit for the older children there but actually for toddlers, it ended up being so high that if I put my toddler down, he would have been engulfed by the foam. The glitter bar was a small tent at the entrance, but when we got there it was unmanned.

The main restaurant was crowded, Okay food, standard. The fish and chips place was closed, shocking as it was a Sunday and a marketed event.

Beach area okay, but nothing special that warrants a trip there or a toddler festival. A couple of rides we didn't use as it was so hot and my toddler is on the younger side.

The train ride..literally just a short ride around a track with a view of nothing. It would have been nice to add something to make the ride actually exciting, around an animal enclosure or some music or props around the track similar to other farms.

The animal barn, is what you'd expect from a small farm. The dinosaur enclosure has potential, but just stationary dinosaur models could have been improved with animatronics or sound effects throughout.

Overall, we went for a toddler festival and experienced a trip to an uneventful farm. Which, if you're local and can go on a day where prices are cheaper, is fine. Toddlers are aged 1-3 and if anything it may have been more exciting for older kids. But there was no vibe or atmosphere, nothing special or stand out which you would expect from a toddler festival. I was even thinking about getting a membership and was enticed by the other upcoming events especially bubble n bop, but this experience tells me it would be a...

Mixed feelings about this place. Think the bottom line is it has a lot of potential but a few things really let it down so il give some constructive criticism!

Positives:

My little girl honestly did have a lovely day. She loved the selection of animals, feeding the goats, the adventure playground, tractors, merry go round and the bouncy pillows! We went in the school holidays and she really enjoyed a few of the extra bits they had going on like the mini disco and craft area. The staff were friendly and the animals seemed happy and well looked after. You could tell the farm staff cared about the animals.

Constructive criticism:

Facilities. The baby changing facilities in particular were very basic/difficult to use with baby change units up in the air at my shoulder level over toilets in some cases! No toilet paper and no soap in 2 thirds of the soap dispensers which I thought was particularly bad at a farm where my little one is touching animals

Shade. We went on a hot day and there are plenty of benches but only a couple had umbrellas so it was difficult to find shelter from the sun for our picnic. There is an area of shade on the floor if you have a blanket or there is indoor seating in the cafe if you want to buy food

Signage. Admittedly you do get a map on entry but if you just want to explore and don’t go in the cafe you could easily miss half the park round the other side of it! We struggled to find a few things and I just think a bit of signage would go a long way to making sure new guests don’t miss anything and aren’t disappointed!

New pool. Looks beautiful! But I saw 2 people slip and fall in the short time I was there. They have sent out urgent emails telling everyone to wear non slip shoes and you can see why as it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen! At least sell them in the shop - I would have bought some so we could use the pool safely

Junk. The area at the back in particular just needs a bit of a tidy up. There is a large disused inflatable pool out near the bouncy castles and it just makes the area look like a bit of a junkyard to be honest!

We had a good day out, I think it ultimately comes down to the place overselling itself a bit tbh. I think some of the shiny marketing budget could have been spent on getting the basics right first and it would actually be amazing! Just manage your expectations. Hopefully this is helpful...

We went today for the Voyager day, and I can honestly say I am not sure what's happened to the place. The lack of staff was the first thing that's noticed. The rides were manned by one person running back and forth trying to keep all the children happy. The train ride - I do not think that should be going still honestly when watching the person running it holding down the button that's got tape wrapped around - and what are you seeing on the train journey? The unmaintained areas and a whole lot of weeds. The animals side of marsh farm is so lack luster also, you would be better going to the zoo to see animals rather than just seeing a couple of goats, a horse and a donkey. I will say though that the dinosaur side of the park is the best part. The money spent to maintaining that area is amazing, the fossil finding and walk round too. When we went though sadly the photoshoot area was turned off inside and there wasn't enough colouring pencils and paper for all the children on the tables which was a shame as last time we went there were science jackets for the children to wear and plenty of colouring for all. The little town area is also very run down now and no longer has any items for the children to roleplay with, I am sure sadly that's probably due to miss use but police hats, shopping baskets, play food etc it use to be so much fun for the children. The toilets were also blocked on entrance and exit from the park which I think you should be telling customers as most people when leaving were wanting to use the toilet but had to go back into the farm to use the ones in the middle area. It's not like we didn't have a nice day because days out are what you make of it too, you have great parks for the children to play with even though I personally think I'd of just got someone to wipe down the slides at the start of the morning as they were soaked at the bottom (it wasn't raining this day either) so most kids were getting wet each time and not returning. I just think you have an expectation of marsh farm and sadly it has gone down in those expectations from this visit. I hope my points are constructive and they are a honest review of a parent who would love to come again one day in the summer. Oh and also you need more bins by the tractor area seating and by the beach areas and train ride, you could see people looking for places to put...