Cefn Mably Farm Park — Attraction in Newport

Visited with my family on Saturday 22/06/2024. This wasn't our first visit but will likely be our last due to attitude of staff right at the end of our day. Firstly starting with the positives, it's easy to get in, no pre-booking necessary so in terms of last minute plans its an ideal few hours out when you are in the area. Admission prices are OK although no concession prices seems unusual. The farm park itself is relatively small but has enough to do to keep little ones entertained for a few hours, including petting areas, a nice walk and a nice big playground. The play centre, indoors is an excellent area for kids and the cafe had a decent selection and seemed reasonably priced.

Unfortunately, as is often the case in many places, the negatives leave you with a lasting impression and this is no exception. Upon leaving the play centre at around 5pm, which was closing time anyway, myself and my family wanted to use the toilets before we made our way home. The male and female toilets in the play centre area were both closed for cleaning with signs informing you to use the disabled & baby changing facilities, of which there are 2 separate, unisex toilets all in the same area. Not a problem initially, perfectly normal in a lot of establishments at cleaning time. My partner joined the queue with our youngest (4 y/o), with I think 2 or maybe 3 people in front of her and then I would join the queue once she was finished. Whilst my partner was in the one of the disabled toilets a further 2 or 3 people had joined the queue and 2 young workers, I refuse to use the word ladies emerged from the now clean male toilets. They pushed their way past the queue, with no communication or patience and essentially parked their cleaning trolley across the door to the first of the two disabled toilets people were patiently waiting for and somebody would have been using at the time. The person who had been using this toilet then emerged and had to squeeze through the small gap, past the trolley to exit. The 2 workers, probably with the quickest move of their obviously busy shift closed the gap and blocked all access to this disabled toilet by pushing the trolley over the remaining small gap, and proceeded to clean and close this toilet also thus leaving just one toilet available for the 4 or 5 people, including myself who had been patiently waiting up to this point and couldn't use the male and/or female toilets as the closure notices were kept in place by the 2 workers who obviously take pride in their cleaning work and didn't want their presumably excellent work spoiled at the end of the day. The pride they take in their work was clear to see by those that were waiting for the, now one available toilet because the smiles and laughing toward the people waiting was written all over the 2 workers faces, they surely wouldn't have been unprofessional enough to be clearly seen as actually laughing at and talking about the people waiting in queue?

I find it hard to write this review because we have visited Cefn Mably several times over the years and have enjoyed every visit but sadly the negative experience this time probably means we...

Update to your response:

Your response fails to address the specific concerns raised because it appears you've assumed I (as a male) leaving this review was the primary party involved. In fact, it was my wife who had the interaction with your 'Manager.' This fundamental error in identifying the person involved is precisely why your reply feels so generic and false—it's based on an incorrect premise.

Furthermore, my wife and I personally met the party host right at your reception desk upon arrival. This gave your reception staff a clear and unmissable window of opportunity to check any necessary details or bring up any information relevant to the event or potential costs before the party began. The fact that nothing was mentioned at that time confirms a significant communication failure on your end. Given all this, I absolutely stand by my original review detailing the undisclosed, or hidden costs, you impose on party guests.

Disgusted by Hidden Fees at Cefn Mably Farm Park

We were invited to a child’s birthday party at Cefn Mably Farm Park, and what should have been a fun family celebration turned into an embarrassing and frustrating encounter right at the front gate. The party package, as explained by the hosts, supposedly included one free adult entry per paying child. We arrived as a family, only to be told that since both my partner and I, the child's parents, wanted to attend the party, the second adult had to pay the standard entrance fee of £8.50. This is nothing short of a sneaky, greedy policy designed to squeeze extra cash out of invited guests. Are families not allowed to attend a birthday party together? Do they expect every child to be dropped off by a solo parent? The whole interaction was awkward, and the staff were unhelpful, just pointing to the fine print. In protest of this ridiculous cash grab, one of us stayed in the car, refusing to pay the £8.50 fee to attend a party we were invited to. It was a principle, not a matter of the money itself, but the sheer cheek of the farm park. The atmosphere was soured immediately. We felt cornered, and the birthday parents were clearly mortified that their guests were being hit with unexpected charges. The feeling of having to choose which parent gets to go inside is ridiculous and completely ruined the start of the day. We will not be returning and strongly advise anyone hosting or attending a party here to be incredibly wary of this hidden cost. It's a cheap trick that reflects badly on the park's management and destroyed our experience. Be warned—they charge you...

The farm yard animals have lots of space to roam and the fields are well looked after. Most animals seems happy. There just isn't many animals so only takes around 15 mins to walk around and feed each enclosure. The feed is £1 per bag.

The new train was a nice edition it runs every half hour. However the train is expensive when your a family of 5 considering there is no commentary or learning on the short route for £3 each per ticket on top of your entrance you would expect a little more.

The mini golf was enjoyed by the children however again expensive at £3 each on top of your ticket.

The new park was much needed and a great edition to the farm it was raining when we went but the children still played in the park. Lots of new equiptment and different items to try. However the indoor play center hasn't been rebuild so it is missing from the park. No reduction in price though.

The petting zoo isn't a petting zoo anymore we were given 1 guinea pig in a box for 3 children to look at. So no holding, brushing or cuddles with the animals. The children even asked questions and the staff member either didn't answer or didn't know.

The biggest let down was the staff in the cafe. Rude, unhelpful and made me feel very unwelcome. The girl on the till didnt know simple questions what cakes do you have? What milk alternatives do you have? What flavour tea do you have?

I was told there was no cake when there were boxes of cakes in the fridge. I got a box out to show her and another member of staff said 'What are you doing! Are you buying the box? If your not buying the box then ask before you touch!' My response was I did ask multiple times but got no response.

Total cost of a very expensive hour at the farm The cost of 3 cakes and 5 hot drinks was £23.00 The entrance fee for 2 adults and 3 children was £38 3 bags of feed £3 5 train tickets £15 3 Mini golf tickets £9

Grand total for the day £88.00 !!!!!!! A very expensive hour at the farm won't be returning again. Could be a lovely place however this is expensive...