The Hole In Wand — Local services in Great Britain

The theming is absolutely spot-on, very "Harry Potter without being Harry Potter" - and they’ve done a great job creating that magical atmosphere. But once you get past the aesthetics, as a mini-golf venue, it’s all a bit… meh.

The staff are clearly enthusiastic and put in loads of effort, but right from the start, it all felt a bit pointless. We were given character names, which seemed like it was leading to something, but there was no story, no follow-up - just a gimmick that goes nowhere. You get eight holes (the ninth really doesn’t count), and while they look great, they’re pretty dull to play. The design’s not great, and unless you're a hardcore mini-golf fan, you’ll probably end up frustrated as balls get stuck in random bits of prop over and over.

The only remotely interesting hole (I think it was number 7?) is basically impossible. We had to line the ball up right in front of the trigger and whack it just right to get any reaction at all. Not fun, just fiddly.

Then there’s the final hole where you choose to be “good” or “evil” for your last putt, which sounds cool, but again - no real payoff. You just get handed a bottle of glittery soda. It looks nice, but you can’t choose your flavour, so my kids gave theirs to me.

Like I say - it’s fine. The staff are brilliant, and the theming’s genuinely impressive, but the actual golf is a bit of a letdown. It’s more like a very nicely decorated gift shop with a mini-golf course awkwardly attached.

Oh, and one last thing: the photo setup. Why do you have to walk all the way around the building to get back to the entrance just to see your pics? We forgot and didn’t bother. Missed opportunity there - stick them at the exit and you’d probably...

We had a great hour of fun here on our recent mini break in Blackpool. Excellent theming all through with lots of little details to catch your eye. They have made really good use of what is a small space and sectioned it out well for each hole and the free 'potion' drink at the end is a nice little bonus.

However, a couple of comments for improvement: Charging extra at the entrance for the scorecard and a tattie feather pen that stopped working half way round is a bit off. These things should be included in the cost of entry. The '6 shots to each hole' rule could be more firm and maybe have a staff member monitoring the final few holes which are more difficult and we were stuck in a long queue as people were taking as many tries as they liked to get through some of the holes creating a huge backlog of players. We were behind a family with one parent and 4 yoing children who were running amok all over the courses while other people tried to play and taking as many as 30 tries each at each hole which caused some families behind us to skip holes to get ahead of them as we waited up to 20 mins for a hole at one point. If they are going to have such a rule, it needs to be enforced to avoid disappointment for players honouring said rule.

Despite these things it was still a good bit of fun and 2e would recommend to visitors of Blackpool looking to...

We really enjoyed The Hole In Wand, walked past a couple of times and finally decided to pop in. This isn’t just mini golf it’s an immersive experience. As soon as we stepped through the door the staff were in character and set us off on our adventure with a storyline to follow as we went around. Took us about 45 minutes to get around and we went on a particularly quiet day! We both came away with a hole in one badge, the free drink included in the ticket price and £20 worth of souvenirs from the gift shop at the end (also included in the duo ticket price) there is also a riddle on each hole that spelled out a word at the end and it gives you the chance to win back the price of your entry which was a nice touch. We had a lot of fun and the staff were all fantastic, a true credit to the establishment! Very beautifully designed and well thought out. It’s an incredibly unique experience and we were very pleased we went in! Truly have to experience it for yourself to get how great...