I found the website a tad confusing, unless you were wanting to pay for an aircraft tour, but reviews seemed to suggest that the planes were only open at the weekend. So the week before we wanted to visit, I rang to double check, and was told that a passenger plane, the DC-10, would indeed be open, so we decided to visit on the Sunday.
The park contains five planes: four outside, plus the Concorde which is inside a hangar. The hangar also houses a cafe and restaurant, with a shop next door. There is a small outdoors playground, though it did seem as if further apparatus could be added, such as trampolines, presumably on hotter, busier days. Last but not least, there were three raised viewing platforms, two small ones accessed by steps, and one larger one accessed by a ramp, for plane spotting.
When we arrived we were given a plastic token at the car park barrier. Parking is charged at £5 for up to two hours, or £10 for up to four hours. Not cheap, but I suspect it is intentially expensive to stop people parking there while waiting for arrivals.
There are a variety of planes which can be viewed, but the terminology on the website is confusing for those of us not up on models etc. So here is a quick description of the planes on the site:
DC-10 - The front section of a passenger plane, branded Monarch airways, like the ones you would use to go on holiday, but much older. Now used as a classroom.
Avro RJX - Small not very common passenger plane from around 2000.
Nimrod - Patrol and attack aircraft used by the RAF.
Trident Three - Passenger plane from the late 60s/early 70s.
Concorde - Superfast passenger jet.
We were disappointed to see a sign outside the DC-10 stating that it was closed for a private function, as I had been assured that it would be open for public viewing. A quick glance at the outside of the Nimrod and Trident confirmed that they were not open either, so we headed for the reception desk. There were three members of staff there, but none seemed particularly aware of what was going on. We were told that if the DC-10 was not open, the Nimrod would be, but when I stated that we had just been there and it wasn't, they then told us that the Avro was definitely open currently, and pointed us round the corner of the hangar, past the playground. So we went round, only to find that that too was closed.
We decided to avoid the spots of rain and warm up with coffee and hot chocolate in the coffee shop. The coffee shop and restaurant are inside the hangar. Both are small, and you walk through the coffee shop to get to the restaurant. All the tables in the coffee shop were taken as we entered, though there was a steady turnover as people left so people weren't left waiting for a table for too long.
The coffee and hot chocolate were pretty terrible, both served in take away cups, and neither of us drank more than half. There were cakes and sandwiches on offer, rather expensive, but to be expected with the captive audience.
From the coffee shop we could see into the part of the hangar housing the Concorde. The windows ran the length of the coffee shop and restaurant but most of the blinds were drawn. Tours of Concorde must be booked in advance, lasting around 40 minutes and start from £13.50.
Back outside we stood on the large viewing mound and watched planes landing and taking off. Once she got over the loud noise, Baby quite enjoyed watching them, though there was a limit to how long they entertained her before she was ready for another distraction.
Just before we left, we decided to double check all the planes again, and were pleased to find that the DC-10 was now open to the public. Only the front section of the plane is actually on site, but it contained enough of the plane to show Baby an example of what she would be experiencing in a month's time. The cockpit was visible behind a plastic panel, and there were several rows of seats, though they were taped off so you couldn't sit on them. It was clearly a very old plane, and seemed to be in pretty much the same condition as it would have been when it was last flown. But at least Baby had the opportunity to go on a plane before she has to do it for real.
If Baby develops an interest in planes in the future we'll definitely be back; although parking might initially seem expensive, if you take a picnic, use the playground and can get onto one of the planes it could be a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. I wouldn't want to pay £10 for parking for going over the two hours though.
Key Facts
Month of visit:
January
Weather for visit:
Grey, cold, occasional drizzle.
Is it pushchair friendly?
To an extent. The largest viewing mound has sloped access however access to the planes is by steps.
How are the baby changing facilities?
We didn't actually use the baby changing facilities, but they were located in the building housing the visitor reception.
What about somewhere to feed?
The coffee shop had some comfortable sofas and chairs, but was rather noisy, lots of distractions for a feeding baby.
Is it worth a visit?
Yes, if you have kids who are into planes, or like us, want your children to experience a plane before going on one for the first time.
Baby's highlight?
Seeing the planes taking off.
The Runway Visitor Park
Sunbank Lane,
Altrincham,
WA15 8XQ
www.runwayvisitorpark.co.uk
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