Last June I got a wild hair to take my kids to Playmobil Fun Park for their half birthday. My husband was on a work trip so it was just the three of us, and as it turned out, it was the hottest weekend all summer. The trip began as somewhat of a shitshow. We made it to our hotel, got checked in, and moved into the room with all of the luggage, food, the two kids and our two dogs. An hour later we found out the air conditioning was broken and wouldn't be fixed for at least a day. Our room was on the corner above a busy intersection and very loud. It was over 90 degrees and we were all sweating. Thankfully the woman at reception was very understanding and cancelled our reservation without penalty. Unfortunately we had to find a place to stay last minute. I was elated to find the Ramada Nürnburg Parkhotel had one room left for the night so I furiously booked.
The moment we arrived we were in heaven. It was quiet, nicely kept, clean, roomy, and just felt like home. It was right next to a large park, had a huge parking lot, and the woman who checked us in was an angel. We were all immediately comfortable, including the dogs who loved the abundant grass and trees of the park next door. That night we stayed at the hotel and ordered room service, exhausted from the hectic day. We ordered simple pizzas, but they were delicious. I was quite pleased and impressed. Both of the nights we spent at that hotel were spent in exhaustion so I failed to get photos of the food or the room, but it was lovely. They also had a wonderful pool. Due to COVID the pool was booked by one hour time slots, which worked out well and allowed us the pool to ourselves.
We started the next day off early wanting to arrive when the PlayMobil opened. I was hoping to beat the crowds and the heat. Our first stop was at the slides. My toddler was a little intimidated by the size of them, but my 10-year old had a blast. A few more trips down the metal slopes and both kids were ready for exploring. Next was the pirate cove. It was a large lake with a pirate ship, little wooden rafts you can climb onto and paddle around the lake, a water play area with spouts, a play pirate ship, and more. We spent a good hour here on the boats, doing water play, and exploring the ships. It was already getting hot by the lake so my toddler wanted to go into the nearby Treehouse area. Although it had some above ground, tree house type play facilities, my kids were only interested in the stream to play in. The water play area wasn't large, but was sprinkled with Playmobil buckets and water toys for the kids. It was a better area for smaller kids, my daughter loved it, but my son enjoyed wading into the stream himself to cool down.
Next on our list was Pirate Lagoon. It was a large tiki looking statue with red eyes and a waterfall pouring out of its mouth. The waterfall was quite strong for my 4-year old, but my son loved it and they of course enjoyed the water. It wasn't long before they were thirsty so we stopped by one of the many drink stands to get water and slushies. Next on our list was the main castle. I had the kids stop and rest in the shade to finish their drinks and while doing so, found the cutest playground that was much more than I expected. It was at the top of a small hill, but with ropes and bridges allowed kids to climb to the bottom of the hill where the pirate playground was. I was even tempted to join in it looked so fun.
The castle was interesting, but didn't capture their attention past 15 minutes. My daughter was desperately wanting to get to Mermaid Kingdom, so we headed out and along the walk found Noah's Ark. This was a fun play area with a large series of above ground water troughs filled with Playmobil toys. Both the kids and I loved that aspect of the park, they could play with the toys that could be purchased at the front of the park. I like that, because I could see the quality and size of the toys before purchasing. We stayed at Noah's Ark for quite some time because the kids were having a great time with the toys AND it was shaded with sun sails. Soon my daughter was ready to get to Mermaid Kingdom, which was right next door. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived the heat had driven most of the park there and it was packed with people.
SO, she settled for Fairy Land. Fairy Land was on the opposite side of the park, but we made our way slow and sweaty. We passed some fun play areas, western town, and a couple of other attractions, but in the hot sun no one was playing. Instead of going straight to Fairy Land my daughter's attention was caught by paddle boats. These were cute little boats perfect for small children that let the children paddle around the lagoon. They have a time limit, but my daughter was able to paddle for quite a while and actually ended up coming in on her own. Check out my short video of my daughter paddling at the bottom of the page.
She was done with the boats and we were finally headed to Fairyland. Fairyland had large Playmobil unicorns that my daughter was quite taken with, but in the hot sun they lost their luster quickly and we headed to the Fairyland water play area. While there we noticed people standing in line next to giant clam shells. We were intrigued and more fascinated the longer we watched. There were roughly six partially open metal clam shells. The bottom was overflowing with water and kids were fishing out little treasures from inside the shell. As I watched, I saw the staff casually throwing handfuls of tiny toys in the shells while the kids fished them out. You could purchase hand sized shells to put the toys in so I purchased one for my daughter for around €1. This was her favorite part of the fun park. She loved the clam shells and getting to fish out the toys.
Our last stop at the park was the Police Station. This attraction is for bigger kids and my son was thrilled for something his size. See the video below. This area requires closed-toe shoes. They did have shoes and socks that you can borrow, which we did out of necessity, but I will bring our own next time.
By this point in the day I was close to a heat stroke, and both kids were tired and hungry. We watched him go round and round for about ten minutes then gathered ourselves and headed to find food. The park has a neat little cafeteria. It was closed last year because of COVID, but outside seating was available and pleasant. I was impressed with the meals they had available for kids. For a very reasonable amount, I believe between €5 and €7, they received a full meal with a drink, a treat, and a Playmobil toy. The drinks were even in lenticular cups with Playmobil figures. My kids were as mesmerized by the cups as they were with their Playmobil toy. Lunch for the three of us came to less than €20, which was wonderful because I had more to spend in the toy shop.
This toy shop was fantastic! I had a great time looking at all the toys and helping my kids figure out what they wanted. I was shocked to see the prices in the shop were actually better than the company's online prices. A large dollhouse in the store was €150 while on the website it listed for €169. So if your kids like Playmobil toys, come prepared. It's worth the trip. After shopping for a while I realized we were in danger of missing our scheduled pool time at the hotel. All three of us were sunburnt and overheated so we begrudgingly left the toy shop. Although the hotel pool room was like a sauna, the water was thankfully cool and so refreshing. I sat on the edge with my legs dangling having not thought to bring my suit, and the kids splashed and swam. All three of us thoroughly enjoyed the water and the privacy. After such a long hot day we spent another evening in the room with more delicious room service pizza and movies.
We had planned to stay one more day and tour the city of Nürnberg, but with the heat and two exhausting days we decided to go home early. Other than the heat and first hotel debacle our trip was amazing. The kids absolutely loved the park and have been begging to go back ever since. We are planning another trip this year. The park was 2G last I checked, but COVID rules seem to be changing daily. Tickets have to be purchased online, they are not currently selling any at the front entrance. Last year the mini-golf course and indoor climbing center was closed because of COVID, but did not see if they are open this year. There is a Playmobil hotel at the park, but they do not allow pets. You can find all the park and hotel information here: https://www.playmobil-funpark.de/en/funpark-entdecken/lageplan
I booked our hotel through booking.com, but you can find specific information about the Ramada Nürnburg from their website: https://ramada-nuernberg.de
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