Policies

Updated February 15, 2024

 

Due to the capacity of WNC facilities and to ensure the quality of WNC programs and the well being of our animals, the following apply:

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Party Size: maximum of 12 children/ maximum of 10 adults (no exceptions, includes birthday child and their family). Smaller groups may make your child’s program more meaningful. Inviting the entire class is polite but not possible at our facility Plan your invites accordingly.

Age Range: birthday child turning 4+

Pricing: All party programs are $300.

Program Length: 2 hours. (One hour educational program, One hour hosted by family)

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The program will start and end in our weather protected pavilion. Animal encounters will be held inside the Nature Center building. Host and adults in attendance must accompany and supervise children during the entire educator led program. Host is responsible for the non-program portion of the party.

 

Example Schedule: (based on an 11:00-1:00 party)

10:30-11:00am: Parents/guardians arrive and set-up/decorate in Pavilion.

11:00-12:00pm: Party Program led by WNC Educator

12:00-1:00pm: Host led portion of party (Refreshments, pizza, cake, gifts, party favors, etc)

1:00-1:30pm: Host cleans up Pavilion and depart.

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Health and Safety
By signing Woodcock's birthday party contract, hosting families agree, on behalf of themselves and all their attendees, to comply with any health and safety requirements set forth by Woodcock. 

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Woodcock Nature Center provides…

• A unique one hour environmentally based educational experience led by a WNC educator.

• Use of WNC’s weather protected pavilion (Spring- early Fall: One open side and three closed Vinyl sides: Late Fall-Winter: All sides closed.

• Two 6ft picnic tables inside the pavilion for eating. 

• Propane heaters in the pavilion (available for days where temperature is below 50°F).

• Use of WNC bathrooms, playground, grounds and trails. 

• The Playground will be open for Birthday Party participants only. It will be closed to the public during your party. 

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Birthday Party Set-up and Supervision

• Hosts may arrive no earlier than 30 minutes prior to the scheduled party start time for decorating/set up and must be cleaned up and vacated no later than 30 minutes after the scheduled end time.

• Hosts provide all decorations, food, beverages, paper goods and favors for your party. 

• Decorations must be temporary, non-marking, and completely removed post party. No helium balloons, noise makers, confetti, glitter, or piñatas or other small décor as they can be harmful to wildlife (and are difficult to cleanup). Do not tape or tack anything to the vinyl sides. 

• No open heat sources are allowed (i.e. sterno, hot plates). You may arrange to have pizza or other food delivered to WNC during the party. 

• No alcoholic beverages may be served.

• Hosts are responsible for cleanup of the pavilion and removal of all decorations immediately following the scheduled end time of the party. 

• Trash removal is your responsibility. Please bring a trash bag for your garbage and take it with you when you leave.

• Participant behavior is the responsibility of the parents, not the staff of WNC. We ask party parents to provide adequate supervision for their guests and accompany the children during the themed program in order to provide a quality experience for the birthday child and their guests.

• If the fireplace is in use during a party, it is the hosts responsibility to supervise their guests around it. Do not place anything on the hearth directly in front of the fire. It will ignite.

• We reserve the right to cancel a scheduled activity if the actual group size differs substantially from the reservation or exceeds our policy limits. Our cancellation/refund policy would apply.

• A credit card number is kept on file in the event of any loss or damage to facilities/equipment or the need for ancillary cleaning. If necessary, a minimum charge of $50.00 will be added to your credit card to cover damages. WNC will notify cardholder by phone if a charge is made.

• Read the Birthday Party Parent Checklist!

• Gratuity is not required but greatly appreciated!

 

Weather and Rescheduling:
Programs are held entirely outside, drizzle or shine. Please advise your guests to dress appropriately for the outdoors and the weather day of. In the event of unsafe or unforeseen conditions (heavy rainfall, lightning, high winds, snowstorm, power outage), we will do our best to reschedule. 

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