To say this was an unsatisfactory meet Santa gift?

[TellerTuesday]

Curious to hear other people's opinions.

The experience cost £87.63 for one child and one accompanying adult.

Can't fault the Santa experience and the stately home walk round I was more than happy with that but I don't think the gift was commensurate with the cost and calibre of the outing.

I have emailed the company as I honestly think it's just a peg doll and a box of grass moss but interested to hear if others would agree with me.

I think it sounds interesting and people are missing the OP's point. She is not complaining about the entry fee.

The gift is shit, and I am all for natural materials, artisan, etc. -- but that doesn't even look like anything coherent. I'd complain and ask for at least a partial refund.

For the past three years, we've done our local santa train. Posh steam train experience it is not, but it cost £40 for the four of us, is staffed mainly by neurodivergent volunteers to, I believe, give them work experience, and who all put so much effort into it, and it seems to be pretty much not-for-profit considering the quality of the gifts given (this year, a craft set and a dinosaur bingo game, both retailing at about £8).

We’ve gone to Castle Howard for years but, like many others that we’ve spoken to, have boycotted it this year. They haven’t invited back the Santa that we’ve always seen there so we’ve followed him to one of his new locations this year. I wasn’t paying those prices and not knowing that the show was going to be as good as the previous ones.

Do a review on google or tripadvisor

They cant get away with that next year if enough people speak up

Where are all of these cheap Santa experiences?? Near us, everything is super expensive if you want anything more than a long queue and 5 mins with Santa. Everything here is an “experience” 😁. It cost me £260 for 2 adults and 2 dc. I would say it was worth it for what we got though.

pmsl sorry but that gift 😂

YANBU OP, my kids would have been disappointed with that too. Kids love foresty shit when they are out at forest school and they are the ones using thier imaginations, but a box of moss when they expect a toy is crappy.

I never took my children to visit Santa as DD was always wary and she never asked to visit and neither did her brother. For what you have paid I would expect a better gift from Santa. I know this isn’t the point of the post but why have they opened the gift already?

Oh shit, we're going there this weekend!!

Have done it the past few years and it's been amazing but that toy looks like shit.

I'm really worried now, my kids will be so disappointed in that.

I choked on my dinner laughing omg

Sorry OP.

I'm guessing this was 4 kingdoms ( we went as well) which has also got some awful reviews but we enjoyed it and the kids loved it!

If you’re in Lincolnshire (or near it), check out Baytree’s Garden Centre.

You can also buy some carrots and feed real live reindeer

Think of it as a contribution to the upkeep of the castle, surroundings and a part of history.

Why Steve Carrell?

Not all Santa experiences are equal. Sounds the experience was good though. I’ve paid £80 for 2 children and 2 adults. Lasts about 30mins, includes a visit to petting farm and a gift worth about £5. I was happy with that.

The toy does appear to be amazing environmentally friendly.

I'm paying less than that for a full day at the zoo, lunch with mrs clause, 4 hand animal feeds, a hot drink, fireworks, a gorgeous wooden xmas eve box full of activities then a decent present from santa. Last year i even got a present too 🎅

I'd be well hacked off with that gift 😅

steff13

I'm rewatching the office 🤷‍♀️😂

😳😳😳 truly awful.

It’s pretty terrible, but the description of what you get is pretty clear…

Each child will be given a gift box to take away, and we are delighted to be partnering with local crafting company 'Forest, Craft and Play', who have designed and produced gorgeous, sustainable, eco friendly and very magical gifts to accompany this year's Father Christmas experiences.

I would expect it to be better for the price but it was never going to be a great toy.

Oh that sounds amazing - which zoo is this please ?

OP - I live near there and yeah I’d be disappointed as well

That is pretty rubbish! The experience itself sound lovely, but I would expect a little more for my money.

Reminded me of paying a small fortune to see Santa on a steam train one Christmas Eve. Santa arrived but turned out he had run out of present before getting to us. Kids were given a gift by an elf as we got off. Was most disappointing!

We did castle Howard but the courtyard one and saw Santa. Was really nice and had only one other family in the room so was intimate and we got the choice of this gift or make your own reindeer food , kids chose reindeer food and there was a lot more in it than this box. Same size box etc as well . Adults were free and kids £20 so was pretty cheap compared to other places near us . I wouldn’t have been happy with that spending £80 either

Why Steve Carrell? 🤣 that post made me laugh so much.

On the bright side it looks compostable for when the kids lose interest after about 3 seconds