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.

Same as a PP we have done Christmas at CH for years, the Santa was incredible. They didn't renew his contract this year so we have followed him as it was him that made it magical! I'm so glad we did after reading all the bad reviews!

...or possibly the House of Mossy Pegs itself.

That head-tilting, "it's a shame you don't quite get what we're marvellously trying to do here..." reply to the OP is SO annoying.

I fabric wrap my gifts. I buy sustainable where I can. I buy local, green, indie, eco, etc. and I've got enough disposable income to chuck at this stuff. I'm their target mug customer and I STILL think this is a cynical, greenwashed money-grab.

Those gifts are fine for a fiver. £15 is astonishingly grabby, and they have an entire website dedicated to more of the same carefully-curated crap. A bit of Kraft paper, a fistful of whatever you can pull up in a wood, and a whole lot of 'ethical' spin.

This kind of greedy, inauthentic, eco-ego crap is really very annoying.

That's a £5 craft at best!! Shocking!

Sounds like it is centred on the experience rather than the gift.if the experience wss worth it I wouldn't worry. Lapland UK give a beautiful Husky however after visiting 3 times with 5 children 15 huskys are a total waste. I would rather no present and just experience at any of these places.

This

I was going to say that for £87 you might as well charge £90 and get a better gift but then saw the thing was supposedly worth £15. The sustainability angle isn’t a bad thing- I don’t think they’re wrong to try and reduce plastic use/travel for goods. But… there are significantly better ethical gifts out there for the price point.

I think you should forward this thread to castle Howard

Most likely the eco warrior craft and gift company are relations of the Howards or were at school with them or something.

Well when you book they go on about how they've generously given a home to one family from Ukraine but then tap you up for donations to cover the costs...

And it's not suitable for children under 3. So, what are they giving to quite a few of their visitors as I'm sure they will be under 3?

Oh bollocks we’ve booked to go to Castle Howard next week! Is that gift given to every child does anyone know? Not sure it’s really suitable for my 2 year old.

I believe the younger children get the reindeer food that someone has linked to up thread.

Forest craft and play website isn't loading - looks like it's broken 🙃

Reminds me of Blair witch project lol

We've stopped going to Castle Howard despite living close by. Used to love it but it's got so expensive, and I hate the idea of paying for car parking. There's no realistic public transport to get there, so you have to drive and park. Just plain greedy. Everyone that I know that have been say how lovely the house looks, but far too expensive.

And, yes, that's a really rubbish Santa gift!!

The reindeer food isn’t massively suitable for a child under 3 either - the suggestion is that they write a lovely note to Santa on the gift tag provided but it’s an advanced 2 year old who could manage that!

if these gifts really have undergone ‘extensive market research/testing’ I bet it was with children educated at a Steiner school who’ve never picked up a tablet or played with a barbie. So they’d be much more accepting of a peg and handful of moss. The majority of children these days wouldn’t be overjoyed with that.

The people who founded the Forest company are a privately educated woman who owns and runs some holiday cottages and her husband who is currently a director of 8 different companies.

I think the school connection with the Howards is probably bang on @TheCountessofFitzdotterel

I drove through there last summer but didn't go in as the prices were eye watering.

In her holiday cottages she offers hen keeping lessons for £40 an hour

I can't believe you spent £90 to go and see Santa and got a crap present out of it! I'd have expected to see Rudolph flying round the grotto for that price.

We went to castle Howard and Santa gave my daughter a voodoo doll

They should get this printed on T shirts and sell them on their website. I would buy one.

Or better still, on organic cotton shopping bags.

That gift reminds me of the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh, where DSis and I saw toys that Victorian children had. Some were lovely like prams and train sets but what we remember most are the belongings of children in poverty, the rag "doll" with a dried bean for a head and one made from an old shoe. We were rather traumatised by the paucity of it, the playthings made from any old junk that they could find in the streets.

A peg, some moss, salvaged buttons and bits of cardboard fits right in with that. Fifteen quid is such a massive rip off for that.

In her holiday cottages she offers hen keeping lessons for £40 an hour

Wow, for £6.50, I can keep a chicken from Asda until it goes manky for as long as I like - and it's cooked too!!

That tells you all you need to know about The Family, I think.
The pathetic peg 'doll' tells you all you need to know about the family connections.