To think I need a bank loan to visit Santa

[Outandabout43]

Looking for places to take DD to see santa this year and my God why is it so expensive?

What happened to the little grotto at the local shopping centre for a small price, you see santa, get a present, all good.

Now it's all this santa experience, breakfast with santa, dinner with santa, winter wonderland malarkey... I just want to go to a bleeding grotto, tell santa what you want, get a cheap gift, jobs a good en

Thinking of setting myself up a grotto in the garage and dressing DH up. Could probably make a small fortune

It’s because everything has to be a bloody ‘experience,’ so you can ‘make memories,’ and talk about them in your ‘forever home.’

And yes to the garage grotto, brilliant idea…you could sell mulled wine too!

Yep, it’s all about the “experience” (hopefully more than just a grumpy elf and an ancient donkey).

There’ll be something cheaper locally though. A few charity craft type markets around us have an opportunity to meet Santa for a few pounds. IKEA normally does a free Santa experience. Shopping centres vary - two near us, one of the mortgage-style, one cheap and cheerful.

Look out for the Christmas Fayre organised by the town/village council. They'll have a cheap or free Santa.

Try your church or village hall. Ours does one with a lovely Santa who has been doing it for years. £5 per kid and they get a book and a selection box.

Would free or nominal cost events be publicised this early? Our town centre has a free grotto each year but there hasn't been any publicity for this year's one yet. A garden centre by us only confirmed it's grotto last week.

Don't go.
Your child/ren will have to learn that money doesn't grow on trees, and that just because 'everyone is going', they don't have to.
Great idea to turn your garage into a grotto, but why not just tell her that the real santa is very busy making presents, and doesn't like all the impersonators, so those who go to see them are hurting him.

What I've found (too late the last couple of years) is that there are smaller(and far cheaper) ones by us at fetes/fairs etc. They just tend to not advertise as much or advertise closer to Xmas.

The cheap ones aren't advertised as such. Its the school Christmas fayre, or a charity thing in the shopping centre.
Then there's organisations like the Lions or Rotary Club who take the sleigh around.

Yeah they do still exist just not so well publicised especially in October!

Taking a child to see Santa in a shopping centre and getting a small selection box doesn’t get as many likes on instagram or TikTok so lots of people don’t do it. Having the grinch turn up at your house and destroying it and terrifying the kids or Santa, ana, Elsa and Spider-Man arriving in your street on a sleigh, sprinkling your children with fake snow and giving them presents get the likes so that’s what becomes popular.

There will be cheaper options locally. Usually closer to Christmas dc are past going to see santa now, but we only ever did one 'big' santa visit, that was at a nearby forest, never did breakfast or anything. The rest we just did local shopping centre which was £5 each and actually really good. Also bookings opened closer to the actual time.

When we went when dd1 was starting to teeter on believing, we were one of the first slots. People dressed as elves came through the shopping centre with bells and music 'preparing' us for Santa's arrival. Dc both loved it. Local Christmas fayres also tend to have a nice simple santa.

Do you have a local primary school near you that is doing a Christmas fair? Ours always has a Mr & Mrs Father Christmas in a lovely homemade grotto and each child receives a gift for a nominal fee.

Or do you live anywhere near an IKEA store? They always have a grotto, plus lovely grafting activities on the run up to Christmas, all for free.

John Lewis also does something similar.

I was about to say the same. Our primary always has a grotto. It’s a bit basic but it’s only £2-3 and the kids love it.

We did Lapland uk one year and felt like we really did need to remortgage once we’d left! It made the garden centre/farm ones seem lovely and cheap in comparison.

Couldn't move for free Santa's last year - lions sleigh, library, toddler group, nursery, xmas lights switch on. Wished I'd not bothered with the spendy one

Try the local church if you have one.
Ours does a lovely little santa setup and all they ask for is a donation.

Our local primary schools have a Santa grotto at the winter school fair for a quid. Rock up join the queue see Santa get a book.

It's basic but ticks the box ✅

I don't really get the visiting father christmas thing.

FC is in the north Pole. Prepping the christmas presents. He's not touring fucking garden centres in Lincolnshire!

The whole point of the magic is that you don't see him and he pops in overnight and leaves gifts. You are meant to fill in the rest with your imagination. I think we actually make things too real for some kids and it makes it hard for them to realise age 8 or 9 that its a bit of fantasy fun.

Our local museum one does very reasonably priced one but you need to look for it. They’re not that well publicised. The local leisure centre does one aswell which is reasonable. Do a search of all your local government run centres and see what’s on.

School fayre? Shopping centre? There will definitely be a little grotto somewhere. I was so thankful when mine grew up and stopped believing! I was so over the santa visits, hiding presents, sneaking around on Christmas eve instead of my usual early night.

Totally agree it’s crazy prices. We had our daughter earlier this year so I wanted to do something nice around Christmas and was thinking of booking a “breakfast with Santa” thing as she’s too young to be bothered about sitting on Santa knee etc but thought a nice morning out together for a Christmassy breakfast would be amazing! Went online to book it to find it’s adults £30pp (breakfast included) children £35pp (breakfast and gift from Santa included). No thanks🤣

There’s also an amazing Polar Express type thing near me which my mum said she keeps hearing people recommend, so again I looked to book that, 2 adults and an 8 month old baby- £170 !! For 2 hours on a train going absolutely nowhere and a hot cho? Again, no thanks!🤣

I always found the National Trust santas were the best. At least you get a day out and money going to something out of it too.

£85 and £75 for the two I looked to booked yesterday. One is in a local museum so included general admission but the other was in a bloody garden centre. The place we buy our tree from usually has a little grotto and you donate to charity so we'll do that.

Definitely investigate local primary schools/nurseries to see if they are having a Christmas fair, you can usually see father Christmas pretty cheap there.

Our local town centre has a light switch on and he is always in the library before hand where you can see him for around a fiver so see if near you does similar

I agree the whole craze of having a big experience and paying £50 has increased, but we have always managed to find a local fair where you can just see him and have a go on a tombola ect and it isnt too expensive.

Maybe local garden centres? It was a few years ago now but we took ds to see Santa there.
Ikea used to do Santa visits, not sure if they still do though.