Santas grotto price increases this year?! 😒

[RisenWhine]

DD has been coming home asking if we’re going to see Santa before Christmas as all of her friends are. I’ve been meaning to book something but everything I’ve looked at just isn’t in my price range. I can’t find anything relatively locally for under £60?!

also why are adults tickets being forced out with mince pies and mulled wine? That’s great as an optional extra.. but I don’t want to buy an adult ticket for £12 because it comes with a mince pie (which is a heinous festive creation) and mulled wine (I’m sober).

I’m stressed. I clearly wasn’t prepared enough for the price increase this year and need to do better next year.

anyone else frustrated at the price of grottos now?😒

Maybe have a look at smaller local options, our Scout christmas fayre is £4 to see santa, including a present.

This is exactly what I was going to say.

My local small museum has a grotto. The tickets are £3.50, the kids get a nice book and the parents can take as many photos of their kids in the grotto as they want.

Yeah I avoid the ‘big’ ones for this reason. Our local shopping centre is doing it for £8 and includes the present and photo op and no charge for up to two adults. Look at department store or shopping ones. We did it for a £3 donation last year at the local church, that was a really good one, properly decorated etc.

Try libraries, ours is £1 and they get a book.

Garden centres are generally good for grottos with a nominal fee.

How do you find the smaller ones? I’ve just looking on Facebook at local events that are on ect. I live pretty rurally so we don’t have much about that puts on things I guess. But I am a bit clueless in how to seek the smaller ones out!

I find everything through local Facebook community pages generally.

Not sure where you’re located but the transport museum in Covent Garden is free. You don’t get a present or anything like that.

£60 😳🤯
Mine are young adults now, but holy shit, I can't even imagine a grotto being that much, even it it is an "experience".
Like others have said, look at garden centres. Put a post on Facebook and ask on the community page, there's sure to be someone with a good idea.

Are shopping centres or garden centres any better?

If you can’t find a small local one (our garden centre is doing one for £10 i think), have a look at breakfast with Santa at Harvester. You buy a meal (make it as cheap as you need), no cost for adults and LO gets to see Santa without queueing (elves come and get you from your table when it’s your turn).

I agree OP, my DD is 11 now but when she was a toddler you could do this for 4/5 quid at our local nature park. Now its about 15 quid per child, and and extra 5 quid for an adult. Ridiculous.

Do you not pay for the museum itself? Or is this separate?

It’s not free to get in to the museum (although you can use it again during the year you buy it) it’s £25 for an adult and £20 for a child. If you’re not London based and unlikely to use it again then it’s a pretty expensive option.

Meant to add, I agree about prices though. Some of the ones around here are ridiculous- there was enough of a kick off here that the local farm have revamped their pricing as they were charging £20 for kids and £10 for adults, with the rule that at least 1 adult had to attend with the child 🤑

We went to one at Chatsworth farm park last year, we paid about £8 each for entry to the farm and playground, story time with Santa, a book and reindeer food making and it was an absolute bargain. This year…£22 for kids, £18.50 for adults. 😭 not prepared to pay that especially when most of the actual attraction is outside and might not be useable if the weather is bad.

60?!?

If we can't find an offer for a resonable price we dont go. £60 no way.

Local garden centre, usually you just rock up and it's £10-£15 with a lovely gift and a nice Santa. Also shopping centres usually have walk in grottos (poorer quality Santa's though).

Quite a few of the chain pubs around me do a breakfast with Santa thing. Should be cheaper than £60 and at least you’d get brekkie out of it.

Do you have a local library? The libraries in our area usually have a santa grotto to see Santa. Only charge the cost of a book.

£60?! For the whole family I assume... rather than per child (hopefully anyway £60 per child would worse than extortionate)
Is there nothing free or very cheap locally? Maybe check on local facebook pages because there might be things you just don't know about.
Here there's loads of amazing options for under £60, and plenty that are just a couple of quid

Yes sorry the £60 is whole family, still too much for me 🤣 but we have some experiences not too far away that would cost upwards of £200! I just don’t know how anyone can do it in this climate

Google Christmas fayres near you then go to the website or social media post

It’s the same every year. We love Bolton Abbey so wanted to take DC to their Santa but I think it was £40 per child and then an additional £20 per adult, even though the adults are obviously just accompanying the children! So I mean average family of 4, £120 just to see Santa. Point blank refused. My Mum took my older DC on the Polar Express train one year and I looked into it for younger DC who are the right age, it’s about £300! Sheer insanity.

I always book the National trust Santa story time event, we’ve done it 4 years in a row now. It’s about £40 for the four of us. Santa reads a group of children a story, talks to each child individually and you get photos. It’s really nice.