I have an autistic child who literally cannot cope with sustained excitement. He needs short, lovely experiences which he will then reflect on for months. His absolute ideal would be the sort of grotto experience I remember from my own childhood: briefly queue up in a department store, five minutes with FC to tell him if we've been good and what we would like for Christmas, and then off to do something else. £10 absolute max.
I don't know if it's my region but almost everything around here seems to be hours-long 'experiences' costing a minimum of £40 per child - making reindeer food / decorating cookies with Mrs Claus / meeting the reindeer / watching a show, and only then getting to see the big man, by which time my DC would be in a full overstimulated meltdown. Even the usually reliable places like John Lewis have realised that they have higher margins if they pack children in for breakfast or tea with Santa and they've all been booked solid since November.
The local shopping centre is pretty much the only place with simple grotto and they are solidly booked until Christmas. Meanwhile every children's farm we've ever visited has sent me an email with a discount offer for their 'experience' as they are clearly struggling to sell tickets. I am hopeful that the tide is turning and there might be a return to traditional, short grottos.