Christmas days out to avoid!

[Outspokenhippo]

Just wanted to give anyone who is interested a heads up about a place to avoid for a Christmas Day out. Last year we went to the Four Kingdoms and I honestly could have wept. It was awful. Think Nessa’s (Gavin and Stacey) Christmas grotto and you’re not far off. The place is filthy. I spent a considerable amount of time filling out profiles for each of us, with information to be used for said visit. Hardly any of it was used. IT COST A FORTUNE. I’m talking over £400 for 3 kids and 2 adults. I thought maybe a post about places to avoid would be helpful. This year we are doing the polar express at Churnet, if that’s crap I’m quitting Christmas for good. 🎅🏽

@Outspokenhippo
York Christmas Market (I live in York) nightmare for crowds but people seem to love it.
I dont get it at all, maybe as I live here and end up having a wander through (early, before the crowds arrive) same tat they sell every year, food stalls are mega expensive.
Im a Grinch btw 😉

I would say don’t go in the day time - agree the stalls are pretty much all tat and the crowds are bonkers. But the food stalls are excellent and the service incredibly quick.

We go about 4.30 when it’s getting dark. Look at all the York lights, get a hot chocolate (take plastic cups - buy 2/3 hot chocolates and split between several children. Cools them down and gives them an amount they’ll actually drink), maybe an Xmas decoration, ride the carousel and buy some food.

We haven’t done much of the food yet but I think we might this year now the kids are older.

Thanks for the warning! I love York and was considering going this year although to be honest Christmas markets are a big rip off. Same old tat at extortionate prices .

We went to the Hampton Court Christmas event . What an absolute waste of time and money . There was about 40 stalls , a large proportion of which were not offering festive products . It literally took us 10 mins to walk around so we cut our losses and left . We had lunch in a local pub and went home . Their garden shows are amazing but this was a new level of low .

One christmas on the way home from an early evening thing I saw a youngish guy sitting in his car drinking whiskey from a bottle he was saying to another guy who was on the pavement," Im never going to legoland with the kids again."
So maybe avoid legoland.

Bath 'Christmas market' is truly awful - dangerously overcrowded to the point of not being able to move in parts especially by the Abbey and the side streets. Full of tat. Four hour queues for overcrowded trains. Avoid at all costs.
Southampton 'Christmas market' is also awful but not as overcrowded.

Great idea for a thread

Longleat Land of Light can be hit and miss. The queues and crowds at peak times are ridiculously long. Go either early or late in the season to avoid queues and crowds. Staff do their best but putting teenagers in charge of marshaling crowds isn't a great idea.

Southampton Christmas market is just pure tat. Avoid at all costs.

we did Polar Express from Kings x a couple of years back, it was fairly good (except they use nearly all the loos on the train for costume changes so it’s a bugger to find a free one if you need to go) and if you don’t really know the story it’s a little bewildering, but then it might be bewildering even if you do because it’s VERY musical theatre- lots of jazz hands and performers singing HAAAAAAAATTTTT CHAAARCCCLATTTT at every turn 😂

The Santa on there was good though, everyone gets an equal amount of time as they have one per carriage and come round to every seat.

Similar for Edinburgh.

If you happen to go past on a Tuesday morning in November, by all means get a giant German sausage with onions, they look delicious.

On a weekend in December, avoid avoid avoid. Do not even consider bringing a pushchair. It will get stuck somewhere.

Mega busy, mega loud, everything is expensive tat and the food is terrible. It's also usually freezing cold and probably raining too.

Why would you do this to yourself?

To be honest I’ve never had a good Xmas day out at these commercial places. They’re all overpriced & overcrowded.

Lincoln was the same but it’s been stopped now for safety concerns! My friend lives in Lincoln she’s delighted it no longer goes ahead!!!!

Is this the one that starts near Blythe Bridge? If so I’m sorry to say we went a couple of years ago and my tiny LOs weren’t very taken by it. It was just a bit naff although not anything as bad as the grotto you described. Just… meh. The “North Pole” was beyond anticlimactic. I got second hand embarrassment for the performers, at the end when they kept calling: “Does anyone want a photo with Santa?” Nobody did.

I’m not sure where it is. I’ve tried to erase as much as possible from my memory. It was a long drive I remember that much! I think it’s near Thatcham

What about the Hell on Earth that is Winter Wonderland Hyde Park ?

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My DC are 24 and 27 so many years ago we took them to WWHP.
It was free to get in , yoi had to buy tickets at various stands . £3 child/£4 adult per ride .
Lots of clean toilets .
Some food and drink stalls but the DC were only interested in the rides . DD loved the slalom slide .

Two years later , we pre booked the Big Wheel Carousel.
It snowed , mega snow .
They closed most of the rides due to safety ( fair enough ) We didn't buy any tickets there but we did go on the Wheel as it was still running. Four of us crammed into a plastic covered seat with water streaming down the inside and we could see bugger all for the snow .

Two years later , give it another try we thought .
It was chaos and so busy . Loads of dogs .
Queues of a hour for rides . Queues for toilets . The DC managed 2 maybe 3 rides and got fed up.
Cannot get a refund on un used tickets so I gave them to a parent coming in.

Since then I think they charge to get in and it has grown in size as it gained popularity . It is not a fun place for kids .. Too many adults getting pissed and having a brawl

Leeds and Manchester Xmas markets are both shocking. Never intentionally been to either but stumbled upon them.

Totally. They are all exploitative, expensive and shit...I don't know why people don't learn.
Chasing a festive vision I suppose.

We wandered round when we were there before going on a short cruise . Best bit was the lights projected onto the big stone arch .

DH and I went to Bath ( bus tour trip) we were dropped off just outside the town , short walk in. It looked to be a nightmare to park , the carparks were all full and turning cars away . Par&Ride queues were massive .
It was the last weekend of the market .
Food and Drink stalls were really busy .

Going past the Abbey was mad busy .

Birmingham's is dreadful too. Christmas markets in Germany, especially in the towns rather than the big cities, are just glorious. Here they're an excuse for tat and alcohol.

We went to the Edinburgh Christmas Market and while it was lovely in some respects the prices were absolutely ridiculous. It was £8 for a plain pancake and an extra £1 if you wanted lemon and sugar on it. Well obviously. Who eats a completely plain pancake? Anyway, as I watched the bloke sprinkle it liberally with sugar, I wondered why it was coming out of a Canderel tub but assumed they were just using old tubs with sprinkler lids for convenience. Nope. It was Canderel. All over my pancake in a big thick layer. It was completely inedible but the queue was so huge and I couldn't get to the front to complain, so just dumped it in the bin.

About four years ago I was driving somewhere near the Norfolk Showground and I accidentally got snarled up in a traffic jam waiting to enter the Christmas wonderland thing there. 2 and a half hours I was stuck there. It was gridlocked chaos. I can't imagine any Christmas attraction is worth that level of hassle.

Definitely avoid a steam train Santa ride, I just remember it being FREEZING, some people brought blankets (clearly in the know!!) and the ‘Santa’ bit was terrible
also agree with all comments about winter wonderland in Hyde park. A huge waste of time and money.
On the plus side, stourhead Christmas lights was really cute. Would go again! And Bath Christmas market is fun if mid morning or late afternoon during the week!!!

What sort of safety concerns? It's a shame these things eventually all go the same way. Pissed up people behaving badly. We are a disgrace in this country, truly. It's embarrassing. God knows what tourists must think.

Mind you, we once spent NYE in Prague and were not impressed to find the streets full of young men hurling fireworks at one another for a laugh as we tried to walk gingerly back to our air BNB at shortly after midnight. Bloody hell. It felt more like Sarajevo.

And of course in Paris the north African youths do like to set fire to a few cars on NYE.

Agree we went once as a by product of something else.
We had to stand pinned against the wall and dive into any stall we liked.

Having said that tucked away in a quieter area there was a beaitiful stunning stall selling the most exquisite russian dolls I've ever seen I think they were made by nuns in Ukraine ...I really regret not buying a set