Bedgebury is holding a Christmas 'Lapland UK' Experience

[TheDuchessOfNorksBride]

... covering a part of the forest with fake snow, Christmas village, Raymond Briggs 'The Snowman' ride, Father Christmas visit, mulled wine to fortify parents, reindeer, husky dogs, trumpeters and all sorts. I'm soooo excited. Er, for my children, obviously...

It's quite expensive though (I just paid £167 for a family of 5). Here is the link. And here is the itinery.

And it's selling out quite quickly.

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Why did we have to say what our children's likes/interests were at the time of booking? I thought they were "given" something relevant? Not seen this on the reviews.. or have I missed it?

Air Lapland outfits - wow that passed over my head completely!!! Can't thinky why as it was so obvious we were on such a realistic plane trip

Childrens likes and dislikes were for the Santa visit at the end BUT you had to complete another card to hand in before this part, and it asked the same question, so no idea what happened to the first one we completed. The gifts are not specific at all to the individual likes and dislikes of each child - they all receive chunky wooden animal puzzles still in their cellophane wrapper btw ie not wrapped up nicely. You then get a scratchy hessian bag thing to put the pieces in.

thinky?? mean think obv

They don't get anything related to their likes and dislikes???! They made a huge deal of this on the phone!!!!

Nope the gift is not related at all - I certainly didn't mention that my DS liked wooden elephant puzzles anyway! However the Santa does tuck each card into the big book he has on his lap and refers to what each child likes so although not linked to the gift the details are used in some way.

Also in additon to the gift for the child each Mum gets given a book of 'The Night Before Christmas' and you have to promise faithfully to read it to your children each Christmas Eve. Actually this was quite endearing (not just cos I like presents!) but it did bring a little lump to my throat!!

I would imagine that the gifts you wrote on the cards will be brought to your dc's by Santa on Christmas Eve

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Oh, so it's just so that Santa can talk to them about what they like.. not so he can give them anything they like. Sigh.

I feel sort of cheated and I haven't even been yet. Was SO looking forward to this.. I too thought it would be a flight simulator, not a bleedin' tent .. and I imagined proper snow.. made from a snow machine obviously.. but still actual snow! Why couldn't they have done that? They are charging a flipping fortune!!

I have often wished I could take my kids to Lapland, esp. 7 year old disabled DS who finally "gets" the whole concept of Christmas/Father Christmas.. but it was never going to happen.. and this seemed like the answer. Sigh sigh sigh. I can't even bring myself to tell DH about these reviews...

See www.itvlocal.com/meridian/news/?player=MER_news2_26&void=123026 for a local news piece that does give you a real time view of the main square, the snow, huskies, and Santa!!

Hi all,

My name is Anna Stephens and I am new to this site. I have 2 children aged 3 and 6.

I was just searching lapland uk through google and came across this discussion board.

I visited Lapland uk earlier today with my family and i do agree with some of the comments however i feel that most of them are extremely harsh.

Firstly i must say that me and my family had a very enjoyable day and have already looked into booking it up again next year.

The transporter: I do agree that it was a little bit of a let down but when you walk through the air tunnel the other side and come out to the scene of the beautiful square with pretend snow falling on to the village square it completely makes up for it.

The snow: Yes the snow is fake but then again if you want real snow then i recommend you pay £4,000 to go the real lapland. Even though it is fake it still has a magical Christmas effect and looks brilliant.

The reindeer: There are 2 reindeer and for obvious reasons you may not pet them. If you go to the zoo you may not walk in and pet the animals so what makes people think you can do it hear. Rudolph is a man in a costume but it is just a bit of fun. Were people really expecting to see a real reindeer with a shining red nose. What do you want next? The real Father Christmas?

The toy factory: The toy factory could do with some improving but again it is just for a bit of fun. However the 2 magnificent rocking horse made the factory for my children. They loved it.

The gingerbread making: This was extremely fun and my kids loved meeting Mrs Christmas and had great fun decorating there ginger bread.

Father Christmas: Father Christmas topped off a brilliant day and was sensational. The house was just as you would imagine it and it really fulfilled all my kids dreams.

I hope these other comments don't put you off your trip as honestly it was a pure delight and i really hope that people will start becoming more positive about it so it carries on throughout the coming years.

The final thing i must say is i know £200 is quite expensive but it is about £3,800 cheaper than a trip to real lapland and some of the scenery and atmosphere around the village is magical.

Thanks for reading Anna

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Its good of you to take the time to say this Anna, LUK should employ you - you've done more to re-assure me than they have - despite my e-mails, all of which they have ignored! Guess they are pretty busy though!

Funnily enough, when I spoke to them earlier today to raise my concerns I suggested that they Google it to find out what is being said.

Apparently its all teething problems and we'll be pleasantly surprised.

But they still haven't replied to my 3 emails and they failed to send the email I requested confirming our details for the day as I've yet to see it.

Maybe this is why people don't make positive comments because people make sly jokes about being an employee.

It's easy to go along with the flow but i honestly feel people are being extremely harsh.

Or maybe people are being negative because they are genuinely disappointed.

It's a real shame, but I'm glad of the honest reviews as we can act accordingly.

Strangely enough Anna, if I could afford to pay the four grand to go the real laplad, do you think I would bother with the UK version?!

No - I don't expect the real Father Christmas.. sorry to break it to you.. but there isn't one. But my children don't know that. What I did expect is a "magical flight of fantasy" (as promised on website).. not a tent with the door half open! They don't much sound like "world class special effects" to me.. and to be honest, I'm fairly easily pleased! But it sounds like the "make gingerbread" promise equates to icing a biscuit.. and frankly, am very worried about the queueing, as my SN seven year old really doesn't tolerate or even understand queues.

But I will attempt to go with an open mind. I do reserve the right to be disappointed though. The website makes it sound wonderful after all.

And you really do come across as an employee even if you're not one!

My first choice would be to cancel, as I'm really worried it will disappoint my children, and worse case scenario ruin their childish beliefs. Children aren't stupid, and the whole thing is basically lying on a grand scale as one friend said to me. (Kind of wish I'd listened to her now!).

But because I can only speak to a (very nice) employee and no-one in authority I have no choice but to go.

I will kick up a hell of a stink if its not up to reasonable expectations.

Have read Netmums thread on this. Doesn't fare much better I'm afraid.

Well to be fair Foxy, the whole concept of Father Christmas is "lying to children on a grand scale".. but the issue I have, is that if you promise them a lovely day out and show them the website (as I have done) then I would hope to give them that promised experience.

Cod is only hanging about to see if she needs to relaunch Hermione Grangers 'SPEW' and save the elves. (Get back to eyeliner woman, I want to know which one to buy tomorrow, can't wait until next week).

I have heard mixed reviews of Lapland. My DCs aren't expecting the real Lapland, they know Bedgebury far too well for that. I also read on the site about what the gifts were (even the hessian bag!), that the snow was made of seaweed etc so can't pretend to be annoyed about that. It's the Snowman ride that has been the most misleading, although I did read about what it really was 2/3 weeks ago. And yes, it does say MAKE gingerbread.

I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves. DH & I will make sure the DCs enjoy it and then we'll complain as necessary after the event when the DCs aren't present.

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Please? Email me... please??

Hello just thought I would let you know about our Lapland UK experience.

Firstly, the flight was ridiculous, it is a tent which shows clips from the Snowman. Everybody who arrived when we did all got the same times booked to see Santa, so you do not in fact get a special alloted time. We had an hour wait to see him, during this time we had to endure 2 girls dressed up as elves singing awful xmas songs. There was a few crayons and paper for the kids to do drawings but Im sure they could have thought of something more imaginative! The story telling was a joke the story was read from an A4 shhet of paper. The snow covered forest did look very pretty but was spoilt by the fact we could see the man turning the handle on the snow machine! Im sorry we are quite easily pleased but this was a real let down. Our little boy did enjoy the day but would have been just as happy visiting Santa at one of the big stores. If I had paid the December prices I would have been well annoyed.
Im sure that all the little ones who are booked to go will have a great time and that of course is the main thing, and I did see lots of happy faces from the kids. We will not be booking again though as feel we were mislead by the website etc.