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Original poster

Anyone been to Lapland UK - the one in Kent?

60 replies

floraflora · 12/11/2009 22:31

I read good reviews last year but DS was too young. Have just looked at their website which does make it look magical...
Anyone been? Is an imaginative 3.5 year old too young?
Thanks.

OP posts:

Olihan · 12/11/2009 22:47

If it's the one I'm thinking of, the only good reviews you read about it last year were written by the Lapland UK people themselves in a very poor attempt to counteract the masses of negative publicity they had.

If you look on TripAdvisor.com and search the archives on here you can see the number of complaints people had.

Save up for a few years and do the real Lapland, and avoid Lapland UK like the plague seemed to be the general consensus.

Olihan · 12/11/2009 23:15

Ah, no I don;t think the one you're talking about is the one you're talking about. There were 2 UK Laplands last year but it was the New Forest one which was particularly awful. However, there were a fair few unhappy posters even at the Kent one.

Here's one thread from last year

Mixed reviews on here

More negative stuff here (you need to scroll down/up quite a way to find the reviews).

Olihan · 12/11/2009 23:16

OFPS, the first sentence should read:

Ah, no I don;t think the one I'm thinking about is the one you're talking about.

Original poster

floraflora · 13/11/2009 10:10

Thanks Olihan, almost booked this morning, but after reading last year's mixed bunch, not sure what to do. Presumably they'll improve again this year, but I really don't want it to be a disappointment...

OP posts:

cazzybabs · 15/11/2009 11:26

My dh took the 2dds when it first opened and there were some crap reviews...what he said was that it was over-priced for what it was..however the dds had a good time. he felt the crap reviews where harsh, and that if I had payed half-price it would have been fine...however since he went it has gone up to even more....

fluffy123 · 20/11/2009 13:15

we went last year and had such a lovely time we booked again for this sunday (using a buy 2 get 2 free offer).
i would have liked to go nearer to xmas but didn't want to pay the jump in price, and already have a pantomine and xmas week in center parcs to look forward to.
i never regretted the money spent on lapland uk last year as my family and i have some lovely memories that will last a lifetime.
p.s the food and presents included are lovely quality.

fluffy123 · 20/11/2009 13:19

i think your child aged 3 and a half would be a really good age. you could help with activities, the ice skating is the only thing that may be a bit old,although they do have really tiny ice skates.

mumto2andnomore · 20/11/2009 17:27

Personally I would stay away from anything like this, far too expensive and usually rubbish ! Went to something similar at the NEC years ago and vowed never again.

LIZS · 20/11/2009 17:29

I'm still getting emails offering free places for next week and the follwoign week . Presumably take up not so good as previous years .

ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave · 20/11/2009 17:33

fluffy123, are you a new poster who has joined Mumsnet conveniently just in time to post on this thread with your impartial review of Lapland UK, or a namechanger who has for reasons of your own changed your name in order to post (etc.)?

Some nasty cynical people might remark on the fact that almost every "oh, it was lovely, and worth it for the memories, and everything is such good quality" post, last year and this, comes from a new poster with no MN posting history.

frazzled74 · 20/11/2009 22:18

havent been to lapland uk, have had mixed reviews from friends that have been. The hop farm looks really good and cheaper, was on website earlier.

hamlette · 21/11/2009 11:29

Hi, I joined this website to post on this thread, and guess what... I DO work at Lapland UK. I'm a graduate who can't get a proper job, so am being an elf at the moment. Before I took the job I googled Lapland UK and read lots of really odd threads about it on this website. Its great fun to work there, and I personally would take children of my own, because its magical when other people's children really believe you're an elf, so I can imagine how lovely it must be if your own were as impressed. I am happy to answer any questions you might have, and I will be honest! I'm not their PR office or anything!! There was a woman complaining the other day, that "the snow wasnt cold enough!" Um... hello... we are in England, real snow is NOT guaranteed!! Another complaint has comeup twice that the children aren't always been able to see, as the parents go to the front. All I can say to this is that the elves do endlessly encourage the "little folk" to come to the front, and some children are naturally shy and prefer to stay hiding between their parents legs, so then they can't always see... So, any insider info you would like?? In my own opinion there are certainly little niggles, but plenty of positives aswell. I think it depends what kind of person you are as to what you'll get out of Lapland UK, and what your kids will get out of it.

JodieO · 21/11/2009 11:38

I went 2 years ago and it was not worth the money AT ALL. The first part where they "transport" you to lapland was a dome (like a big tent) that looked dirty and not magical at all and they played the Snowman in bad quality. Some of the things there were nice but it was small, not really done out well and really not much at all for the money.

The staff I saw looked enthusiastic but it was a little offputting at times. All in all, I wouldn't pay anywhere near that for that price. The present was a book which was nice but not worth the money. If I'm honest, the part that looked the best and best fitted out, was the overpriced shop at the end.... oh and you HAD to walk THROUGH it to get out...

mollyroger · 21/11/2009 11:42

''I think it depends what kind of person you are as to what you'll get out of Lapland UK,''

rofl!

HellBent · 21/11/2009 11:49

Wow, you'd think they'd learn these threads Do Not Work! I remember last years pretend thread too

mollyroger · 21/11/2009 11:54

I'm a sucker with more money than sense and i definitely think it's the stuff wonderful memories are made of for ever.
I'm happy to spend a million pounds on a day out for my 2 year old who will not remember any of it for more than 6 months, and then any recall will be restricted to something random like a tractor he saw out of the window on the way home.
I am also happy to spend the entire day being herded round a collection of sheds decorated with tinsel by teenagers in green tights from one retail opportunity to another.

ChickandDuck · 21/11/2009 12:03

This thread has prompted me to look into lapland UK...I got as far as the price - £250 for 2 adults child and baby surley this would pay for flights to the real Lapland?!

ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave · 21/11/2009 12:05

The thing is, Hamlette, it's £87.50 per person to go at a weekend or school holiday. Eighty-seven pounds. And it's £10 for a baby, who doesn't get to eat or do anything for that money.

I am sure it's quite nice, but nearly ninety pounds a person nice? £350 for a family of four including a school-age child?

ShowOfHands · 21/11/2009 12:05

I think everything I am every going to need to know about this place is summed up by the exquisite oxymoron that is its name. Lapland UK. Say it to yourself. Out loud. Slowly.

My dd thinks a good day out is running round a muddy field for an hour and then running around it in the other direction for another hour. If you can make animal noises and/or aeroplane noises at the same time, it's like Christmas.

mollyroger · 21/11/2009 12:10

Exactly SOH.

mollyroger · 21/11/2009 12:10

I have a very clear memory of magic from my childhood, aged 5, when 'santa claus' (my mum's friend) rang me. He said he was allowed to ring a handful of children each year and I had been chosen. he knew my name, and all about me and knew what sort of things I liked. I asked him for a Dutch girl dress up costume for chrsitmas he said he'd see what he could do.
It cost my mum nothing and i remember it 35 years later....

ShowOfHands · 21/11/2009 12:15

You know those crappy plates they sell on the back covers of weekend supplement magazines? My Grandma coveted them and used to cut the pictures out and stick them on the wall of her spare room. She particularly liked the fairies and snow scenes. I used to sleep in that bedroom and she would tuck me up and remind me to pick which one I liked best because really they were magic portals and when I fell asleep I would be whisked away into them for a magical adventure. I really, really, really, really believed it. Free, magical memories.

hamlette · 21/11/2009 12:16

Well, to be honest, If I had more money than sense, which is what ppl who can afford £87 a ticket have, I'd just go to the real Lapland on a 5* holiday, BUT if you don't want to do that Lapland UK is a good idea, because the children love it, and isn't that what its supposed to be about? If you want to do something for yourself, go to the Ghent xmas markets and leave the kids with Grandma! OBVIOUSLY you arent going to go there aged 45 or whatever and believe in Father Xmas!! But if your kids do then isn't that the point?? Yesterday for example, there was a little boy who was about 9 who was asking me lots of questions about FC, as his friends had been doubting the existence of FC, and having seen the Sainsbury's grotto Santa he himself was having doubts, but having left Lapland UK he had at least another Christmas' worth of belief to go!

And Hellbent, I'm not pretending, I do work there. If I was going to make up a job I'd be Features writer at Vogue or something far more show-off-able! However, Elfing it is great fun while I jobhunt. And for further proof I'm not in PR @ Lapland, look at the Xmas edition of real people magazine, search Metro online for "At least Santa was willing to give me a job," the T Wells courier, or www.unemployed-graduate.com (my blog)

And Mollyroger, what I meant was, if you are a total b*tch and you don't love anything, then lapland UK will be no different ;-)

hamlette · 21/11/2009 12:19

and to save money, its a good idea to get the tickets for the opening "rehearsal days, which are just as good, in fact the elves are trying desperately to prove themselves so are trying even harder, and are £30 a head. To keep in mine for next yr ;-)

Also I've only worked there this year, so don't know about the bedgebury one, sorry, but there isn't a flight simulator this year if that helps

ShowOfHands · 21/11/2009 12:22

There's a chappie who shops in our local Sainsbo's. He has a big white beard, is beautifully rotund and has a jolly laugh. DD thinks he's Father Christmas. He has asked for no money and winks conspiratorially at all of the little children in the supermarket (don't tell the Daily Mail fgs). Again, free.

molly, shall we be total bitches together? Is there a Cruella de Ville Land UK we can go to?

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