Santas Magic Kingdom - anyone been?

[leese]

Just wandering if anyone has been and what their experience was. i was very tempted to take dd, but at £17.50 per ticket for an eighteen month old thought it a bit of a rip off (basically I'm too tight!). Anyhow, told my sister about it, and she got tickets for herself, husband and ds in Birmingham. she went on Friday and was really disappointed.
I think the literature had led her (and lots of others there) to believe that there would be a sleigh ride of sorts at the start, but there wasn't - you just walked into a hall, wearing your colour coded band, which told you when you had to move on into the next area. she thought there would be lots of snow and ice (tickets specified wrapping up warmly) - there was lots of polystyrene effect. There was a big snow slide, but rides were obviously limited.
There were live reindeer, but nothing you could get very close to. Food could only be purchased inside (very expensive). Think the final straw came when they went into the final hall to see Santa, to be met with a 2.5 hr wait! They just made their way, with many others, thru the emergency exits........
Having previously heard only glowing reports about this 'experience' I was really surprised to hear this. My sister said she was listening to a radio talk show the other day too, in which lots of callers were ringing to complain about their time there - they felt rushed, it was too busy etc.
So, anyone been and had a better experience? How does the experience in Glasgow (?) and Dublin(?) compare......

I went to Birmingham on the first date (29 Nov) and I haven't posted about my experience because someone asked me not to spoil it for them but since you have posted, I'm going to let rip

I think my first clue it might not be all it was cracked up to be came when I looked again at the website and realised that they only really have about 4 photos on there - mainly of the snowslide.

I think it is vastly overpriced - not just 17.50 but also a 1.50 booking charge per ticket (how can they separate this and make it compulsory?) plus 1.50 transaction fee - 58.50 for two adults and a child.

It wasn't busy when we went - that is, there was still 'Good' ticket availability on the NEC booking office website.

I thought it was hot and stuffy and we'd been told to dress in warm casuals. I thought there would be proper snow throughout and there wasn't, as you say.

The toilets are only at the beginning (before your 'shuttle ride' and the end. Bad luck if your child wants one in the hour or so it takes you to go through! Maybe one of the elves could help in an emergency! It's not clear whether there is food anywhere after the beginning until you stumble on it at the end. Nowhere to buy refreshments on the way through and the heat makes you thirsty.

The various areas you were shuffled through were small even for the number of people there on that night and the children found it difficult at some places to get to the front and see.

The girl who was looking after the reindeer had to keep checking with their keeper who was hiding in the background as to what the answers to the children's questions were. I;ll let her off with first night nerves though.

The snow ride system was a shambles. The food was a rip-off (cheapest crepe was 2.50 I think but banana and choc was 3.50 IIRC).

There was a sliegh ride simulator at the end for an extra 3 quid a head. You could have a family photo taken on a 'sleigh' for another fiver.

There was a good opportunity to throw snowballs which I enjoyed but that was busy then - dread to think what it would have been like if busier.

I felt pretty sick when DD went to see Santa in one of the nine booths (DH counted them!) lined up like changing rooms. And her box of pens gift would be about 50p in Wilkos.

BUT, after all that, DD was absolutely thrilled. She loved every single minute of it and wasn't at all put off by the tackiness of it all. She said it was the best thing we had ever done for her (she didn't know we were going until we got there) and took her turn on the 'Speaking Chair' at school on Monday to tell them all about it.

And on Thursday I noticed that the local shopping centre is charging 3 quid for a visit to Santa inc gift and they're using the same deccies and grotto they have for years - a shed, a few penguins and some fake snow (well it's quite nice but not much for 3 quid, IYSWIM).

Would I go again? No. Would I recommend it? No. The kids will love it but I was disappointed (and I was soooooo excited about going, I really was).

Oh yeah - forgot the merchandising!!!!

A bit off topic, but can I recomend the Santa special train ride at the Nene Valley railway? It costs £12 per person, which sounds like a lot. But for that youu get a visit to Santa in his grotto. While you are waiting the children get a ballon dog and a badge from one of Santa's helpers. After the visit you go on the train. The children were amazed that the carrage 'looked just like the one in Harry Potter'. The train ride is an hour long, and any Thomas fans will be delighted, as at half of it is a steam train. We had another visit from Santa, one from Sir Topham Hat, someone giving the children soft drinks and sweets, while the adults could have hot drinks, a miniature of spirits or a small bottle of wine, with a mince pie. Other people dropeed in with singing ducks, and the kids had a wonderful time. All but 12 of the staff are volenteers, and they are very friendly and helpful. We had a fantastic time, and my two children are still talking about it.

Oh and the gifts from Santa were worth about £5. I thought it was excellent value for money.

Most of the stories I have heard about Santa's Kingdom have been similar to this, too rushed, too expensive and too crowded. Generally I think the children have really enjoyed it but parents have been disappointed.

Also watch out for the car parking charges, I've heard of fees of £6 and £8 being charged. Check your tickets carefully because some venues offer free parking.

Very sorry but not that surprised you didn't enjoy it much, SueW (at least dd had a lovely time), I must admit from the first poster I saw I felt its infernal potential was high.
Following on from hmb's recommendations, we enjoyed a similar meet Santa on the Bluebell Railway on Sunday (in West Sussex). These steam railways clearly swap ideas because we had also had balloon dogs and mince pies, but Santa came on the train with us.
There was also a first free ride on a carousel as we arrived, a nice gesture I thought.
It was busy, but not overly congested, and they were careful not to oversell train tickets so no-one was squashed in. Santa was small and bespectacled, but very friendly, and the children got nice presents.
And, like the Nene, all done by wonderful, friendly, good-natured volunteers. We all had a really nice time - but DON'T EVER BE TEMPTED TO GO BY COACH FROM SE LONDON. Bleagh!

I've just been to the Box Office website again to check out the tickets and they now have availability for the first few days of DD's school holidays - she finishes this Friday.

I wonder what they are playing at? There was definitely NO availability when I checked in late October which was why we ended up going on 29 November, after school instead of as a birthday treat (her birthday next Monday).

Those prices are outrageous!! I went ot our local zoo this weekend, Colchester, and they have the most mazinf grotto for little ones. Since we have Gold Cards which last a year this includes pressies for the child. Or you can buy a ticket at £4.50 if your child is too young to pay to get in the zoo (under 3's are free). So for that money not only do you getteh best Zoo in the country (not that I'm biased) a grotto that is beatiful. It was really busy, but you went straight into a a pretty 'tunnel' with loads of lights, and then via these animated displays - one of baby seals and penguins, a couple of nativity scence, rabbits on see-saws (!), S-club 5 (Santa swing band) etc etc. The kids were entranced, my youngest 21 months was opened mouthed throughout, teh 3 yr old tried to stoke all the animals. My only disappointment was Santa, the has 2 at the end, and ours was too young and the beard was a bit fakey. Also my girls think FC is a bit strange and they are unimpressed. So saying the pressie was good (they check the age) and probably worth the £4.50 you pay for extra tickets.

So I would asvise a trip there is you are within an hour or so drive, it is sooo good.

I went to Santas Kingdom yesterday, thank god i won the tickets on mumsnet cause i would have been fuming if i had paid 17-50 for them basically it was rubbish we were all really dissapointed.

Looks like Santas Kingdom might make a fortune this year but won't be back next year if these reviews are anything to go by!

I thought it would be a nice alternative to going to Lapland (399pp for a day trip) but I think we'll try and do that one year. Not a day trip though - a holiday over Christmas, somewhere snowy and cold with a lovely Christmas market.

Is this the same as the one at Wembley, am due to book tickets for next week and now am wondering if its a waste of time?

Yes, Girly. It's in Birmingham, Wembley and Glasgow. And Dublin too I think.

I've taken some phrases from the website and added my take on their marketing. Sorry for anyone who has already booked tickets - you will probably have a fantastic time cos you'll go expecting to be disappointed and then won't be

'play in real snow' - at the end you might be lucky to get a washing up bowl of snow to make snowballs and throw at some wooden figures (bit like a cocnut shy or a 'throw the sponge at the teacher' sidestall)

'Visitors are advised to wrap up warm for their journey' - don't - you'll overheat

'Santa's Kingdom has a massive snow play area' - not at Birmingham. This implies to me that there would be a snow 'playground' but it isn't. It's as described above plus a snowslide

'The visit will take around two and a half hours' - it took us just over an hour

Make-A-Wish Foundation - apparently you could take a gift and leave it under the tree in the Kingdom but this wasn't publicised whilst we were there (nor was anything sent with the tickets).

Apparently there are 'three spectacular £2 million pound Christmas showcases' - do you think this means it's costing them £6m? If so, the estimated 0.5m customers at 17.50 per ticket will net them a cool £2.75m profit!

sueW - I'd be fuming too. It is an outrageous a amount of money to pay for not that much. I bet any food and drink that was on sale at the venue was not too cheap either.

Just because most young children don't see through such nasty attempts at recreating chrismas 'magic' does not mean the organisers should short change them. Is there a comments section on their website by any chance? can you complain there?

Thanks for responding all - 'specially SueW - you sound like you had as bad a time as my sister! to top it all, her ds was bored part way round as the crowds got to much for him to contend with!
It's made me a bit angry now reading all of this (at first I thought my sis must have gone on a bad day, but obviously not!) - I've looked on the nec group website, but nothing re: complaints jumping out at me there. Not sure who the organisers are (or if they'd give a monkeys if anyone complained), but just feel everyone has been short changed and its not fair!

The Santa's Kingdom website is here . There is a Contact Us section. I'm not sure I can be bothered to write all my complaints out - I might just direct them to this public forum to see my comments instead.

I haven't said anything libellous, have I?

I'll put my two penny in too, we went to Wembley yesterday, and were really dissapointed. It was very rushed, the shuttle was not what I imagined, nor was the snow play area, I had visions of making snowmen with DD !!

I thought it would be more ' winter wonderland' style and there would be a lot more for the kids to do. Our visit took 1.5 hours, meeting FC was very rushed and there were nine of them on the go in their little cubicles ! and no queue so I thought it would have been a bit more personal!!

She got a cheap teddy which probably cost around 50p !

I would certainly not pay out the £19.00 per ticket, I think it was very overpriced. I am just glad I had won the tickets on mumsnet and not forked out £76.00 !! Parking was £8.00.

Sorry a definate thumbs down from me !

thanks for posting SueW - it does seem to be a real rip-off (I thought it was expensive just for the tickets without the add-ons!). Definately will not be going and hope that they make huge improvements if they decide to re-stage next year.

We too went on a Santa Special steam train. We took DS from Haworth on the Worth Valley line and it was really quite good although at 22 months he was a bit young to really appreciate it, he did enjoy it. I think his favourite bit was standing on the platform watching the train come in and leave. He's developed a heavy thing with Thomas TT at the moment and was saying "bye bye choo choo" for the next 20 mins.

hmb - I can second your recommendation for the Nene Valley Santa Special although we haven't been on it for a few years now - I used to live in Peterborough so it was really handy. I went to the similar one in Kidderminster a couple of years ago - the presents were really good but we were charged extra for the drinks etc. when on the train - so I think that the Nene Valley one is excellent value for money.

Sue W - I echo your comments totaly. I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one hugely disappointed. We went to the Wembley venue with our ds as part of his birthday present. He was so excited and was really looking forward to the shuttle ride. Little did we know it involved being ushered into a room which was meant to resemble the inside of a shuttle.

The facilities at the end were also a big disappointment as was the cheap present received from Father Christmas. They also have the cheek to charge a further £5 for a photo with Santa.

The tickets were certainly NOT value for money and we came out wishing we had rather spent the money (£57) on a decent present for him instead.

I suppose we can consider we had a lucky escape as we nearly paid a further £38 for my parents and younger ds to go as well!

I guess I was so disappointed because when we went to Sydney we visited Xerts which is a space-themed restaurant. You 'check in' for your flight on the ground floor at a sort of airline check-in desk and are given a plastic card/ticket. You then step into the shuttle (a lift) which takes you to outer space (with appropriate film showing).

The food was the usual burger fare but you could order through a TV at the end of your booth and then a waiter came to check the order was ok (and not over-ordered by enthusiastic little fingers!).

Even as adults we loved it - and there was free simulator ride for the kids which they went on with their dads after lunch.

So I expected Santa's Kingdom to have those little extras - a proper check-in desk with ground crew, not a couple of (not very happy) people handing out wristbands and constant boring reminders to stay with your group (make it exciting 'Stay with your group because there's a bunch of rogue elves out there trying to kidnap Rudolph' or something!).

I could whinge about this forever.... better shut up now!

It's on Watchdog right now!

Sounds like everyone there has the same opinion as everyone on here!

I just came on to post about Watchdog but see I've been pipped at the post!

'Only' 50 complaints to Watchdog - perhaps I should point Watchdog in this direction for evidence of further complaints.

here is the Watchdog site.