Please this is not a smear campain, ask the Admin team to look at the ip addresses to see that they are all different. Its just that we are honist people trying to save others from wasting their hard ernt money and being disapointed. Please if in any doubt then go, but make a report on here so others can realise what is going on.
We to went yesterday and it is the biggest rip off since the poll tax.
You are told that you would be greeted by one of Santas helpers NOT TRUE. There is a 3 minute walk through the woods with all snow on the trees (well a few Christmas trees with lights on). Wow there is a plastic polar bear in the woods and a wall this a painting on 300 yards away. To your right there is a muddy dog pen with a number of howling huskies in.
I know we will have a quick walk around to see whats here then go ice skating. Well the walk around took 10 minutes, most of it was food wagons, like you would get at a fair. There were a few animals dotted around, a big rabbit in a cage, 2 reindeers, a few geese, 3 piglets and pen with some turkeys in.
Well that was the walk around so lets go ice skating kids
..you have to go back outside into the fair ground for this and guess what it was broken and was told it wouldnt be working till about 9pm, great. Well kids lets go and see Santa and his grotto.
We queued for 3/4 of an hour and only got about 1/3 way into the queue. To calm the now furious queue, they decided to bring out Santa number 2. We then got told if you didn't want a photo (for the sum of £10 for 1 child or £15 for 2) then you could not let your child go up to Santa (this was Santa in the grotto), you had to wave to him from outside the grotto. They then told us we have 2 options, option number 1 was stay in the queue and wave to Santa (because I wasnt paying another £15 for a photo), or option number 2 was to have a little box given to the children and they could swap it for a gift in one of the two shops. By this time, most of the young children in the queue were crying because of cold and boredom. As we didnt want to spend another hour or so in the queue just to wave at a man in a red suite we went for option 2. His little helpers then gave out these little boxes to swap for a present, in the shops. Off we went to the shops, so no Santa and no grotto.
The shops were two sheds, one for boys and one for girls. As you can imagine, with something like Lapland there would be a lot of people there (especially as there was nothing else to do). It was like a give away food sale in a third world country. You stood in the shed (with your young child) shoulder to shoulder to get a cuddly toy or a racing car for the boys or for the girls a cuddly toy or a plastic bus. Fairs, fair, there were other toys of the same tacky theme (all the toys you could have got at any cheap shop for about £2 - £5), but as the crushing queue was getting bigger, we had to get out.
We were freezing by now and wet through, so a nice warming drink and a mince pie or for little Eddie a doughnut. Three hot chocolates, 1 mince pie (more the size of a biscuit) and a doughnut came to just under £8
.me I splashed out on a nice cup of warm mulled wine, £2.50. Me and Donna stayed there for about 30 minuets sipping hot chocolate or mulled wine while the two young ones played in the snow that was coming out of the snow machine, until little Eddie started to say he wanted to go home. So of we set of for home, what was advertised as a 4 to 6 hour stay was in reality a 1 to 2 hour stay, and most of that in a queue.
Taking religion away from this time of year, Christmas is a time for children and meant to be an exciting happy time and this experience has just destroyed it. In a time of a depression when everyone is tightening their belts, the organisers should be sued. I wish I had spent the £100 on other things.
Please please please if anyone is thinking of going, DONT, save you hard earned money
