Santa land - Earls Court London in December

purplepurple

well we went... just couldn't justify writing-off the £74 I spent on the tickets.
What a disappointment!

We arrived 10 mins before our allotted time, but were herded like cattle straight into the queue to go in... we were given a magazine with £5 as the cover price.. a big deal was made by the person who gave it to us as if we should be really grateful! About 90% of the magazine is advertising, so I wouldn't recommend anyone paying a fiver for it!

The entertainers did their best to get everyone excited, but somewhow it didn't really work... many of the entertainers looked a bit embarrassed to be there....

We were herded through the big doors into a passageway where the walls were covered with white fabric and had pink/purple lights shone onto them. There was nothing else to see. We had to stand and watch the short film about the fairy before they opened the main doors. Almost immediately we were then herded into the passageway leading to Father Christmas. We all found this incredibly claustraphobic... very low ceilings, low lighting, very very hot, the feeling that we'd never get to the end of it etc etc...
Luckily, we only had a 20 min wait for Father Christmas and during the wait we were "entertained" by someone who reminded us all of Alan Partridge!

The kids were in with Father Christmas only long enough to have a couple of photos taken and then we were herded out again. The pressies were okay, but I have seen the books we got on sale for a couple of quid in shops in town, so not too impressed with those.

We were impressed with the speed at which we got the photo... it was a lovely photo of the two of them with Father Christmas and the only one we've got of my 3yr old actually smiling not grimacing in horror at Father Christmas! The person on the sales desk however, looked utterly disgusted that I didn't want to buy the key ring and fridge magnet for an extra fiver!

We bought our own food and there is a depressingly sparse and uninviting area where you can eat your own food.
We then went into the main exhibition hall and as a previous poster said, it is nothing more than a glorified fair ground.
I don't know what on earth the £3 million was spent on (a vast chunk on advertising one assumes) but it wasn't spent on "the ultimate christmas experience".
The bit that made me really laugh was on the little train. It stopped half way round for "Norman the Gnome" to appear from behind the trees. Part of what the woman dressed up as the gnome said was ".... and I've been so naughty, they've even made me into a cuddly toy!" to which she pointed to the toy on her belt. She then referred to the toy twice more before the train started up again. Imagine my surprise when we spotted the gnome toys on sale in the market place. Fancy that! Talk about a co-incidence!

My two did enjoy collecting the ribbons, but we couldn't quite work out what the purpose of the ribbons was. We didn't need them to get pressies from FC and we didn't need them to get the T-shirt at the end (everyone gets one)... we were just asked to put them in a big tub on our way out.

So.... if you've got tickets I'd say go... your children will enjoy it (even if you hate it) but I know we'll be avoiding it like the plague if it's on next year! :snow_laug

kiwichick

Well today is the last day that the santaland team have to get back to email complaint. I got a reply saying someone would contact me within 7 days on the 13th which by my reckoning means today. I'll post the reply if I ever get one.

purplepurple

I'm dying to hear their response! :snow_laug

Striker

purplepurple,

Gotta agree with you we went yesterday and it was a complete waste of money. Complaint letter being written as we speak.

black-saturn

OMG they are going to have so many letters. I wonder though what were to all expecting? Theres no such thing as Santa World so were you expecting Earls Court to suddenly transform into something from your imagination?

kiwichick

My complaint was more to do awith the disorganisation of the show, the awful waiting times and the contradictions about what was on offer compared to what was advertised on the website. The actual event was lovely for my daughter (3), she didnt complain once and loved all the rides, was thrilled with her gift. As a whole it isnt worth the money.

pauldempster

Okay, here's what you all need to know. To complain and get a response then email all of the following - You'll get a reply AND REFUND FORM the next day!!
Guy Zitter (MD of Daily Mail) guy.zitter@dailymail.co.uk plus .... juliasmith@uk.dmgworldmedia.com and ...
bleaker@trendandculture.com <bleaker@trendandculture.com>; helpline@dailymail.co.uk <helpline@dailymail.co.uk>; hkirk@trendandculture.com <hkirk@trendandculture.com>; info@eco.co.uk <info@eco.co.uk>; jchennells@trendandculture.com <jchennells@trendandculture.com>; juliasmith@uk.dmgworldmedia.com <juliasmith@uk.dmgworldmedia.com>; Laurence@frankpr.it <Laurence@frankpr.it>; letters@dailymail.co.uk <letters@dailymail.co.uk>; mrodol@trendandculture.com <mrodol@trendandculture.com>; news@dailymail.co.uk <news@dailymail.co.uk>; pauldacre@dailymail.co.uk <pauldacre@dailymail.co.uk>; paul.dacre@dailymail.co.uk <paul.dacre@dailymail.co.uk>; pdacre@dailymail.co.uk <pdacre@dailymail.co.uk>; promotion@careline-services.co.uk <promotion@careline-services.co.uk>; p.dacre@dailymail.co.uk <p.dacre@dailymail.co.uk>; santaland@trendandculture.com <santaland@trendandculture.com>; Brenda Daly <brendadaly@uk.dmgworldmedia.com>

Good luck with your refunds - try and claim travel and food costs too aswell as the money for hanging your coat up!!

purplepurple

black-saturn wrote:

OMG they are going to have so many letters. I wonder though what were to all expecting? Theres no such thing as Santa World so were you expecting Earls Court to suddenly transform into something from your imagination?

It's more the fact that it is advertised as follows.....

"Welcome to the biggest Christmas experience this side of Lapland! For the first time ever Santa has brought a part of his village with him to share with you and your children.
With a captivating interactive story, stunning set design, loveable characters and engaging pantomime, Santa Land gives children the opportunity not only to meet Santa, but to explore his magical land, become one of his little helpers and help save Christmas!
Santa Land will bring to life the true magic of Christmas, it's an experience your children will never forget. The only real question is have your children been good enough?"

which just isn't true! It led us to expect something that would be the next best thing to going to lapland... something like a film set (they have spent £3 million on it after all), not a dingy hall full of fairground rides... it is certainly not stunning set design! The interactive story was hardly captivating, more of a distraction to keep people occupied whilst queuing. I'm not saying that the kids didn't enjoy it, they did, it was just appalling value for money. For £74 I could have taken my two to the garden centre 7 times to see better christmas displays and get better pressies from FC.

"Santa Land will bring to life the true magic of Christmas, it's an experience your children will never forget." To be honest, I think my two will have forgotten most of it in a couple of weeks time... I on the other hand, won't forget the experience for ages! :snow_laug

I will be contacting the organisers... not to ask for a refund, no-one forced me to book tickets to go there and it's just one of those things I'll put down to experience, but they need to know that people are feeling ripped off. They need to know they provided a sub-standard service and charged a lot of money to people (generally with young children, not all, but generally I would think) who need every penny at this time of year.
Just as I have written letters of praise to organisers of events we have loved, I will write to this one to let them know of my experience.

Pavanne

I haven't been yet, going tomorrow, but I wanted to refer to purplepurple's query about collecting ribbons. I think its disgraceful that the whole theme of the event is centred around collecting ribbons in order to "save Christmas" and collect your present from Santa at the end, yet on arrival they were herded straight in to see him. This would have completely spoilt the whole story.

I await my fate tomorrow....

kiwichick

Many Thanks to pauldempster :beer: I emailed thepeople on your list this morning and have had 3 replies already, ALL PROMISING A FULL REFUND!!!!! :j :j :j