See Santa at Harrods! Book from 21/08

crybabyaj

Many thank to the OP for the link to the Harrods Christmas Grotto.

8 of us went last night (only 2 of which were kids!). The tickets were for 7pm and we got there for 6.30pm. No queue at all and Father Christmas was very funny and great with all of us. We all got badges and the kids got the sticker book and the large chocolate coin.

They took lots of pictures until we got a great one and I can hightly recommend it to everyone.

I will definitely go again next year!

Mags

adea

I went yesterday with my mum and my 2 dd's 5 & 6 and had a really good time.
We were met by Alice from Alice in Wonderland and from then on my girls were referred to as Princess A and Princess E. we got to meet various fairytale characters on route, all of whom took the time to speak to both girls and ask if they were looking forward to seeing Santa.
At each turn of the corner was a little picture and paragraph from various Fairytales and it helped make the time queueing less arduous.
When we got in to see Santa, he was lovely!
He asked both girls there names and what they would like for Christmas. He asked them if they had been good and then as he noticed that the eldest had her teddy with her, he asked what teddy's name was and if she had been good!
He looked teddy all over and to the delight of my daughter, pronounced that teddy had indeed been good:) this prompted dd2 to repeat the process with her teddy!
We then had a beautiful picture taken and the girls received their sticker book, badge and chocolate coin.
They had also written a Christmas list for Santa and posted it in the postbox.
We did this last year and they both got a lovely reply from Santa.

[Deleted User]

adea ~ my friend also went yeaterday (with my tickets, we couldn't go ) and was very disappointed. There was no queue, no characters to lead them up to the Grotto and her son was disappointed that he only got a sticxker magazine. They were in and out in 10 mins.

adea

Van1971 wrote: »

adea ~ my friend also went yeaterday (with my tickets, we couldn't go ) and was very disappointed. There was no queue, no characters to lead them up to the Grotto and her son was disappointed that he only got a sticxker magazine. They were in and out in 10 mins.

That's a shame.:(
What time did they go? Maybe that has a bearing on things (shouldn't do)
Our tickets were for 12 and we got there about 11.25.
Last year our tickets were for 1.30 and we had the same experience as your friend.

Jasminesmom

We went yesterday at 2:30 and had a wonderful time.
DD (3 years old) was a little anxious at first but everyone put her at ease and she happily chatted to Father Christmas.
She was thrilled with her book, badge and coin.
Thank you OP.
:j
We didn't need to provide ID.

[Deleted User]

adea wrote: »

That's a shame.:(
What time did they go? Maybe that has a bearing on things (shouldn't do)
Our tickets were for 12 and we got there about 11.25.
Last year our tickets were for 1.30 and we had the same experience as your friend.

They went at 5pm.

toshkininny

Van1971 wrote: »

adea ~ my friend also went yeaterday (with my tickets, we couldn't go ) and was very disappointed. There was no queue, no characters to lead them up to the Grotto and her son was disappointed that he only got a sticxker magazine. They were in and out in 10 mins.

not being funny (or maybe I am) I don't think they have a right to be disappointed, - it is a free thing. Was the son told/promised he would get more? If not, he sounds a little spoilt to me. Maybe he is a little too old to be going?? IMHO children love seeing santa, whatever the age, and maybe it was the parents that were disappointed.

Sorry to sound harsh, but it irritates me that people find something to moan about when Harrods are giving you something for nothing.

dawnteabag

Van1971 wrote: »

adea ~ my friend also went yeaterday (with my tickets, we couldn't go ) and was very disappointed. There was no queue, no characters to lead them up to the Grotto and her son was disappointed that he only got a sticxker magazine. They were in and out in 10 mins.

Am I misunderstanding or are you complaining that the visit was quick and that you had no queue?

Before the online booking system you had to just go and queue. My sister took my son in 2003 and they queued for 3 and a half hours and whilst they were entertained on the way she was very relieved last year when we only had to wait 20 mins or so with the kids.

Lifes what you make it - either enjoy the queuing experience or enjoy that you were seen quickly Unfortunatley, we weren't quick enough to get tickets this year ( I tried on the 1st of September) so its going to be our first non-Harrods Father Christmas trip this year. We travel down from 'oop north and make a day of it.

babyangel10

Van1971 wrote: »

adea ~ my friend also went yeaterday (with my tickets, we couldn't go ) and was very disappointed. There was no queue, no characters to lead them up to the Grotto and her son was disappointed that he only got a sticxker magazine. They were in and out in 10 mins.

I'm afraid I've got to agree with Van1971 on this one. We went yesterday and although there was not much queue (which was great as I'd expected one) there was just a Snow White dressed up, not what I could call a grotto (no tinsel or the usual stuff in a grotto - just a load of Disney characters on the wall and as for the Santa - well he looked about no more than 20 and his enthusiasm just filled the room - NOT!!! :rolleyes: He really didn't have that Santa 'look' about him, no Santa hat either, a high pitched Joe Pasquale voice (more hee hee hee, than ho ho ho!!!) :rotfl: and looked like he'd much rather not being doing it. He asked my daughter her name, age and her teachers name (!) but after reading on here that if you take a teddy he will 'talk' to teddy about the good/naughty list etc, DD was a bit sad that he didn't speak to it.

Now I fully appreciate that this was a free event and my DD7 seemed happy with her gifts, but we felt rather unnecessarily rushed from the entrance through to Santa considering the lack of queue. My time was for 12pm and we went in at 11.30, and were out by 11.40-45 ish. That is, I suppose plenty of time to see the big guy, but it was just Santa himself that disappointed me rather than the lack of characters, size of gift etc - they weren't such an issue. Even DD said that she knew that he wasn't the 'real' Santa because he didn't 'look' like him - and that wasn't in any way prompted by us.

My opinions were further strengthened when we went to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland - well, that place is just the dogs dangleys at Christmas!!! The only 'moan' was the price of rides - minimum £2 for an average kiddies ride, and £4 for adult ones but again, the event itself is free so you budget for that. Just don't go on the ghost train and prepare to be scared - it is a waste of money! The exterior of it is great but the interior is a real let down. The House of Fun looked great but we were skint and tired by then!

The big wheel is fabulous, but luckily we got free tickets in a compo at work - the views were fab and we went around 4 times too. It's £7 per adult though so be aware of that if there are a big group of you. Some children have to pay but not sure how much or from what age. Probably about age 4 upwards at a guess.

Great photos taken before you got on - £12 I think and you get 2 7x5's approx and 4 smaller ones, plus a CD with the pics on for you to upload the pics to email etc.

The park is done up to a tee - and looks even better at night too. A heated beer tent was there, plus loads of food and drink stalls at average prices for this kinda thing and some lovely and fair priced German and English Market stalls too. The ice rink looked great but as Bambi's long lost sister, I didn't take part!

Be warned that although there is a cashpoint, it charges £2.50 per withdrawal.:eek:

As for the Santa there - well, the Harrods one pails into insignificance in comparison! This too was free - no queue at all, and although there wasn't a grotto (Santa was just standing by the bandstand waving manically at the kids! ) he took extra time to chat to my daughter, ask allsorts of questions and then asked her what TV characters she liked. She said Charlie and Lola and guess what? He produced a Charlie and Lola book totally free! That in itself is usually at least £4 rrp approx so I'm afraid a choccy coin, badge and sticker book in Harrods went well down the list! And the main thing for us was that he looked like a Santa and showed bags of enthusiasm too. The guy at the photo bit said that this particular Santa had been in Lock Stock and on EastEnders too!!! Not that I told DD that of course! :rotfl:

I'm not being at all ungrateful about Harrods - I suppose expectations were high considering the cost of items in the store (£370 for a pair of kids jeans!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:!!!) and maybe a little more thought could have gone into the gift (wrapping it up perhaps, even with just a ribbon?) and the grotto, and considering the effort put into the rest of the beautiful store, this did seem a bit lacking in thought in comparison. The room Santa was in wasn't decorated much at all and just looked like an office with a Santa chair!

All I'm saying is that if you have a long way to travel and it will be costing you a lot in train fares or petrol then try to fit in Hyde Park or somewhere else as well as Harrods to make it worth the cost.

Sorry for the length of post, just wanted to give you my experiences and opinions.

babyangel10

In addition, thanks to the OP for the heads up about this experience, and also to whoever told us about Hyde Park on here too. :beer: