Hyde Park Winter Wonderland - London

lappish22

Hi, just wondered if anyone had any tips/comments about the Hyde Park Christmas Events?
We are going for the day - just to visit here, and we were going to pre-book the ice skating, but wondered if anyone had been to the circus that is there?
We know it will be v v v busy on the sat before xmas and we are prepared for the queues etc, but wondered if anyone had any info to help our day run smoothly!!
Where is best for food/drink etc?
Thanks in advance.......

Louisecharlotte

Can't help with the circus I'm afraid, as it's new this year and I haven't been yet! From last years experience, it is indeed very busy, and I would recommend pre-booking the ice rink as it was sold out when we got there last year! I didn't bother with the big wheel, as to be honest, you won't see a lot apart from the rest of the Winter Wonderland.

Food-wise, if you just want snacks, there is an extensive German market there with lots of things like waffles and hot dogs. If you want substantial food, there are lots of restaurants by Victoria which is not far from Hyde Park.

It really is lots of fun though, it really put me in a christmassy mood last year!

tired_mum

Have to say we went 2 years ago avoid the sweet stall the bags are massive so the kids fill em up and the cost is extortanate We went on the wheel and enjoyed it you could see harrods lights and quite a lot more Ice skating was busy but the kids enjoyed it we prebooked both the wheel and the skating we may go up this year to harrods and then pop along afterwards just for a look see

lappish22

Thanks for your comments - thats great! Can't wait to go now. Will try and get to Harrods as well. We have pre-booked ice skating now, so will just see how the day goes....!
Does anyone know how much the rides are to buy individually when you are there?

Strawberry_:D

Depends on the ride. You need to buy tokens (which are actually scraps of paper- look like reciepts). Most rides are about 3-4 tokens (each token is a pound). The most expensive ride I think is £6 (not including the wheel).

mellypops

...don't buy too many tokens!! We bought a load last year, some people passed some on to us on their way out and on a couple of the rides the operator let my kids ride for free (lovely christmas spirit!!) so we ended up passing ours on! It is really lovely - just make sure you wrap up warm as it can get quite cold waiting for rides/skating etc!

MoaningMyrtle

Do you pay to get in too? We are planning a trip to London before Christmas. We walked past a couple of years ago and it looked good. The weather was so beautiful it was lovely just walking around Hyde Park and the surrounding areas.

p-pincher

no its free to get in. we are going to london on friday for the weekend and are planning to go there sometime on saturday to get us in the christmas spirit.

heres a link to the winter wonderland website with all the opening times etc
http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/

skylight

My Mum took some of my kids at the weekend.

Free to get in and see Santa, but paid for tickets for the wheel and circus. £4.50 for a burger and £3 (in tokens) per child per ride, adults were more expensive. To give you an
idea of costs and suggest you take sarnies!

It was heaving after 3pm but obviously busy all day. They all throughly enjoyed it though, despite the cost.

p-pincher

hi

just a quick update, just got back from london and we went to hyde park on Saturday night. it was packed but we thoroughly enjoyed it even though it was pouring with rain.

granted its not the cheapest place to go but it certainly got us into the christmas spirit. we didnt go to the circus or onto the ice rink but they were both fully booked when we got there so it would be advisable to book in advance if you fancied any of these.

we had a couple of half of lagers that were just under £2 each and a bratwurst hot dog for £4 which was massive. it was very busy but well worth a look if your heading down that way.

Stompa

I wandered around Winter Wonderland for a while yesterday. I was very surprised at how small the circus tent was. Food & drink seemed pretty expensive.