Lapland or disney

mr_knight · 20 January 2019 at 7:32AM

I really want to take our two children to Lapland this Christmas. I wanted to do while both were old enough to remember but both still believed. My oh thinks it is a totally waste of money and the children would prefer 3 weeks in Orlando doing Disney.

I think you are never too old for Disney so that could wait (quite a while until I've saved up again

) However I really wouldn't want to spend all the money on lapland if it isn't completely amazing.

Does anyone have any experience or advice?

Thank you so much for reading.

richardw · 20 January 2019 at 2:45PM

EasyJet and Norwegian fly from Gatwick to Rovaniemi, so you can look at how much a DIY trip would cost.
If you aren’t near there look at Aer Lingus via Dublin or Finnair from Manchester.

Ganga · 20 January 2019 at 4:58PM

Be carefull there was a company mentioned on rip off britain that organised these sort of holidays and people were very dissapointed,do your research before you book

sheramber · 20 January 2019 at 5:09PM

Is the trip for the children or for you?

Would they rather have one day spent flying to Lapland , a short visit and a flight home again.

or

Three weeks of fun and excitement at Disney?

pennywisepoundstupid · 20 January 2019 at 5:14PM

Having done both a 3 day trip to Lapland and 2 weeksin Disney Orlando with my children and the one they talk of most is Disney and are desperate to go back even though they are 14 and 16 now. Last time I asked my daughter what she remembered most about Lapland she said sledging down the big hill and making snow angels:(

mr_knight · 20 January 2019 at 6:10PM

Thank you for the replies. The trip is 7 nights, I don't think a day is long enough. I would love to go but really just to see the children's faces. I will have a look at the rip off Britain show and see if I can find the company. The company I am looking at has good reviews in various places so I think they are a good choice.

Interesting that the children preferred Disney.... Maybe doing that next summer would be a better option?

flea72 · 20 January 2019 at 9:03PM

7 nights is way too long. sledging and meeting santa is easily done in 2-3 days. There isnt much else to do at the lapland resorts, and depending on childrens ages they soon tire of snow and the cold. And tbh santa is santa, whereever you meet him. A dept store in your local town is no more special than meeting him at the 'north pole' to a child, its a man in a suit, giving a gift. If you want something xmassy that your kids will talk about, then i would suggest attending the spectacular and fantasyland at thursford.

As commented above, my kids talk about disney and when they can return, way more than any memory of santa in lapland.

somethingcorporate · 20 January 2019 at 10:49PM

You can DIY a lapland trip for half what the companies price (which is very expensive). We gave our daughter the choice (who has done disney a few times already) she she would rather go back.

Centre parcs at xmas is brilliant and very festive

martindow · 22 January 2019 at 10:07AM

There was a thread earlier where someone had booked a Lapland trip and there was little or no snow a few days before they were due to leave. I think some snow arrived just in time, but I imagine that Lapland and Santa are less than magical in slush or sleet.

SplanK · 31 January 2019 at 3:36PM

We have just booked Lapland for 4 nights. Our kids will be 6 and a half, and 1 month of being 5.

We considered doing last minute, in fact, we almost did in 2018 and found some really good last minute deals that we almost booked, only to then remember the kids didn’t have passports *DOH*.

I think it’s a good age for *our* kids to go, where they will still be very giddy about it (saying that, my 33 year old wife got extremely excited/giddy when we were booking it, and Im sure if I had said no, it would have been grounds for divorce!).

Yes, there may be other trips that stick in their head more, and Disney will probably be one of them, but it’s not always about what the kids remember, it’s also about what the parents remember of the holiday as you look back on their childhood! We have family and friends who have been of various ages to say the experience was excellent, ranging from day trips to 4 nights.

It also depends how your kids will react to something like it, IE if they still believe in the magic around Christmas, and seeing Reindeer in a land (all being well!) completely covered in snow! I think our kids will love it, and to try and get the most of that excitement we won’t be telling them until they wake up on the morning of the flight, probably with a special letter through the door inviting them to go to Lapland from Santa…. That and I want them to get some sleep and not get on our nerves for weeks/months!

As for it being a 'waste of money', that’s down to the individual. We decided that we wanted to the holiday enough that we would not wait last minute. Costing ~£1000pp, I’m expecting another £1000 to go on top of that for extras (it all adds up, passports, air port parking, insurance, food, random stuff that will probably end up in the bin......) so it’s not cheap and for us, are once in a life time type trips and need to be timed correctly to ensure maximum enjoyment.

Nowhere is really cheap at that time of year, especially when looking for Christmas themed holidays. I took a look at Centre Parc’s at xmas and almost fell over!

At the same time, you could also book Disney and have a really poor time. It could rain all the time, could get caught up in a hurricane, sods law a decent number of rides are down for maintenance, kids not old enough or tall enough to go on the rides they want.....

Same with our experience in New York, it was very costly, but we planned the heck out of the trip to get in as much as we could, and took into account of days which may end up being rainy. We had a great time, however we also knew somebody who went recently, didn’t really plan all too well and didn’t do half the things they wanted!

We also knew about the weather issues in 2018, and the drone issues that some people experienced last year. This was a factor when deciding who to book with (as well as recommendations from family and friends).

You can never g'tee the weather, however we have booked as far north as we dare, taking into account our ‘wishlist’ (Yllas), and as late as we could (mid Dec rather than early) with the hope that if there is a repeat, in theory the more north you go and the later in the month you go, the better your chances. That does have an effect on cost though.

Both of these were considered and one of the reasons why we ended up going with Tui. Recommendations, and reports of how Tui generally to handle 'customer impacting' situations seem to fare better than most. If you DIY it, or went with a smaller brand then your mileage may vary.

Good luck with your decision. Only you can make it knowing your own situation, and it’s a VERY expensive decision to make!

meer53 · 31 January 2019 at 8:13PM

You can make your Christmas special here in the UK for a lot less money than going to Lapland to see a man in a red suit. It's impossible to replicate the magic of Disney here in the UK, even if it does rain whilst you're there it's still magical. We've done Disney several times, it's Florida every time for us, why not go to Disney at Christmas ? Kids will believe in Santa wherever they meet him.

Lapland or disney

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