Lapland UK
/Website: https://www.laplanduk.co.uk
Weather: Well, in Ascot it was a rainy muddy day but Lapland UK itself was a magical snowy wonderland. It was a bit squelchy underfoot - it’s definitely worth wearing wellies - but all the trees glistened with magic unmelting snow.
Logistics: The first thing to get out of the way is the cost. We went on the kid’s inset day in November and booked it in early June to get the best price and it was still eye-wateringly expensive. However, it is a genuinely magical day out and if you can stretch for it, I think it is worth it. I would suggest waiting until your kids are in school before going though - there is quite a lot of structured stuff and some waiting around that doesn’t really suit the temperament of the under-fives. The notion of dropping a few hundred quid on a day out, only to have your three year old whinge and wail their way around the place, brings me out in hives. Much better to wait until there’s a fighting chance they can both enjoy and remember it.
It’s definitely a place you’re expected to drive to. Sat nav will get you there without any difficulties and the car parking is very well managed and stress free. If you book later in the day then the walk from the car to the event itself is made magical by fairly lights. The closest train station is Ascot and there are buses that can get you close by.
Once we got there I was worried about getting the kids fed - due to the scheduled start time we had skipped lunch to make sure we were there on time and I couldn’t bear the thought of dragging two grumpy half-starved beasts around so I made us get food in the first cafe we found, in the entrance area, which led to us sneakily nibbling on sausage rolls during the start of the show. I wish we’d waited. Our sausage rolls were tainted by my fear of being socially inappropriate. In any case, I needn’t have worried - the structured stuff lasts about an hour and there there is food a-plenty on the other side.
Activities: The thing that makes Lapland UK so special is the world building - from the design to the staging to the cast - there is a consistent care and attention to detail in all aspects that really makes this place sing. The old leather bound books containing very well hidden iPads (well, hidden from child-heighted people at any rate) give Santa and his elves all the information they need to maintain the magic. When we were collecting the tickets the elf serving us greeted Small Kid by name which completely convinced her that the whole place was exactly as Santa’s Workshop should be. Every elf we met made the magic seem a little more real each time. I tip my bobble hat to the lot of them.
The thing I really enjoyed about this place (and the kids did too, for what it’s worth) is that mix of structured activities and open exploration. It starts with the humans meeting elves in a range of locations and helping them carry out tasks for Santa. I won’t go into details but i am reliably informed that the activities stay the same year after year. I have designed these kinds of activities for work and I think what they offer here at Lapland is pretty good - the activities are pitched well enough to be accessible to most children with minimal support and they can feel they have really helped Santa and his elves and take away a few treats as well.
The market place - and it is definitely a market where you are expected to drop quite a few Jingles (the official currency of Lapland) in the shops. The kids were delighted to get lollies as big as their heads - which only goes to show how magical this place is because in any other land I don’t allow my kids anywhere near that kind of nonsense, but Pixie Mixie the sweet shop owner was so delightful and charmed the kids so thoroughly that I felt I owed her something. Rational me knows this makes no sense, I mean she’s not actually an elf who owns a sweet-shop, but in the moment it felt entirely reasonable to do this.
The kids both loved the ice skating and though there weren’t quite enough Support Penguins to go round the adults managed to deal with this with politeness and good cheer. A Christmas miracle, indeed. It was genuinely lovely to get to go ice skating as a family and because it’s included in the ticket price I didn’t feel like I had to wring every second of value out of it so we only stayed on for as long as it was fun.
Wandering around, there were plenty of elves to meet and huskies to pet and lots of delightful little details to discover. Big kid was hollering with delight at the tiny periscope houses and we all enjoyed a trip to the Elfin Post Office. Basically it was just lovely to have some time to wander around as a family with no particular pressure to get things done or complete any tasks - a rare gift at Christmas. When I asked the kids what their favourite bits were they both said they liked the peppermint hot chocolate (3 jingles each) and the snuggly blankets we wrapped ourselves up in to drink it. I swear the appearance of snow everywhere made us all feel colder and therefore made this all feel a little bit more perfect.
Small kid’s highlight was, of course, meeting the big man himself. Once again, the logistics on this are very well managed. After a magical walk through snow capped pines in fairy-light festooned tunnels there is a bit of a wait in a holding cabin. However, this gave me ample time to make snide judgements on the current naming trends among middle-class children - there was an Antigone there for gods’ sake - and the kids handled it pretty well. (Not so the under fives who emitted an impressive barrage of yowling and caterwauling.) Both kids were blown away by how well Santa knew them, that he asked them specific questions about their actual lives, their friends and their achievements. He was kind and caring and everything you want Santa to be. Both the kids walked out knowing they’d met the ‘real one’ this time.
Coffee: Big man and I thoroughly enjoyed our frothy coffees but the kids thought their peppermint hot chocolates were far superior.
Food: Sneakily eaten sausage rolls that burnt our mouths were not the best choice I could have made and there wasn’t a huge range of child friendly food in that first cafe. It would probably be better to wait until you are in the market place and get something there, as the range is much bigger and you get to snuggle up in fleece blankets whilst eating, which is delightful.
Accessibility: This is one of the areas where Lapland UK scored very highly for me. The whole place is wheelchair accessible (though the mud can make it quite effortful) and the elves were totally unfazed by interacting with children who are different. On many occasions I noticed elves approaching children with additional needs and engaging with them. I saw a young lady in a wheelchair grinning from ear to ear when (following discussion with her family) a husky gently licked her hand and stood against her chair to greet her.
Overall: Well-thought through - this sounds incredibly dull as an accolade but honestly it’s the best I can give; the attention to detail, the consistency and scale of the design, the care and cheer shown by the elves, the structure of the event itself, the activities on offer - all of it comes together to make for a wonderful Christmas day out. Start saving now for 2020.