Ad disclosure: We were provided with free tickets in order to experience & blog about Hatton’s Enchanted Christmas Kingdom event. This post reflects my honest opinion on our day.
We were invited back to Hatton Adventure World so that we could check out the Enchanted Christmas Kingdom event, and we went along on Sunday to take a look.
It was a really cold day with hail showers so we didn’t stay all day, but we did enjoy a lot of the indoor activities, and of course we had a lot of festive fun. Our day started with a visit to the animals in the Farmyard Favourites area, followed by some guinea pig cuddles in the Christmas-ified Guinea Pig Village.
The Farmyard Favourites bit is undercover with lots of Christmas decorations everywhere… we made sure to say hello to the turkeys and the donkey!
The girls really love the Guinea Pig Village so to see it all decked out for Christmas was great, with faux-snow on the roofs and Christmas trees dotted about the village. They even had tiny baby socks adorning the walls for guinea pig stockings, so adorable! Both Georgie and Lydia got to hold and cuddle a guinea pig and this was a definite highlight of the day for them.
Hilariously, one of the male guinea pigs recently escaped into the female pen and managed to impregnate 100 of the females in one night – he’s now been nicknamed Randy and is something of an internet sensation! Hatton have even put up a display on the wall in his honour.
Next on our schedule was to stop by the family theatre in order to watch one of Zoobee’s Christmas Shows. We watched his “Christmas Cracker” magic show and it was peppered with hilariously bad jokes and fairly good tricks. There were lots of laughs and gasps from the audience, and children were encouraged to gather around the stage to watch. Of course, there was some audience participation, too, with a blushing girl pulling baubles out of a santa hat. We all enjoyed the show, Georgie especially.
One of the Christmas activites at Hatton is a Reindeer Quest; on your travels around the farm you have to spot large reindeer pictures, each with a different name and number. Santa’s eight reindeer are there to be found, plus of course Rudolph. Georgie really enjoys spotting these and telling us what number each one was. Some are inside, but most of them are outdoors and dotted about.
Georgie and Lydia couldn’t resist the opportunity to have a play on the slides and swings, of which there are many! Georgie was looking forward to having a go on each of their 3 fun fair rides which were running from 12-4pm but unfortunately only the teacups were working so they only got to go on that.
Despite the cold, they had a great time clambering around in their layers. When the rain came though, it seemed the perfect time to retreat to Santa’s grotto to pay a visit!
We were impressed with the waiting area for the grotto; there was plenty for the kids to look at, with a mixture of real & artificial trees, and even some falling snow from snow machines hanging from the ceiling. There was a toy workshop to look at and a little area where children could write letters to Santa. The queue moved at a steady rate and a friendly elf came visiting with a tin of Roses for the waiting children (and adults!)
Once we reached Santa’s grotto, we were ushered inside by a friendly elf. Thanks to a form we were given at the entrance which we had filled in & passed over to the elf, Santa knew various details about the children including their names, ages, interests & what they want for Christmas. He was reading straight from the form in front of the kids, but I suppose that was unavoidable as there is no way to memorise so much information constantly all day long, even for a short while at a time.
It would have been nice if he had actually read it properly, though! Our Georgiana was greeted as Georgina, and she really does not like people calling her that. I wrote it clearly on the form to try and prevent him getting it wrong, so it was disappointing to have to correct the “all-knowing” Santa when he greeted the children.
Once Santa got their names right though, it was lovely. He managed to get our shy Georgie to come out of her awed shell a little though, as she nodded along to his questions, whispered the magic phrase and tapped his book to get some magic keys to his workshop.
Lydia loved him and gave him a high five before we headed off to choose our toys from the vast array avaliable in the workshop. Both girls were pleased to have been informed that they are on his nice list!
We headed over to Snorty’s Restaurant next for some yummy lunch (sausage & chips for the adults, piza for the kids), before letting the kids tire themselves out on the Superslide Mania soft play area. The slides are really fast and Georgie and Lydia both really enjoyed playing in the 2-4 area together for a while.
Georgie had a run around the larger play frame as well, before we rounded them up to head home, collecting a few chocolate baubles as our reindeer reward on the way out. The toy shop that you exit through is a well stocked one, filled with all sorts of lovely toys – they have lots of Bigjigs which always gets Georgie excited.
A quick stop to have a go on the tombola (the kids both won a prize!) and watch some carols being sung at the Hatton Shopping Village, and we were on our way home… ok, we may have bought some sausages and fudge on the way out. The sausages they sell at that place are amazing, and the fudge is pretty special too.
Overall it was a really great day out. Apart from the hiccup with Georgie’s name, the girls had a great time meeting Santa, and they loved all the Christmas decorations around the farm. The children are both very happy with their gifts from Santa’s workshop; Lydia chose a toy farm set they have both played with loads, and Georgie picked a doll which has been make believe bathed, fed, carried in a sling, and generally well looked after.
It all felt very festive, and there is just so much to do there that they always have fun when we visit. We didn’t get to see everything but we know from experience that the falconry is excellent. If we were a little closer and I could get there without James driving, I would consider getting a membership so we could visit all the time. We definitely recommend Hatton and the Enchanted Christmas Kingdom experience.
I thought I caught a glimpse of you…in fact I think I can see me and my daughter in the background of your last photo (well, they are wearing the right colour coats) We had a lovely day too 🙂