Ad disclosure: We were given free entry to Hatton for the purpose of this post.
At the weekend we visited Hatton Adventure World for their Enchanted Christmas Kingdom event. As well as taking Georgie & Lydia, we took along their friend Liliy to enjoy the fun. It was a great day out, and we were there from the opening at 10am to almost 4pm – there is plenty to see & do to keep kids of all ages amused all day, with a packed festive entertainment programme.
As soon as we got past the ticket booths the girls made a beeline for the Farmyard Favourites & Guinea Pig Village, which have both had a Christmas makeover, with pretty Christmas trees, twinkling fairy lights, and faux snow on the guinea pig houses. Once we’d spent some time looking at the different animals including sheep, chickens, pigs & quail, we headed into the Scales & Tails area where all three girls took turns holding one of the snakes.
The weather was cold and damp, but while the rain held off in the morning we made the most of it, playing outside on the various play areas, swings and slides. Lily had a go on the zip wire, and both she and Georgie went down the big wavy slide.
We were booked into visit Santa at 11:30, so it was soon time to head into his workshop and queue to visit him in his grotto. On the way, the path goes past the reindeer so the girls enjoyed visiting those before heading into a beautifully decorated winter wonderland. There is a lot to see while waiting to see Father Christmas, with a toy workshop & gingerbread man production line to walk past, animatronic polar bears, and lots of twinkling fairy lights.
It wasn’t long at all before we were heading into the grotto to be welcomed by Santa, and the girls sat down on chairs to have a chat with him. They told him their ages, talked about what they wanted for Christmas and checked the naughty list together (Georgie was ever so worried when he read out Zoe which is my name – she is still concerned that I am on the naughty list still!). Then they did some magic to reveal three magical golden keys, which Santa gave to the girls.
We took the keys to the “Secret Toy Shop” where the girls each chose a toy from the wide range of gifts available, and then swapped their key for the toy with the elf manning the toy shop desk. There were toys to choose from there for all tastes and ages, and they seem decent enough quality too – they’re not going to fall apart after 5 minutes at any rate! Lydia chose a toy car, Georgie a “rock chick doll,” and Lily went for a toy pony.
After visiting Santa, we took a walk around the park hunting for reindeers – dotted around the entirety of Hatton were 9 wooden reindeers with different numbers & their names on their collars. We were given a sheet to write down their names & numbers, to win a prize at the end of our visit. The girls had a lot of fun hunting for them, and Georgie and Lily enjoyed trying to spell out the reindeer names. We had a look around the falconry, which has an excellent variety of birds, and then the girls delightedly had a go on the tea cups and ladybird fun fair rides.
Lunchtime next, and we headed into Snorty’s for lunch (just over £30 for two adult hot meals, two hot chocolates topped with marshmallows & cream, and three kids meal deals), and then the girls spent over an hour enjoying the slides and soft play areas.
Once they had exhausted themselves, we headed next door into the theatre area to watch Zoobee’s Festive Friends Puppets show, which the girls all absolutely loved, giggling madly at the dodgy jokes & the antics of the puppets. A quick visit to say goodbye to the animals and hold some guinea pigs, and we managed to persuade the girls it was time to head home – via the gift shop which is surprisingly good value for money & not overpriced at all, unlike so many tourist attraction gift shops. The girls were each given a £5 budget and were able to choose several small gifts each, then collected their chocolate snowmen rewards for completing the Reindeer Quest.
It was a great day out, and we didn’t even get to see everything – we didn’t get time for the Falcons of the Orient show, Nativity play, or Christmas Decoration making. The girls had a fantastic time and really enjoyed their day out, and are delighted with their toys and gifts. Thank you to Hatton for inviting us along – we highly recommend their Christmas Kingdom event, and I think it is worth the ticket price, there is just so much to do & see!
This looks like a fantastic day out 🙂
#triedtested
What an amazing day out, I love your photos. Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested