Ad disclosure: We were provided with free entry to this event for the purpose of this blog post.
Last weekend the girls and I, along with one of Georgie’s school mates and her Mum, headed over to the Snowdome in Tamworth for a morning of festive fun, at their Santa’s Winter Wonderland event.
Santa’s Winter Wonderland is an approximately 90-minute experience in three parts; first, you get to play in the snow, then watch a Santa show, and then finally explore Santa’s Christmas Village. It’s a great way to get into the Christmas mood, and have a lot of fun.
Upon arrival, we were shepherded into a waiting area where there was a bit of a welcome speech, alongside screens displaying the health & safety information, along with other useful advice like where & when you could go to the toilet.
After a countdown and the push of a big red button, we were released onto the snow trail. This is a long rectangle which you can go around either clockwise or counter-clockwise, which does a good job of splitting the crowd up. At the entrance, there are sledges to pick up, so you can pull your kids along the snow trail, and there are lots of different activities to enjoy as you explore.
The girls all had great fun sliding down snow ramps big and small on the provided tubes, playing musical instruments, posing for festive photo ops, seeing themselves wibble and wobble in the mirrors, throwing snowballs, and generally loving the chance to play in the real snow. This year they have even added (faux) falling snow to make it even more magical.
The whole thing looks really festive and magical, with snow-covered trees lining the trail and lots and lots of Christmas decorations and fairy lights.
After around half an hour, the trumpets sounded and we headed into the little theatre to watch the ‘All-New Santa Show’, which was totally daft and enjoyed by all. The timing of this is pretty much perfect, as we had had time to have a few goes on everything, and the girls were starting to feel the cold – so we were able to go and warm up a bit before any major complaining began.
The show was a mad panto type of performance, telling the story of Santa trying to rehearse for their production of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, only to find that Rudolph and the elves have been busy ‘improving it’ to make it more modern.
This has somewhat hilarious consequences, and the girls found the addition of a dancing cow, a cardboard Alan Partridge, and Santa flossing very amusing indeed. As expected from this type of show, there are some terrible jokes (and actually some good ones too), and lots of singing and dancing.
After the show came to an end, we were ushered into Santa’s Christmas Village, where we could meet Santa’s animals, ride on the traditional children’s carousel (new for 2019), write & post a letter to Santa in his talking post box, and generally explore the village to our heart’s content.
There were some more photo op areas to get some great festive pics, and the girls loved peering into the window of Santa’s house. This year Santa doesn’t have his reindeer with him, which considering the space available and long days is probably better for their welfare. There are still plenty of different types of animals to see though – who knew Santa keeps pigs and alpaca?
Once they had explored everything at least twice, stroked a bunny rabbit, and ridden the carousel (twice), we headed for the exit. Our photo was taken, allowing us the opportunity to buy a souvenir of the morning, and chocolate was given to us on the way out – much to the girls’ delight. The exit leads out next to the Starbucks, so it was perfectly placed for us to head in for a warming hot chocolate and a sit down before we headed back to the car!
Santa’s Winter Wonderland is on every day until 31st December at Snowdome, except for Christmas Day. Tickets cost £13.95, £17.95, or £19.95 depending on the date, and under 2s are free with a paying adult. It was a fab morning and something a bit different for the kids to enjoy! We definitely recommend it if you want a fun & festive outing this winter.
