Sadly our local centre in Wimborne wasn`t holding this event this time so we visited our next local centre called John Brown`s in Ringwood. Click HERE to see if your local centre is participating in this event.
We arrived just as the store was opening and made our way to the restaurant. We were greeted by two very authentic looking elves who showed us to our table. The table was laid out festively with activity sheet and crayons to keep the kids occupied, a cracker each and bag of chocolate coins for each child. Also we found a lovely card written to the family from the all the staff at John Brown`s.
Then the business of calling Santa started; the children were asked to all sit together on the floor and help Santa know where he had to come to by calling him. Now Ben is usually a bit funny with loud noises but he got right in with the rest of the children and helped to call Santa. And then on cue Santa appeared to the delight of all the children.
The boys then took their seats as our breakfast was ready to be served. With this event there are a few breakfast choices for the adults; you can choose from a cooked full English breakfast with a cup of coffee or a pot of tea for £7.99 or a lighter choice of a baked pastry and a cup of coffee or pot of tea for £3.99. We chose the full English...who wouldn`t??? The kids had a mini breakfast of sausage, hash browns, scrambled eggs, beans and toast.
All of our food was delicious, I honestly can`t fault it all. Hubby especially liked the fact that the baked beans were served in a little tea cup as for some reason he hates it when the beans touch his eggs!!??
As we were eating our breakfast Santa came round to each individual table, sat down and chatted to each of the boys. He asked them if they had been good to which they replied of course!!!
Once breakfast was finished it was time to visit Santa in his grotto to receive a toy each. Whilst we were waiting for our turn the staff brought out a Christmas biscuit, icing piping bag and biscuit toppings for each child to pass the time. The boys loved decorating their biscuits. One thing that I thought was amazing was that the children sitting next to us were allergic to eggs so couldn`t have the biscuits. The girls were quite sad until one of the members of staff came back to them with a little tin of cookies from the store which didnt contain eggs. The little girls faces were a picture of happiness. A huge well done to the staff for going above and beyond to help include the little girls.
After a little while it was our turn to visit Santa in his mini grotto. Each child gets to speak to Santa then choose a toy from a large basket of unwrapped gifts. I think its a great idea to not have the presents pre wrapped as it allows the children to choose something they actually want, plus its not gender specific. I saw at least 4 girls with the same crystal exploration set Alfie had chosen. Jacob chose a Monster crafting set and Ben of course chose the only thing he needs...another car, not!!!!!
The whole experience was amazing, we will definately be coming back next year and will highly recommend anyone to give it a go. It is so worth the £9.99 per child and £7.99 per adult.
We were invited to this event free of charge by Wyevale in return for an honest review of their services.
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