There are lots of Santa’s here!

Visiting a Santa Grotto the last thing you want to hear come out of your child’s mouth is the fact that they sussed out that the Grotto has more than one Santa however this was exactly what Elizabeth said in a very loud voice as we walked down the corridor from our visit with Santa this weekend at the Trafford Centre’s Snowman and the Snow dog experience.

Now lucky for us both girls know that Grotto Santas are not the real one because obviously he is far too busy to be at every single grotto across the world but they do also believe in the real Santa. You know the one from the Portable North Pole videos that Elizabeth met in Lapland last year. He is the real Santa. All the rest are just his friends helping out. 

So how did we come to this loud proclamation? 

We headed to The Snowman and the snowdog grotto at the Trafford Centre and waited our turn. The lovely lady booking us in was full of festive cheer and keeping the kids smiling which was fantastic. The area was beautifully decorated and there were a variety of Snowmen inside for us to look at.
Once we had passed through the first section we were seated to watch a shortened version of The Snowman and The Snowdog. It is a great story and the girls both enjoyed this. We then headed through a passage full of animatronic snowmen and snowladies. 
Whilst waiting to go to visit Santa there was an area where the kids could write a letter to Santa complete with a post box to put them in. It was a great idea and the girls loved doing it although they could have done with some more pens or pencils as the ones that were there were blunt. However this didn’t stop the enjoyment and it made waiting a short while fun.

Before entering to visit Santa one of the helpers casually asked the girls their names and how old they were. They then went to check to see if Santa was ready for us and as soon as we entered Santa welcomed them by name which was a lovely touch. The grotto was well decorated and looked fantastic.

We have seen a few Santa’s this year and Elizabeth and Alison both agreed that this one sounded and looked more like the real one than any of the others. They also loved their presents with Elizabeth receiving a set of Happy Feet books and Alison receiving a Jack Sparrow figure. We were with Santa for a good few minutes and both girls told him what they wanted for Christmas and posed for this photo with us. 

It was only as we were leaving and heading past lots of curtained doors that Elizabeth piped up with

There are lots of Santa’s here!

Well if it wasn’t fooling her I am sure it wouldn’t fool many other children her age which could lead to some awkward conversations for some parents. Lucky for us we laughed it off with the fact that Santa put lots of helpers here as he knew that lots of nice children lived in Manchester. 

Overall the whole experience was fantastic and at just £4.50 per child (£2.50 for adults) and with a fairly decent gift, a short film, a nice visit with a decent Santa and photo memorabilia that won’t break the bank (£6 for a photo) it is an experience I would definitely recommend.