‘The best pre-Christmas day out ever’. That’s what Elton John says about LaplandUK, consistently dubbed one of the UK’s best family days out.
And having been three years in a row he’s absolutely right.
If you haven’t heard of LaplandUK before it’s a four-hour immersive experience bringing the magic of Lapland to life in the UK in an Enchanted Forest, just outside Ascot to be precise.
Think real pine trees, snowy pathways and a Father Christmas who knows exactly what your kids have been up to because you can personalise your visit before you go. It’s so realistic our oldest actually thinks we go through a magic portal to get there, reinforced by the fact that if you’re using Google maps you’ll get a ‘GPS signal lost’ announcement seconds before turning into the car park.
LaplandUK is also one of the most expensive pre-Christmas days out – £545 for our family of five in 2018 – but I’ve written before about why I think it’s worth every single penny and I still stand by everything I said.
So, why is it worth going again if you’ve already been before? You’ve been there, done it and got the t-shirt, right? Wrong! After our third visit in as many years here’s 10 reasons to visit LaplandUK – again and again!
10 reasons to visit LaplandUK – again & again!
1. You know what to expect. Because you’ve been before you know what to expect, and because you know what to expect you know what’s going to happen, so the whole family can look forward to the trip in a way you just can’t if you’ve never been before.
2. It’s a great bribe. As soon as the invitations arrive by reindeer post personally addressed to each child (I put ours in the freezer for five minutes for added authenticity) the kids are on high alert in the behaviour stakes because they think Santa is watching. Which is priceless.
3. It’s a great bribe after you’ve visited. You can basically dine out on it all year.
4. It changes every year. Although the concept remains the same (the kids are on Father Christmas’s ‘good list’ so they’re invited to help his elves in his toy factory and Mother Christmas in her kitchen before meeting the big man himself) there are slight changes each year, like different toys in the toy factory and different gingerbread in Mother Christmas’s kitchen.
5. You can’t help but smile. Even Misery Guts, who is the grumpiest person you’re ever likely to come across, walks around the Elf Village with a silly grin on his face.
6. It becomes a family tradition. Having been three years in a row now I know our three will look back on our trips as an annual treat, something we always did together as a family.
7. There’s an ice rink. And practice makes perfect, so each year they enjoy it more than the last.
8. It’s proof Santa really is real. At seven-years-old our oldest is on the cusp of discovering the truth, but after our visit to Father Christmas who knew all about her Brownie Christmas party and the fact she now does gymnastics the first thing she said to me was ‘he must be real’.
9. You might see a celebrity. Elton John, Robbie Williams and the Beckhams are fans, and some or all of the Beckhams might have been there when we were. That’s all I’m saying.
10. You come away with a warm fuzzy feeling. The sort you haven’t had since you were little.
We were gifted tickets to LaplandUK in exchange for this post. As always all opinions are my own and based on my own honest experience, and I would never recommend an experience we don’t truly love ourselves. LaplandUK is fully booked for 2018 but if you sign up to the newsletter you can be among the first to know about tickets for 2019.
Have you been to LaplandUK before? Has it become a family tradition in your house? I’d love to hear about your experience!
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