Disclaimer: I paid for tickets to visit Santa at Pughs Garden Centre, Radyr with my own money and decided to write this review as we enjoyed it so much!
Pughs Garden Centre is one of our favourite places to visit over the summer and Christmas holidays. They do many different workshops in summer and their Santa experience at Christmas time is awesome. We’ve been to Pughs to visit Santa pretty much every year since our twins were born.
This year is no different. Demand for tickets is always high and it usually sells out pretty quickly which to me is an endorsement of just how good the experience is.
Last Saturday we went along to Pughs Garden Centre to visit Santa. Upon arrival at the elf desk, you’re greeted by friendly elves. Our girls handed in their golden ticket to see Santa and were asked by the elves if they’d like to write a letter to Santa. Of course they did!
Whilst we waited for our turn, the girls sat and wrote a letter to Santa. They then post them into the special postbox.
When it was our turn, we were called upon and welcomed on board the train to see Santa. The elves were fantastic, full of energy and very entertaining.
We went round the Santa experience in a small group of no more than six children.
We sat on the train and the elf train driver used her magic to make the train fly. We flew above the clouds and tracked Santa via ‘Santa Nav’ before the train dived down into the ocean where we followed a dolphin and turtle to find Santa.
Before we knew it, we’d arrived in Mexico and it was time to help the elves build up enough magic to send us on our way to Santa. To do this the children took turns to throw a hoop onto the Christmas cactuses in a game called Cactihoop!
We then moved into India and were greeted by more elves who taught us some yoga moves and showed us the Christmas decorations they’d made.
We then moved onto ‘Elfies’ Wandering Post and Sauna where we listened to an elf tell us a Christmas story before we sang Jingle Bells and then went into see Santa.
When we went into see Santa, he was very friendly and welcoming. The children sat on cushions on the floor and the grown ups just behind them on benches.
The children were then called up individually to speak to Santa and have a photo taken. You can pay for a professional photo which we tend to do as a keepsake of our time. The children were given a Christmas bauble of the world each and a toy token to chose a gift from the toy shop.
The selection available was really good. M chose a baby doll which came with some accessories and clothes. R chose a ball blaster gun which is pretty cool!
We loved our time visiting Santa at Pughs Garden Centre, Radyr and will definitely be booking again next year!
Have you been to see Santa yet? Let us know in the comments below!
