Attractions

Santa’s Snow Kingdom at Chill Factore Review

SantaChillFactoreSanta’s Snow Kingdom
at Chill Factore

7 November to 24 December 2015

www.chillfactore.com

Reviewed by Lucy Knight

With Christmas only 4 weeks away, everywhere you turn recently seems to be festive. I had been looking at different Santa experiences to take my children Heidi, 5 and Oliver, 2 to visit. I was extremely delighted to be offered the opportunity to review Santa’s Snow Kingdom at Chill Factore in Manchester.

As part of the package you visit Santa then go on to play in either Mini Moose Land or Snow Park depending on the age of the child. Mini Moose Land is aimed at toddlers aged 4 and under, with Snow Park being aimed at 4-16 year olds. My children fell perfectly into each category.

We arrived at Chill Factore on Sunday at around 1.20pm, in advance for our 1.45 Santa visit. The Chill Factore car park does get quite busy, so my husband dropped the children and me at the front of the building while he parked the car. I then went to queue for our tickets with my booking reference in hand. I have never been to the snow side of Chill Factor before, only the restaurants, so I wasn’t sure where to queue. Luckily one of the helpful members of staff came over and told me that as I had a booking reference number I could just go over to the pre-booked reception and get my tickets from there. He explained that if I go to get helmets and snow boots (this is included in the price) now and put them in a locker (£1 returnable) then it would save time after we had seen Santa (as it can get very busy waiting for these).

Once we had our helmets and boots in the locker waiting for us we decided to go and queue in the Santa line, which ran parallel with the climbing wall and was easily identified. The lady at this point checked our tickets and explained how the experience worked, she said that both children would see Santa then both of them could use Mini Moose Land, with just Heidi and one parent going into Snow Park for an hour once they were ready.

The children were tremendously eager to see Santa, the line to see him was quite long and we did wait 30 minutes, but there were toys and colouring books at the side to keep children occupied. I understood that it was a very busy day with it being weekend so we did not mind.

It was finally our turn to see Santa and with it being my son’s first time I was very apprehensive on how he may react, my daughter was quite shy for her first time seeing Santa, so I expected him to be too. We were led through a secret door by one of Santa’s elves to a cabin in the snow, into a lovely, warm, fire lit living room where Santa sat on a big comfy chair surrounded by presents, accompanied by another elf. He greeted us with a warm welcome and asked the children their names and what they would like for Christmas. Oliver was very wary of him as I had anticipated, but Heidi was quite confident to tell him that she would like an interactive unicorn. We were in with Santa for around 5 minutes and the elf offered to take pictures for us on our phones as a souvenir. The gifts they received were good in comparison to other Santa’s we have seen. Oliver got a soft teddy and Heidi received a matching card game. They were very age appropriate which I was happy about.

When we had finished with Santa’s Grotto we were led into the Mini Moose Land where my children were in their element. Spending around 20 minutes playing together in the snow, on the sledges and rings pushing each other down the mini slope and sliding in and out of the tunnels. Heidi then went on to play in the Snow Park while Oliver and I stayed playing. My husband took Heidi back into the changing rooms to get the helmets and snow boots and waited in the seating area for their turn to go on the snow park. They waited around 10 minutes before going up the slope. When they were up they took turns in going down on the rings and on the slide. They had an amazing time and I loved to watch them bond.

Oliver had started to get cold, so I took him out and got him changed. On our way up to the viewing area we saw Peppa Pig, which was a delightful surprise for Oliver, who is a huge fan. Chill Factore had Peppa pig appearances at intervals over the weekend.

It was very cold on the slopes and I would recommend taking gloves with you, you can buy them on site though at a cost of £5, which we did for my husband. You can also buy socks and hats at an additional cost.

The price for this experience for the 4 of us would have cost £60 which is very good value, considering we spent most of the day there and the children got to see Santa too. Mini Moose Land for 1 child and 1 adult is £15, Snow Park for an adult is £20 and £5 for a junior.

In comparison to other Santa experiences we have visited before, this one is the best! My children had a fantastic day out and I know they will want to return again in the New Year.

I would definitely recommend the Chill Factore Santa’s Snow Kingdom and would return tomorrow.

Rating: 5/5 thumbs_up

For more information or to book tickets call the booking line on 0843 596 22 33 or visit www.chillfactore.com/whats-on/christmas/santas-snow-kingdom.

Chill Factore, Trafford Quays Leisure Village, Trafford Way, Manchester, M41 7JA

5Star

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