Alton Towers - Santa Sleepover Weekend

Good bits:

- The monorail wasn’t running but the bus that took us from the hotel to the park was very frequent, we didn’t wait longer than 5 mins.

- It wasn’t packed! The weather likely put people off, but meant there was hardly a queue for the rides at all (limited number open in CBeebies) but enough to keep the girls happy!

- Great Christmassy extras, the Xmas show in the park every hour was fab, the reindeer games to collect stamps and earn a prize at the end also good fun. The evening panto of Jack and the Beanstalk was also included and really good.

- The Waterpark was great! Within the hotel, so really convenient and we booked the 9.30am session which meant it wasn’t too busy. Great area for little ones to splash in and small slides, bigger main pool for older kids and a couple of great slides (riding in single or double rings) for older children and adults!

Not so good bits:

- Food - both in the hotel and the park the quality of the food is not great. Also not great choices for kids for the evening meal or breakfast and no kids drinks at the bar which I found strange considering the primary audience was kids!!

- Father Christmas - the build-up was good, little paths amongst trees, lovely lights…they allowed us to go on an earlier time slot as the weather was so bad we’d had enough of waiting around, but the actual Father Christmas was a bit of a let-down….unconvincing and seemingly in a rush for his break….he also didn’t make an effort to interact with the girls above and beyond ‘what do you want for Christmas’….it was probably luck of the draw with the Father Christmas as I chatted with a grandma earlier in the day who said their experience was magical and the Santa interacted with the kids for 10-15mins, so maybe my expectations were raised somewhat!

- Cost - Overall, I don’t think the weekend was great value for money.

- Room - we stayed at the splash landings hotel (where the waterpark is) which was a good location but room configuration wasn’t as good as CBeebies hotel as the bunk beds for the kids were in the main room, rather than the other side of the bathroom so they felt like they had their own space.

Overall – 6 out of 10.

Final reflections: A mixed bag, overall a good weekend which the girls enjoyed, but I wouldn’t rush to go back…..would much rather a trip to Lapland on 2025 instead!!!