Parents taking children Santa’s grotto buy tickets MONTHS before

Parents wanting to take their children to Santa’s grotto are having to buy tickets MONTHS in advance because events are selling out so fast

  • The festive tradition is proving to be so in demand events sell out in a few days
  • Middle-class families are splurging on lavish £55 breakfast dates with Mr Claus 
  • Infuriated parents are complaining you can’t pop to a garden centre anymore
  • It is believed the rising trend is down to parents posting on social media 

Parents who planned to take their children to Santa’s grotto this year may have had to book as early as August because of their rise in popularity.

The festive tradition is proving to be so in demand that parents are being forced to book early due to meetings with Father Christmas selling out in just a few days.

Middle-class families are even splurging on lavish breakfast dates with Mr Claus at Selfridges which will have set them back £55 per child, but even the expensive price tag isn’t deterring parents.

However some mothers are questioning why they can’t even pop over to their local garden centre at the last minute without having to book a sought-after meeting with Santa, reports the Telegraph.

Parents who planned to take their children to Santa’s grotto this year may have had to book as early as August because of their rise in popularity ( pictured Father Christmas at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire)

One infuriated mother took to internet forum Mumsnet, writing: ‘What happened to the good old days of rocking up to a garden centre and queuing for half an hour?’

Other parents told her in the comments section that they had booked their grotto tickets during the summer in order to squeeze into Father Christmas’ schedule this weekend.


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Selfridge’s began selling their £55 tickets for children to have breakfast with Santa in October, along with the added allure of a gift bag these tickets were snapped up in just two days for the dates in their London store.

The charge per adult at the event was £45 and tickets for the Birmingham and London branches of the department store were all gone within a week.

Selfridge’s began selling their £55 tickets for children to have breakfast with Santa in October (pictured San Carlo Fumo where the breakfast his held at the Bullring in Birmingham)

A stately home in North Yorkshire, Castle Howard, began selling its £25 tickets for its Audience with Father Christmas event in September and sold out within a week.

Most of these tickets were sold 14 weeks in advance, bought by 1,000 families who were eager to treat their little ones to a festive extravaganza this Christmas. 

However this wasn’t the home’s most luxury option, they also offered an Enchanted Evening with Father Christmas, for the price of £75 per child.

Although the evening was more expensive than the standard meet and greet with Santa it still sold out within three weeks.

A stately home in North Yorkshire, Castle Howard, began selling its £25 tickets for its Audience with Father Christmas event in September and sold out within a week

Most of these tickets were sold 14 weeks in advance, bought by 1,000 families who were eager to treat their little ones to a festive extravaganza this Christmas

John Hoy, the chief executive of Castle Howard, told the newspaper that they are always at full capacity and have been sold out for the past few years after struggling to find more slots with Santa to offer.

He said: ‘If you are a parent, you want to see your children happy. We do see parents getting emotional when they visit our grottoes because they see their children completely blown away when they meet Father Christmas. It’s very special.’

Mr Hoy claimed that Instagram and other social media sites are the reason behind the influx of families wanting to meet Santa in recent years.

He said that parents sharing photographs of their experience with Father Christmas makes other mothers and fathers want to do the same.

The issue hasn’t gone unnoticed by parents who said that they visited their local wildlife centre the first year the grotto opened and it was nice and quiet but now it is chaos with families all trying to get their share of Santa. 

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