Lapland UK Review – 2024 Visit

In this post:

• What is Lapland UK?
• The Lapland UK Experience (In Detail)
• Where is Lapland UK and Lapland Manchester?
• Lapland UK Ticket Prices & Info
• The Golden Experience
• Superstar Day!
• How Do I Book Tickets?
• Lapland UK Tips
• What Food Is There at Lapland UK?
• Would I Recommend Lapland UK?
• Where to Stay & Nearby Attractions

What is Lapland UK? – Overview

The set is exceptionally designed with attention to detail. It is newly constructed each year and the design can vary. The actors were superb and bring the place to life – we loved the elf hello “cheery hi!” It is very well-organised and a high-quality production. It attracts numerous celebrities. If you are looking for a fantastic quality Christmas experience in the UK, this is a great option. We had an amazing day! See our reel on Instagram

It has recently been announced that Lapland UK will be opening a second location near Manchester for 2025! Sign up to the Lapland UK newsletter and/or socials for more details. See below for where this is!

The Lapland UK Experience (In Detail)

This is a detailed account of our 2024 experience. There will likely be some changes each year as the set is reconstructed each year. The husky changes each year, as does the toy you make in the toy factory. If you prefer to be surprised, skip to the next section.

Before your arrival

• Invitation boxes arrive by post before your arrival. Open these up in advance as a few things are for big folk (adults) to take out, and some parts are for the little folk (children). I liked the idea of putting the invitation boxes in the freezer before giving them to our children so they felt like they had come straight from the North Pole! Some people even buy fake snow to make this look more realistic.
• Pre-order the Lapland UK currency ‘Jingles’ in advance if you would like to. They recommend 25 jingles per child. Currency conversion 1J = £1. If you pre-order, your jingles will be waiting for you when you collect your passport. If you do not order these in advance you can buy them on the day (or you can pay by magic card aka debit card). Jingles are beautiful shiny coins and come in a red pouch! You may be tempted to keep some as souvenir. You can also order Lapland hats in advance which look lovely in photos.
• You will receive an email in advance asking you to add details about your children’s interests and/or favourite things to discuss with Father Christmas.

Travelling to Lapland UK and the welcome area

• Please leave extra time to get to UK Lapland in case of delays. If you arrive late for your timeslot in most instances they will take you through to wherever your group have got to on the experience, so you may miss part of the experience if you are late. Consider staying overnight at a hotel the night before if you have a long drive.
• On arrival you will be directed where to park. It may take a few minutes to walk to entrance but it is not far.
• Aim to arrive at the welcome area 30 minutes before the time you have booked, I would aim for 40 minutes arrival at the car park to account for getting on coats and walking over. There is a welcome area with a photo opportunity, cafe kiosk (hot drinks and some food), toilets, a couple of elves to interact with and a few elven buildings to look at before you head in at your timeslot.

The Main Experience

Departure Lounge

• At your timeslot (ours was 11am), you will be led through to the departures lounge where your children will be given their passports. Passports can stamped at each activity throughout the day. If you have pre-purchased Jingles, you will be given your pouch here. Once checked in, you will be told that you are in Team Husky or Team Rudy and to stand on a spot. The teams are not important, this is just how they organise you moving through the activities. I recommend standing on a spot nearest the exit doors (these were the low numbers for the set up this year). If you can be some of the first to exit, you will likely get a seat nearer the front in the activities to come. There is a premium experience called the Golden Ticket experience, which is not very noticeable but some front tow tables/seats will be reserved for those ticket holders. See more details on the Golden Experience below.
• There is a short wait in the departure lounge whilst everyone is checked in. There will be some entertainment from the elves on a central stage which is great as it doesn’t feel like you are waiting. There was even some audience participation – this was the only part of the day where this happened and a dad was picked on to go up on stage. When everyone is checked in they will take you through to the Enchanted Forest.

Enchanted Forest

• The enchanted forest is a beautiful set and has a theatrical performance from Sage and Eeko elves. It is best to sit near the front and central if you can for the best view. However Eeko did move around the room. This part of the experience was approximately 22 minutes, we were here at 11.06-11.28 from photo timestamps!

• After the woodland theatrical performance you will meet the Elves that will be looking after the Husky and Rudy teams and you will follow them a team at a time into the Toy Factory.

Christmas Village

• After departing Mother Christmas’ Kitchen you will have free time to explore the Christmas Village. This has two main activities: ice skating and writing a letter to santa in the post office – both of which you can get stamps for. It also has a restaurant, bakery, shops, elves to interact with, “snow” to play with, photo opportunities and toilets.
• On the back of your passport is your time to leave this area and meet Father Christmas. We actually took 30 minutes longer than this because we did not want to rush and I had seen on Facebook others had done the same with no problem. Our start time was 11am and we arrived in the village at 12.30. Our departure time for Father Christmas was 1.30-2pm, so 1-1.5 hrs. We actually departed for Father Christmas at 2.30pm. I have heard that you are allowed to ask for extra time so it may be worth asking if you want to spend more time in the village.
• Food: We had to get lunch which took some time and was £41 for loaded fries, hot dog and 2x children hot dogs. The food was good but I would suggest picking a slot where you don’t go over a mealtime. I really wanted to try the crumble and we didn’t have the appetite after having lunch! We did get a hot chocolate though which was great! If you can time it so as not to come over a mealtime, just get a hot chocolate and a crumble. Read more about food
• Other things in the Christmas Village: shops including a gift shop and sweet shop, library, and other elves to interact with. We loved this area and I was a bit worried it would be busy but it was really spacious and magical.
• Ice skating was excellent – the skating aid penguins had feet to stand on so it was really easy with children. Take spare socks as you drop your shoes off to exchange your skates, and there’s a short walk to the benches, but the ground is damp! If children are wearing skates over shoes they don’t even need to take their shoes off for this so it is more likely adult socks will get wet. We did ice skating right at the end of our time slot and it was not busy so this may be a good time to go.
• Post office – there is lots of space to write letters to santa and the building is beautifully decorated. I have seen some people bring letters already written to save time here, but we enjoyed doing this here.
• Don’t forget to get your stamps for ice skating and the post office (the post office actually have both stamps!)

Reindeer Food & Meet Father Christmas

• When you head through to meet Father Christmas your passports will be checked, and the elf said “right on time” even though we were half an hour after our target time!
• You get taken past real reindeer and have the opportunity to buy reindeer food which was 5 Jingles. We skipped this as there was a queue and we have done this activity a few times before. This is one area I think could be improved upon. It could be bigger and more exciting ingredients for the reindeer food!
• Next you head through to a lodge where one big folk goes over without small folk and confirms names to meet Father Christmas. We waited for less than 5 minutes and were called in. I have read there are around 16 FC’s at one time! Before you go you fill in some details about your children which will be brought up by Father Christmas during the chat. I recommend doing this quite close before you go in case any details change. An elf will come to collect you and take you to Father Christmas.
• Father Christmas is very authentic and looks like the real deal! The information about our children’s interests worked really well to have an easy discussion. The children were given bells and a husky each. The husky given changes each year, this year was Lumi a white husky. There look to be at least 5 different huskies.

Gift Shop & Head Home

• When you are finished with Father Christmas there is a final gift shop – a big one so I would probably save your children’s Jingles for here. However, I have heard the Christmas Village shop may be better for baubles which are beautiful keepsakes!
• Professional photographs will be taken of you with Father Christmas and at one other point. You get one free printed photo, and there are other packages that you can choose from at the gift shop. See prices below. Best not to wait in line here with little folk in case they see other people’s photographs with a different FC.
• At the same location that you pick up your photograph(s), you are also given your pipsqueak toys to give your little folk from Father Christmas. I love that this extends the experience to Christmas Day!
• Any jingles you have not spent you can convert back to GBP in the gift shop.

Where is Lapland UK and Lapland Manchester?

Lapland UK is in Ascot, near Bracknell. Lapland Manchester has just been announced and will open in 2025. This is at Capesthorne Hall, approx 45 minutes south of Manchester.

Lapland UK Ticket Prices & Info

What’s included as part of your ticket?

• The 4.5 hour theatrical experience as described in detail above (albeit there will be some changes each year). Ice skating is included.
• Invitation package sent to you in advance.
• Two soft toys: a husky gift from santa, and your toy factory toy (this year pipsqueak the penguin) which is handed over to you discreetly so you can give it to your children from Father Christmas.
• One complementary family photo. The professional photographs are taken in with Father Christmas and on the way to the gift shop at the end.

What additional costs are there?

• Food and drink
• Additional photo packages available as well as your free print: Additional Photo £15, 2 Additional Photos £25, Full Digital Package £25, Full Digital Package + 1 Printed Photo £30, Full Digital Package + 2 Printed Photos £35, Full Digital + Print Package £40
• Jingles (25J/£25 recommended per child) but optional
• Hat additional cost and anything else you want to buy from the gift shop or sweet shop
• Reindeer food 5J

The Golden Experience

There is a premium experience called The Golden Experience. There are limited Golden Experience holders per session. This is a substantial cost on top of existing ticket prices – starting from £100 extra per person in November but can be hundreds more per person. As with the standard tickets, the cost varies per date.

What are The Golden Experience benefits?

• Private check-in
• A personal guide
• Unlimited time in the village
• All food and drink included
• Visit Pumpernickel’s secret pantry for a private elven feast
• Front row seating reserved in the Toy Factory and Mother Christmas’ Kitchen
• Priority visit to Father Christmas
• 25 Jingles per child 💰
• Lapland Christmas bauble
• All-inclusive digital family photo package
• Lapland storybook signed by the founders
• Dedicated parking

Having unlimited time in the village and guaranteed front row seating sounds great. However for us, the cost of the standard tickets were a splurge as it was. I am sure this experience is excellent, however I would only do it if you are a) well off enough that you can afford it, b) if you are going in November at the lowest price for upgrade, it might be worth it when you add up the cost of food and other benefits, or c) you’re a celebrity and might appreciate more privacy. We had such a special day with the standard tickets. With The Golden Experience you will be treated like VIPs, but most of the main experience is the same.

Superstar Day!

Superstar Day is an adapted show especially for children with additional needs. There is a reduced capacity on this date and additional support. Keep an eye on the date for 2025 if you are interested in this.

How Do I Book Tickets?

The majority of tickets go on sale in March. Subscribe to their newsletter for updates, and I will be sharing on stories when tickets go on sale. There is usually a resale in October/November time. If you are interested in last minute tickets, the odd slots have become available this year if you check their website you might be lucky.

Lapland UK Tips

• Pick a timeslot where you do not need to eat a meal in the village to optimise time doing activities. Get hot chocolate and crumble instead!
• Ask for extra time in the village if you need it.
• Take spare socks for the person who will drop shoes off and collect ice skates as the floor is damp and you have to walk over this to the benches.
• Take some snacks
• Join LaplandUK Fan Chat on Facebook – really helpful if you have any questions and for finding out how muddy it is at the time you are going i.e. normal shoes or wellies needed! We were fine in normal shoes on our date.
• Pack wellies and all weather gear as the Christmas Village and some pathways are outside.
• You could take a pre-written letter to Father Christmas with you to post there if you would prefer not to do this activity. However, we enjoyed doing this.
• Don’t forget to collect your complementary photo and toy factory toy in the gift shop at the end!
• Lapland UK is cashless

What Food Is There At Lapland?

In the Christmas Village:

Pumpernickel’s Restaurant (indoor seating)

• Big Folk: Burgers, Loaded Fries, Hot Dogs, Chicken Salad, Mac and Cheese – 8-13J
• Small Folk: Hot Dog, Burger, Pizza, Mac and Cheese – 10J

Lapland Bakery

• Christmas Crumble 6J regular, 10J sharer, Sweet Treats, Hot Chocolate, Mulled Wine, Soft Drinks

Coffee Cart

In the welcome area:

Cafe kiosk with hot drinks and sweet treats

Would I recommend Lapland UK?

Absolutely! Granted, it is an expensive day out. However, you get 4.5 hours of a high-quality immersive experience and we had such a great day. We booked it thinking we would only go once due to the cost, however after going we have talked about how amazing it was so I expect we will be back! We might try Lapland Manchester next time to compare as we have family nearby.

However, if it is beyond your budget, don’t do it. Yes this is a great Christmas experience, but not worth going into debt for. There are other Christmas activities and experiences that you can do and make memories as a family without spending so much money. If you want to experience it as cheaply as possible, check the earliest November dates 8am slots. See our Christmas and Winter Guide for more ideas of things to do, including free and low cost activities.

Where To Stay & Nearby Attractions

We stayed at Village Hotels in Bracknell, just a few minutes drive. This was really nice with a restaurant (children’s buffet at dinner was great, but quite expensive food), costa coffee at the front and swimming pool! See this blog post for Activities and Attractions near Lapland UK if you decide to make a weekend of it.