FAQ’s: Santa’s Grotto

Please make your way through the garden centre, past the forest of Christmas Trees and past the Real Ice Rink. You will be greeted by one of our Jolly Elves who will check you in. Please note that early admittance is not permitted, hence only arrive at your allotted time slot. You will need the Booking Name and Order Number ready for us to check the nice list.

Yes, of course it’s Christmas!! We encourage you to take lots of photos during your magical visit in our Santa’s Grotto! When in the room with Father Christmas, our jolly elf will take a professional photo which can be viewed and purchased after your Grotto Experience. You can also take your own photos whilst in with Father Christmas. Photos from your Grotto Experience may look different to your families’ photos or friends’. If you would like your photos to look the same, please make one booking which will ensure that you go in and enjoy the experience together. Two bookings made at the same time, may enter different areas, and thus have slightly different photos.

No, our Loyalty Card discounts do not apply to any events tickets.

This year, we are offering dog friendly sessions in our Grotto. Please book you and your furry family onto the Dog Friendly sessions.HERE. Please note: Our Standard, SEN and Toddler Grotto Sessions are not dog friendly.

Wheelchair access is available throughout our centre. Please add a note on your booking or contact the Events Team by emailing christmas@wlgv.co.uk. We may ask that large push chairs remain outside the grotto experience.

Our Magical Grotto is for the whole family to enjoy. During the experience, each adult will receive a sweet treat baked by Mrs Claus.

All Children who enter Santa’s Magical Grotto must have a valid ticket. We offer an additional baby ticket from birth to 11 months, this is a reduced price of £6.99. All babies will receive a gift from Father Christmas.

We have a rink side Café to buy a selection of snacks and drinks, including our Specialty Hot Chocolates. We also have our Canalside Restaurant onsite where you can enjoy a range of homemade meals, cakes and snacks.

Yes, we have toilets located in our Café and in the main Garden Centre Building. We have baby changing facilities and disabled toilets available.

Please check your junk folder for the order confirmation. If the order confirmation does not appear in any spam folders, please supply to following information to our events team by emailing christmas@wlgv.co.uk. You must supply, the correct booking name as it appears on your booking, the email address linked to your booking, the telephone number used whilst booking, the date and time of your booking and the Invoice ID from the payment on PayPal. Providing all the information that has been supplied is correct to the booking, an email confirmation will be resent.

We will endeavour to have an alternative available for any person that suffers with an allergy. Allergy information and special dietary needs must be provided at point of booking. Please note we are not a nut free, Gluten Free or Dairy Free site.

If you are no longer able to attend your Grotto Visit (and do not qualify to reschedule as your booking is in less than 72 hours), please email Christmas@wlgv.co.uk with the Booking Name, Order Number and contact details from the booking, and the elves will be able to wrap a very special present for you to collect within 7 days.

You do not have to have a PayPal account to place an order / book an event on our website. One you are viewing the basket, you must click PayPal Buy Now button. This will bring up a ‘Log into Paypal’ screen, at the bottom of the ‘pop-up’ please click ‘Pay by Debit or Credit Card’. This will bring up a secure screen where you can input your billing details as a PayPal Guest. If you do not wish to create a PayPal account at this stage, please click ‘No, I don’t want an account now. Then click Continue to process the payment and place the order.

All our event tickets are non-refundable. Please make sure that you select the correct date and time for your booking on your desired day. Please note that if you need to reschedule your booking, there will be a £5 administration fee to make any changes to the booking, subject to availability. To reschedule your booking, you can either send a written request via email to Christmas@wlgv.co.uk or phone one of the events team on 01327 843100 with the Booking Details no later than 72 hours before your event is due to start. We require the following; Booking Name, Order Number and Contact Details, please ensure you have these details available when making the phone call or when sending the email to ensure no delays occur.

Your Grotto experience will take you through a journey with different areas, before you enter Father Christmas’s cosy lounge to meet the big man himself. As we welcome individual family units into our Grotto experience, the duration of your visit will depend on the size of your family group. We expect the experience will last around 30 minutes from when you enter the first part of your journey. Please note this does not include any potential queueing time. Please be aware that your Grotto time slot will allow you into the queue to see Santa. There will be multiple families booked within each 10-minute slot - the timings simply allow us to manage the queue for you. We aim to ensure that you see Santa within your time slot but on busy days you may need to wait a little longer.

We strongly recommend when booking multiple events, that you leave yourself plenty of time between your events. We recommend when booking your experiences, Santa’s Magical Grotto is booked as the last event to allow plenty of time with the Big Man himself. If you would like to book the Grotto before the other events, please allow 45 minutes for the experience and any queue time. Each ice skating session starts promptly on the hour, we ask that skaters arrive 15 minutes before their session is due to start to get checked in, swap their skates and read through the Rink Rules and Safe Skating Practises. Each Ice Skating Session lasts 45 minutes. Once your session has finished and you come off of the ice rink, it can take up to 15 minutes to exchange your ice skates. We would recommend that if booking an additional event, you book the event at least 1 hour after your skating session is due to start. When booking Father Christmas’s Magical Grotto, we would strongly recommend booking this event after your Ice Skating Session. No early entrance to the Grotto will be granted if you arrive earlier than your allotted time. Please be aware that your Grotto time slot will allow you into the queue to see Santa. There will be multiple families booked within each 10-minute slot - the timings simply allow us to manage the queue for you. We aim to ensure that you see Santa within your time slot but on busy days you may need to wait a little longer.

We have a range of gifts available to suit your child’s age. We have baby safe gifts for a magical first Christmas. If you have an additional baby, a keepsake gift will be given. If you would like your baby to receive a premium gift from Father Christmas, please book a child ticket for your baby. Please let us know your child’s name and age at the time of booking, so we can check the nice list. Whilst Father Christmas endeavours to give everyone the gift on their list, this can be tricky as we are all unique.

If you are no longer able to attend your Grotto Visit (and do not qualify to reschedule as your booking is in less than 72 hours), please email Christmas@wlgv.co.uk with the Booking Name, Order Number and contact details from the booking, and the elves will be able to wrap a very special present for you to collect within 7 days.

All our event tickets are non-refundable. Please make sure that you select the correct date and time for your booking on your desired day. Please note that if you need to reschedule your booking, there will be a £5 administration fee to make any changes to the booking, subject to availability. To reschedule your booking, you can either send a written request via email to Christmas@wlgv.co.uk or phone one of the events team on 01327 843100 with the Booking Details no later than 72 hours before your event is due to start. We require the following; Booking Name, Order Number and Contact Details, please ensure you have these details available when making the phone call or when sending the email to ensure no delays occur. If you are no longer able to attend your Grotto Visit (and do not qualify to reschedule as your booking is in less than 72 hours), please email Christmas@wlgv.co.uk with the Booking Name, Order Number and contact details from the booking, and the elves will be able to wrap a very special present for you to collect within 7 days.

We strongly recommend prebooking your tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. Tickets may be available to purchase on the day and in-store subject to availability. During December the ‘Nice List’ becomes very full, hence we strongly recommend that you prebook a ticket in advance.

Unfortunately we do not offer concession prices. We do offer specific SEN-sations Sessions, you can find more information HERE.

We have specific SEN-sations Santa’s Grotto Visits, where we have absolute minimal queuing, low music levels and the opportunity whilst booking to tell the elves about your child’s additional requirements. You can book HERE. If you cannot attend one of our SEN-sations Santa’s Grotto Visits, we welcome all children to all our Grotto slots and the elves will assist with any additional needs as much as they can.

Absolutely! We offer an events e-voucher which can be used to book events that we offer on our website. E-vouchers can only be redeemed on our website. You can purchase one HERE.

Photos from your Grotto Experience may look different to your families’ photos or friends’. If you would like your photos to look the same, please make one booking which will ensure that you go in and enjoy the experience together. Two bookings made at the same time, may enter different areas, and thus have slightly different photos.

We welcome true believers of all ages to our Magical Grotto. Father Christmas has wrapped some special gifts, with the elves help, suitable from newborn to age 10. If your true believer is older and would like to receive a gift from Father Christmas, please select a child’s ticket. If your child over the age of 10 still wants to be part of the family festive fun but would not like to receive a gift, they will require an adult ticket to enter the experience.

Whilton’s Winter Wonderland is welcoming back Santa’s Magical Grotto! The Elves and our magical team have been working hard to create our Magical Grotto, fit for the Big Man himself. Our Grotto experience is full of jolliness and Christmas Cheer. Guests will arrive and be welcomed to the Wonderland Express Platform. Your journey will continue through the Reindeer Stables where Mrs Claus will be waiting to greet you. NEW this year meet Kandy Kane in his Candy Cane Village. You and your family will then be welcomed by our Jolly Elf to meet Father Christmas, and have some festive family time with him to ask for all you wish for this Christmas. Our Jolly Elf will then take a family photo for you to view after your experience.

Whilst many of our Elves return from the North Pole each year to welcome the very special children to visit Father Christmas, we do have new Elves from the North Pole Academy of Elves and Magic Makers. Our entire Grotto Team and Elf Staff are super jolly and meet our high quality specifications. Photos from your Grotto Experience may look different to your families’ photos or friends’. If you would like your photos to look the same, please make one booking which will ensure that you go in and enjoy the experience together. Two bookings made at the same time, may enter different areas, and thus have slightly different photos.

All our event tickets are non-refundable. Please make sure that you select the correct date and time for your booking on your desired day. Please note that if you need to reschedule your booking, there will be a £5 administration fee to make any changes to the booking, subject to availability. To reschedule your booking, you can either send a written request via email to Christmas@wlgv.co.uk or phone one of the events team on 01327 843100 with the Booking Details no later than 72 hours before your event is due to start. We require the following; Booking Name, Order Number and Contact Details, please ensure you have these details available when making the phone call or when sending the email to ensure no delays occur.

All our event tickets are non-refundable. Please make sure that you select the correct date and time for your booking on your desired day. Please note that if you need to reschedule your booking, there will be a £5 administration fee to make any changes to the booking, subject to availability. To reschedule your booking, you can either send a written request via email to Christmas@wlgv.co.uk or phone one of the events team on 01327 843100 with the Booking Details no later than 72 hours before your event is due to start. We require the following; Booking Name, Order Number and Contact Details, please ensure you have these details available when making the phone call or when sending the email to ensure no delays occur.

There may be times during our events and our ice skating, where we film or take photographs for social media, website and marketing purposes. If there is a specific event that you are attending and would prefer not to appear in the filming / images, please email our team at chrstmas@wlgv.co.uk so we can make arrangements for you to not appear.