Visiting Santa with the kids isn’t one of my favourite tasks during the Christmas season to be perfectly honest. I hate the ques in the shopping centers all to see Santa for 2 mins and be rushed out. By which time, I’m already stressed from trying to keep all the kids somewhat mannerly and not running around in circles, I usually fail at that!
So this brings me to The Santa Experience at Dunnes Stores. With this one, you book your time in advance so immediately you’re cutting out the stress of the ques! Once there you’re brought into a lovely festive waiting area with tv and colouring for the kids. It’s a great set up and they have their elves to help out and have the kids all excited to go through to see Santa. 
Once called the first stop is The Elves Post Office. Here A parcel to Santa from Mrs.Clause herself flies down the chute. Have to say the elf in this room was gas, very enthusiastic about her postal service job 🙂
Next stop is to The Reindeer Stables where Santa’s reindeer hang out and get fed. The elf in this section tells the kids a bit about each reindeer.
Then it’s into The Sleigh Station where the kids get to see what preparation goes into for Santa’s big night and even have a quick ride on the sleigh to The Arctic room, snow and all. There the elf tells them about the polar bears.
Final stop is Santa’s Log Cabin. We loved how well the house was decorated. A bed, a sofa for the grown up to sit on and of course the main man himself. He had the kids sit on the floor in front of him and had a look at his book where he knew the kids names, ages, teacher and what they wanted for Christmas 😉 He had a little chat and joke with the kids and us parents before giving them a small gift. We then got our pictures taken which turned out lovely.
The kids had a brilliant afternoon and got lovely presents. the eldest got a set of decorations to paint, the boy got a jigsaw, the toddler got a really sweet nursery rhyme book, and the baby got a bath book. So fairly decent presents as far as Santa visit ones go.
Available at The Santa Experience for €2 each
Price is €10 per child and adults are €3 each and there is a €3 online booking fee. A picture, which comes in a black frame costs €12 and €6 for any additional ones. You can also get a USB with all pictures on it for €30.
Altogether, including a picture and gift, it would have cost us €61 in total for 2 adults and 4 kids. If we had of gone to our local Santa in Blanch that would have cost us €48 for the same but most likely a long que and 2 mins with Santa. So for an extra €13 quid I think it was well worth it. It lasts about 30 mins and it’s just a much more relaxed and enjoyable experience than the normal Santa’s grotto.
The Santa Experience is in 3 locations across the country. Ilac Centre, Dublin. Jetland Shopping Centre, Limerick. Dunnes Stores, 105 Patrick St, Cork. You can book online here and pick your preferred time and date.. Makes life a bit easier when you’ve young kids to think of.
Hope you enjoyed this review and let me know if you’ve been or plan on going! Yaz xo
*We were invited to The Santa Experience free of charge to share our experince via soical media and/or a blog post. All thoughts and opinions expressed are as always my own.
