Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? Walking in a winter wonderland at Bluewater this Christmas offers great fun for all the family.
The Winter Wonderland attraction, located outside The Village at the Greenhithe shopping centre, offers a selection of festive entertainment including a market, funfair and of course Father Christmas.
Young and old kids will love the funfair, with its bumper cars, carousel and 33-metre high Ferris wheel. There are also other rides far too scary for this wimp and his seven-year-old daughter to go on when we visited, namely Freak Out and Twister.
The market is quite small but quaint. You will find toys and other gift ideas for Christmas as well as seasonal food and drink. The stalls are set inside rustic wooden cabins, which adds an extra touch of charm to the attraction.
Also in The Winter Wonderland is a large indoor ice rink. Despite me hurting myself every time I’ve gone skating before my daughter and I still gave it a go.
We got out skates on and had a great time, although it was quite stressful trying to stay on my feet while also guiding an over-enthusiastic little girl around the rink. Luckily we finished the session injury-free.
The ice rink was very busy when we were there, but it seemed to be well supervised.
As fun as the rides and skating were the highlight of our visit was easily the Santa’s grotto.
This may well be the last year my daughter believes in the big red-suited fella and it was wonderful to see the delight on her face as we were led through the mock ice cave to see Father Christmas by the helpful elf Tinsel.
Santa was of course very friendly and my daughter came away with a lovely little gift.
The grotto is free to visit, though you can buy pictures, magnets and keyrings afterwards.
Due to the volume of people wanting to visit Santa booking is essential either before you get to The Winter Wonderland or as soon as you arrive. We were lucky and managed to get an appointment just two hours later from when we got there.
Elsewhere around the attraction be prepared to spend a bit of money if you want to enjoy everything on offer.
The ice rink costs £10 for an adult and £7.50 for a child. The funfair rides are mostly £3 per person.
The attraction is open until the New Year and I’d definitely recommend it to families.
Although there were loads of people there when we visited it didn’t feel overcrowded and there was a really nice festive atmosphere.
It was great seeing lots of people with smiles on their faces enjoying some good old-fashioned Christmas fun.
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