Elise
Administrator
[2025 Event] Christmas Wonderland
- Thread starter Elise
- Start date
Apologies if this has been mentioned before or if I've missed something, but can you only go on the rides in Vikings if you have an Elftoria ticket? Vikings rides appear on the Elftoria page of the website only, so assume you can't just go on them with a general ticket which is a pain as Thor is one of my kids favourite rides, but I'm not paying £20 extra for them to ride it 
Yes it’s all part of Elftoria experience and that includes all 4 rides.Apologies if this has been mentioned before or if I've missed something, but can you only go on the rides in Vikings if you have an Elftoria ticket? Vikings rides appear on the Elftoria page of the website only, so assume you can't just go on them with a general ticket which is a pain as Thor is one of my kids favourite rides, but I'm not paying £20 extra for them to ride it
I'll need to temper expectations a bit then! Really impressed with the line up this year, a little disappointing that the upcharge is covering rides, but can't grumble too much. We've opted for the pantomime, Santa and the train, so should be a fantastic day regardless. My daughter has just hit 1.3 as well, so she's extremely excited to try Maelstrom next!
Oh well looks like they have lost £25 from us, probably nearer £100 taking into account food. Ridiculous the upcharges for children who will not be able to appreciate it. Won't be paying £30. Might look elsewhere then this year. Elftoria so far is looking complete rip off along with grotto which was poor last year and removed elements from it. Also not prepared to pay for a panto on an absolutely tiny stage in building that will be freezing. Ticket sales for most events look poor, when events like conkers/SVR and others are starting to sell out. Can't see anyone paying for a baby on any of these events. The park needs to rethink these events next year and stop ripping passholders off. Whilst halloween event was better, disppointing that over half the park closed two hours before the fireworks. Would be better off scrapping the event if it loses money again this year. Surprised the vast majority of indoor attractions have also been removed this year, theatre, blasting barrels, showdown and haunting. Twinkle express is also 66% increase from last time it operated for passholders in 2023.
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Likely the reason it is an upcharge is to not overflow the new bits with guests.
Also I still recommend going the more people we get going to this event the more chance we have more rides opening up next year at the same time the less people they get the more they might not do this again
Hopefully they won't. If they do it like this, then I think they should close the park for the Christmas event. Really not worth it if charging passholders £40 each to go to the events, compared to £10 last year. Admittedly last years event was a fiasco and this years grotto experience is less. i have spoken to quite a few passholders who will be boycotting the event. They should at least discount the events. £20 for 4 rides in Vikings, which should be free. Pictures of two tents so far for the other aspects. Absolute max charge of £20. I will be surprised if they repeat it next year. Ticket availability is very high compared to other l9ocal attractions. Looping group are forgetting there bread and butter customers and the fact that food sales along with merch would have generated more income than the likely poor attendance with virtually no indoor attractions open. If they don't want them to be overflowing then they just need crowd management. One word Bizarre!
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No indoor attractions Haunting I have heard is receiving a bit of a refresh this year.
But you still get Wave, Gold Rush and Maelstrom support parks else they'll disappear
I doubt they will operate the coasters if it is below 5 degrees as they have to close accelerator if it's too cold. No indoor attraction open. Park will survive but after last year, the amount of people who aren't going after last year's disaster. No presents for girls other than babies. Terrible train ride with lights that you couldn't see. I think they need to scrap the ride. Shocking that vikings is closed. £20 for a baby is ridiculous.
I hope that they revert to a full park offering with potential to upgrade for several add ones such as the craft and slide. Otherwise revert to main season as it used to be. This year February half term was also really bad.
The event may get cancelled if people don't go but that is poor decision making by the park. Lower cost with higher volumes would be more profitable. Will see if they slash the price in black Friday as they may need to break even.
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But his child is 8 months old and they not gonna go on many rides.
They must have had a lot of guests trying to book kids under 2 in for free to put this on the website.
Please note, all guests, including adults and under 2’s, are required to purchase tickets for any additional experiences they wish to participate in. The Cinderella Pantomime is free for under 2’s.
Will the Vikings Entrance to the Park be open during this period? Can people gain access to DM via Vikings? Will we have to walk all the way round to the main entrance?
Elftoria is open 4-6PM Does that mean that the Vikings entrance to the park is off limits?
Sorry. That was a lot of questions!
Elftoria is open 4-6PM Does that mean that the Vikings entrance to the park is off limits?
Sorry. That was a lot of questions!
I think it’s important to remember that Drayton released Christmas tickets very late compared to other places, this is more down to the marketing team rather than looping. For example, wmsp release there information for the entire year and start selling tickets in September. Where as Drayton seem to only release information a few weeks pending the event:
I do feel that pass holders have been forgotten about with very little perks. We’ve been annual pass holders for 5 years and at first there was plenty of perks but now we’ve noticed it’s been downgraded a substantial amount.
Due to all of the up-charges for every Christmas themed activity , we have decided to visit Santa elsewhere for the first time in 8 years. It was mainly last years grotto experience along side all the upcharges this year that made our choice. It was cheaper to go else where as a family of 4 than it was to visit Drayton. I will still be taking little man for a Christmas trip to Drayton but the only upcharge I will possibly pay for will be the twinkle express. I strongly feel some Christmas entertainment such as the Panto should be made available for all to see whilst only having up charges for selected experiences to enhance the day.
I get that Vikings is closed but still we have thrill rides open in winter this is a first for the UK in a long time and the water show will be different to
Elise
Administrator
A post just released via the park shares a bit more about what Elftoria entails
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Not sure that is worth £20 for 4 rides (possibly 3 rides - Buffalo won't operate if it is too cold) and food will obviously be extra. Don't like to be negative, but there very little to be positive. The additional things worth £5 at most. Most attractions would include in admission fee to make the event more attractive.
Elise
Administrator
I agree it feels quite expensive for what the offering is. A part of me thinks this may be externally organised by the "Elf" IP as im sure theyre a brand now. May explain the cost in a way...
I don't plan to visit Elftoria personally
You have a valid point, whilst Elf itself isn't an IP, the way that it is branded is. I have fed back to the park my thoughts on the event and the charges for babies. I doubt anything can change this year but surely if the park gets enough feedback then they will rethink next year. I know a lot of people that have said they won't after after last years event and the near 450% price increase for passholders. Non-passholders are actually getting the grotto experience for £7 if they book it as a combo.
I noticed that I never had a survey after the Halloween event. I am not going to comment further, but hope that for people that do go, that it is significantly better than last years grotto experience particularly with the lack of choice of presents. We were gutted at the quality of last years event.
I still can't believe the shambles of last years christmas event. It.Was.AWFUL.