London Christmas lights not quite getting you festively pumped enough? A massive Christmas show, experience, extravaganza is just a month away from opening up in the capital.
This is Kensington’s Winter Funland, which takes over Olympia’s Great Hall from December 13th.
Yes, this is a little late for a Christmas expo, with many Christmas markets and outdoor shows kicking off right now. But taking over one of the key exhibition centres in London likely does not come cheap.
Winter Finland describes itself as an “indoor fairground”, ensuring you against the vagaries of British weather in December.
Tickets do not come cheap, but do include all rides. Anyone aged three or over will pay £37 plus booking fee, which turns into £43.98 once you hit the later stages of the checkout process. Or a family can pay £145 — £167.66 with fees.
A family nets you four tickets, either two adults and two kids or one adult and three kids. It’s a saving of a whopping £3 (£3.31 with fees).
Is Winter Funland worth it? You do get more than most Christmas shows. For example, there’s an ice rink, a 1200-seater circus, a Christmas market of food and drinks stalls, "unlimited" rides, and a cast of poor folks dressed up as elves who have to deliver Christmas cheer full-time.
While we don’t have a full ride roster yet, they do include dodgems, a rollercoaster, waltzers and a fun house. Kids need to be aged four and up to take part in the ice rink, so those hard-working three-year-olds do get a bum deal at Winter Funland, having to pay full price without getting full access to the attractions. It's a tough life for toddlers.
If you think it’s too pricey, here’s the organiser’s take on the matter.
“If we charged individually for our shows and rides, it would cost anywhere up to £155 per person. We don’t want that, and we know families can’t afford it. Our costs have gone up, but we have worked hard to make this not only a fantastic event, but an affordable one too,” says Glen Ramsey, event manager.
The tickets grant you up to 3.5 hours of access to the site, starting at the time on your tickets, and you are meant to leave after that.
Each day is split into either two or three sessions. Less peak-y Xmas days are split into 11am to 230pm and 430pm to 8pm sessions. The bigger days open at 10am, with the first session ending at 130pm. Then there are 3pm to 630pm and 730pm to 10pm windows.
Those gaps between the sessions will presumably let the staff clear out the site of anyone attempting to snag a cheeky second run for free. And clear up the vomit of the kids who ate too much before going on a ride.
Olympia’s Winter Funland will be open every day bar December 25th, until 630pm on January 4th. There’s also a special evening on New Year’s Day, when Winter Funland will be open until 11pm.
The organisers run a comparable event at Birmingham's NEC, which opens on December 6th.
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