Yesterday evening we took Tyler Lee to see Santa Claus, something which he was very much excited about this year as he now understands what Christmas is about and who Santa is. We chose to go back to Wish at Fota Island Resort, even though we were quite disappointed by it last year when it was called Imagine, but having gone there the year before when it was Believe, which I blogged about
here, we decided that it was worth giving it another go and we are so glad we did, it was absolutely amazing!
Wish is not just a 'pop in and see Santa' event, it's a whole magical experience for children with lots to see and do, lots of friendly interaction with various elves and characters along the way and a good dose of wonder thrown in for good measure. We arrived a bit early for our slot so we went to experience the delights of the Christmas market. It was a bit emptier than last year (there was no one an nothing in the chocolate stand) but we enjoyed it anyway, Tyler Lee getting a spin on the gorgeous lit up carousel and a large colourful lolly to enjoy before we went on our journey to see Santa.
Ten minutes before our time slot we returned to the entrance marquee and took a seat while we waited to be called. We were worried about having a long wait between attractions as last year was just a nightmare and we knew that our almost three year old would not want to be sitting around again this year but luckily we had nothing to worry about. We were called first and were told to make our way through Candy Cane Lane down to Alpine Lodge. What I liked is that they staged people leaving the first marquee so that you could experience the gorgeousness of the lit of Candy Cane Lane as a family and take some pictures without anyone else around.
At then end of Candy Cane Lane we arrived at Alpine Lodge, which was also where we registered for our experience. We had a short wait there before we were taken into a room with two elves and a large book who checked if the children (and adults!) were on Santa's nice list. After this we were told to make our way to the Enchanted Forest, at the end of which we would meet Santa.
The only real wait we had during the whole experience was in the hut before we met Santa. There was an elf in there trying to entertain the little ones but most, like Tyler Lee, were just too excited to sit down and play games. When we did get to see Santa is was so lovely. Once again he was in his little log cabin, which is gorgeously decorated for Christmas. The Santa we got was such a lovely man who actually did have an air of Santa Claus about him. He was so patient and engaging with Tyler Lee, who sat on his lap and got his picture taken. It was a lovely experience and I'm so glad that Tyler Lee loved it. The only thing I was unhappy about and which you can see clearly in the picture above is that there's a line running through the centre of Tyler Lee's picture with Santa. For €10 a picture I really wasn't impressed with this and it really did disappoint me as these pictures are keepsakes and I thought this was such a lovely one.
After meeting Santa and getting our picture taken we went on the red train to The Wonderful Lands of Wish and we really didn't know what to expect for here but it was amazing! Inside was Wibbly Wobbly's Chocolate Factory, done out like the chocolate factory in the Willy Wonka films. There were crazy mirrors, tunnels for the little ones to go through, a chocolate lab and lots of gorgeous decorations.
Bubblefizz Lane led us through to an elf communications centre - Tyler Lee ran through this point, a present wrapping room with another tunnel and finally onto Mrs Claus who was making reindeer food and who gave us all some delicious chocolate drops. From there we went onto another elf who played a snowball dunking game with Tyler Lee and who even let him sleep on one of the elves beds. The last stop was to Santa's sleigh, which Tyler Lee wouldn't sit on long enough for a picture but all these activities after meeting Santa really were great and were so much fun for the little ones.
We really enjoyed our Wish experience and will definitely return again next Christmas - it's annual tradition at this stage now that we've been three times. Everything was perfect, the attractions were fantastic, the elves, Santa and other characters were very friendly and most importantly Tyler Lee had the time of his life. He was so happy when we were on our way home, he thanked myself and Jacek and he was wiped out after the excitement of it all. Even though Wish was an expensive experience at €62 for the three of us, including the picture, it was worth every penny for the experience of it all and for seeing the gigantic happy smile on our little boys face.
Thanks to Jacek for taking the pictures for this post, I was on toddler minding duties for the evening!
Ahh this looks really lovely!!! So many lovely parts to it! What a shame about the line in the photo, its such a beautiful capture! xx
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