The festive season is almost upon us and we recently got to experience our first taste of the Christmas spirit for this year with a trip to the Cork North Pole Outpost Experience in Cobh. I wanted to share my review of our visit, to let other families know what's on offer from this experience and what's in store for them this year.
We were invited to the experience and were looking forward to seeing what they had to offer. The last time we visited we only had two kids and this year, we were back with our three year old little boy in tow.
My boys are twelve, nine and three and I can honestly say that they all enjoyed our visit to the Cork North Pole Outpost Experience. I was worried that our twelve year old might not want to even go, but by the end of it he was up dancing with an elf and all!
If you're looking for a Christmas experience with a theatrical element then this is the one for you. At each stop along the way of the woods and inside the beautiful house (which is always so beautifully decorated) at the Cork North Pole Outpost Experience, you're entertained by the best, comedic actors who are great at involving the audience and putting a smile on everyone's face.
The first stop will take you to the storyteller (I can't remember her name!) and her son, who were great fun and even had my other half pretending to be a reindeer, much to our three year olds delight!
After that we went to the 'garage' to experience elf turbo.
Next stop was the toy workshop, where we were wheeled a little 'robot' that the kids could make their own character from.
Our last stop before Santa Claus himself was a visit to Mrs. Claus in her kitchen, where the kids got to decorate and eat their own iced cookie with sprinkles. Mrs. Claus was a real gem of this experience and her storytelling - by memory, not by book, was so lovely and really had an air of a vintage Christmas.
After that lovely encounter with Mrs. Claus we were taken to a holding room with a very friendly and entertaining elf (the one who got my twelve year old up dancing!) before we were taken to see the big man himself, Santa Claus.
I can honestly say, the Cork North Pole Outpost Experience offers one of the loveliest Santa visits you'll ever find within Ireland. You can watch my video above for the interaction with Santa.
You're taken to your own cabin with Santa. He was unbelievably welcoming towards us all and gave us plenty of time. We got a lovely family photo too. The whole setting is just magical - the cabin is beautifully decorate and Santa is sitting by the fire, it's lovely. It was especially lovely for us this year given that our three year old is understanding about Santa and Christmas and is so excited. It was also great to see our nine and twelve year old boys getting into the Christmas spirit too.
You will not be disappointed with your Santa visit at the Cork North Pole Outpost Experience, every time we've been it's been magical and a real highlight of the experience.
I also love that after the meeting with Santa, the kids get to visit the toy shop window and pick out their own toy. It's fab that they get to pick there own and not end up with something they may not be interested in. The toys on offer was great too and we had three very happy boys going home.
This truly is an experience that is fun for all the family. It is one of the more expensive Christmas experiences on offer, but it is more interactive for the audience, the Santa visit is one of the most magical you could have and the toys on offer for the kids are great, so taking all that into account, it is worth it.
I'd like to thank the Cork North Pole Outpost Experience again for inviting us along. I hope everyone who visits this festive season has as great a time as we did.
You can book your visit to the Cork North Pole Outpost Experience here.
