Life as a SEN mum

I never really thought I’d be doing a review about SeaLife at Christmas. I’d seen in previous years that Santa visits their various sites, but I’d never really considered it. I think because of the entrance costs of SeaLife as a whole. But the weekend before Christmas we happened to be visiting, and were lucky enough to book Santa on the day (literally 2 minutes before we saw him). So it seemed only right that I let you all know what we thought.

Cost

This will vary depending on whether you’re a pass holder. If you have an annual pass, or a Merlin pass, the cost to see Santa was £6.50. If you’re not a pass holder, you can either book as part of your booking, or if you decide once you’re there to add it on you can book for, I think it was £8.50, although don’t hold me to that.

Experience

When booking I’d maybe suggest waiting until the date of your visit to book. The Santa experience is right at the end just before you enter the shop, so you’re going to want to give yourself plenty of time to explore and take in everything that Sea Life has to offer. We booked literally as we got to the experience, we visited on the last Saturday before Christmas, so I was amazed that we were literally able to book to enter there and then. The time slots are pretty frequent, so the chances of you having to wait long before your slot is unlikely. If you do have to wait, there’s a little table outside where the kids can write their letters to Santa first. You then follow a snow lined path flocked with Christmas trees on your way to see the man himself. The time slot you book just indicates when you can enter the experience, you will then have a short wait, but in all honesty, the queue moves pretty quickly. Although, as I noticed on the way out there were actually 2 Santa’s. The Santa we saw was brilliant, not just how he presented himself, but he really did fit the part, gave Sir Richard Attenborough vibes in Miracle on 34th Street. One of Santa’s elves will take several pictures with Santa, and as parents you can jump in on the photo as well, but they also encourage you to take your own pictures, so make sure you’ve got your phones at the ready to take pictures and save yourself some money. The kids can then choose their own gift. There was a variety to choose from wooden puzzles for younger kids to cuddly toys and even kids water bottles (I’ll let you all guess what random present Charlotte went for).

Is it worth it?

It is fully worth it, yes it’s quite a short experience, but for the price, the gifts are decent, they get a bag of sweets while they wait, and the theming is on point. It isn’t one I’d specifically add to our yearly list, but if we were in Sea Life again near to Christmas I would definitely consider booking again as it really did make you feel the magic of Christmas.