Winter Wonderland is a big, Christmas themed event that comes to Hyde Park in London each and every year. This year, Winter Wonderland runs until January 5th, bringing Christmas joy to anyone who attends. When it comes to this event, both families and individuals can really enjoy the day or night out, as there is something for everyone. Winter Wonderland has free entry, however all of the rides, attractions, food and games do cost (about as much as most London events cost). There are a bunch of DJ/Music stages that you can walk to and enjoy, as well as cosy indoor bars.
We’ve gone twice this year, once with the entire family and a second time as a little couples date. The first time we went, with the kids in tow, we were more focused on rides, games that did indeed allow us to take home a prize and seeing Santa. Winter Wonderland is divided into a bunch of different areas; the first thing we did was head to Santa Land, which lets you take a photo on Santa’s sleigh, as well as talk to the big man himself and get some photos done. The building this was in had an open front, but made a lovely backdrop. We were able to get a bunch of pictures, all of which looked lovely, with both the entire family on the sled and just the children with Santa. This was a pretty magical thing for everyone involved; Santa even gave out a few small gifts.
Once we were done wishing for our gifts, we went to attack the rides. At Winter Wonderland, there isn’t many rides for children under 1 meter. Robin, the smallest, didn’t mind and instead stuck with us while the other two went looking. Rides are very expensive here, at £1 per token, most rides cost 5 to 7 tokens per person. The kids ended up choosing a ride which was 4 tokens each, it was essentially a big, 3 floor fun house. This was a brilliant choice as they could spend however long they wanted running around the floors of the fun house, going down the slides, running through the different areas, etc. They went for the large carnival themed one, though there was a spooky (more adult focused) fun house as well as a fire house themed fun house. As these were quite expensive (and the fun house was pretty tiring) and Robin couldn’t go on, we quickly moved to food.
There are quite a few picky kids food, like fish and chips or sausages. We went for sausages and chips for the kids, also grabbing a tornado chip, which is the coolest food around for picky eaters. These are just a spiral potato on a massive stick, covered in garlic and cheese. They all ate up (we had brought our own sealed water) and then went back to walking around.
A large part of Winter Wonderland is just walking around. There is so much to see! Lights, big statues, rides and stalls are everywhere. There are the normal Christmas grotto stands of ornaments and winter-themed items, various other food shops and lots of other games. We played a bit of ring toss and then went to the Frozen-themed fishing to catch an Olaf. All of the kids won stuffed animals, which they got to choose and carry around. We also took pictures with a few of the life-sized Japanese emoji characters that seemed to be near one of the shops. By that point, everyone was feeling quite tired and it was time to head back home.
When we went the second time, as just the two of us, our goals and aims were different. Neither of us care for rides or games, though we did play a bunch of the Penguin Racing game where you roll balls into different coloured rings in hopes of getting your penguin to the end before anyone else. Our main goal was to try as much food and drinks as we could; chorizo mac n cheese, truffle and mushroom mac n cheese, cups of corn, cherry mulled wine, skipped hot chocolate, roasted chestnuts, nachos – basically everything picky eaters would turn their noses up at. We also just walked around enjoying the atmosphere and being at a very Christmas themed event. It’s a very cute date night and a great place to get a little bit of Christmas shopping done as well.
Winter Wonderland continues to be a favourite and being able to take the kids this year was a pretty grand experience. We all had a lot of fun and I can’t wait until next year, when hopefully the youngest will be able to ride more of the rides herself!
You can find more information about Winter Wonderland on their website.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!
I love Winter Wonderland, and it looks like you had a great time on both of your visits! I will have to try and go over Christmas 🙂
You really should, you’d love it!
Looks and sounds amazing.