If you’re looking for a truly magical Christmas experience, then a Santa Sleepover at Alton Towers is a must.
By the time autumn arrives, I’m already thinking about Christmas markets and festive days out!
As a child, Christmas was the most exciting and magical time of the year; and now that I have kids of my own, I get to share the magic of Christmas with them.
Alton Towers was our first Santa Sleepover and it certainly did not disappoint. Our two days were packed full of everything that makes Christmas truly magical. We had elves and fairies, mulled wine, pantomimes, traditional Christmas dinner and of course, Santa Claus himself.
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What was included in our Santa Sleepover at Alton Towers?
Our two days included:
- Entrance to CBeebies Land and all of its rides on Day 1
- Santa Experience – the type of experience is different depending on your accommodation
- A Christmas pantomime – we had Jack and the Beanstalk
- A festive Christmas dinner in the evening
- Evening entertainment
- An overnight stay in either the Enchanted Village, Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel or CBeebies Land Hotel
- Full English breakfast
- Entrance to the waterpark on Day 2
Booking your Santa Sleepover at Alton Towers
With 4 types of accommodation and different Santa Experience options for each, choosing your Santa Sleepover package can be a little confusing.
I would definitely recommend reading up on all of the accommodation options and each of the 3 Santa Experience’s available. However, it may be worth checking what is available first to prevent disappointment if your choice is not available.
The Santa Sleepover is only available on selected dates during the festive period, which means it gets booked up quite quickly. Therefore…
I would highly recommend booking as early as possible for the best price and availability.
Check out the availability and price here.
Our overnight stay in the Enchanted Village
The Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel and CBeebies Land Hotel all have themed bedrooms, which of course are amazing for kids. You can check out the rooms in each hotel here.
For accommodation set in a much quieter area of its own, the Enchanted Village offers beautiful, cosy but spacious lodges.
We haven’t stayed in any of the themed hotel rooms so can’t compare, but I was 100% happy with our choice to stay in the Enchanted Village.
We stayed in a triple family lodge, which had a comfortable king size bed and separate children’s sleeping area with bunk beds.
Top Tip – baby cots are provided free of charge
Make sure you dress festively – browse Kids Christmas Outfits here
It was warm, clean and modern with nice little touches such as a storybook called ‘The Enchanted Village’ which was free to take home.
With its magical décor, cute little hobbit door and peaceful setting, I almost felt like I was staying in ‘The Shire’ out of The Lord of the Rings. It was also a nice quiet retreat at bedtime after all of the excitement, buzz and noise from the day.
Which Santa Experience to choose?
There are normally 3 Santa Experience options – Tipi Experience, Santa’s Grotto or Breakfast with Santa.
As already mentioned, which Santa Experience you do depends on the accommodation you choose. They also take place in different areas of the park so be sure to find out when you check in.
We stayed in the Enchanted Village and did the Tipi Experience…
This was definitely one of the highlights of the day. Similarly to the accommodation, we didn’t do the other two Santa Experience’s, but I was certainly more than happy with our choice.
Keep reading to find out more about the Tipi Experience and everything else we did during our Santa Sleepover at Alton Towers. Hopefully, it might help you choose your own package.
Once you have booked your package, Alton Towers will contact you to book timings for your Santa Experience, pantomime, evening meal and breakfast.
Here’s everything what we did and in what order…
Day 1 of our Santa Sleepover at Alton Towers
In order to make the most out of the day, we arrived as soon as the theme park opened at 10am.
We hadn’t received clear instructions of what to do upon arrival, so we drove straight to the Alton Towers hotel car park (closest to the Enchanted Village).
We tried to check in at the Enchanted Village but was told that we were unable to do so until 3pm, so we drove back over to the theme park car park (you can also get a bus or walk).
Parking is free during your stay.
Enjoy exclusive access to the Alton Towers Theme Park
Ok, so we didn’t get to ride the Nemesis, Smiler or Rita; but I guess the Santa Sleepover at Alton Towers is targeted at families with young children, not adrenaline junky teenagers!
The girls got to go on all of the rides in CBeebies land and particularly enjoyed The Furchester Hotel Live and Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure. They even got to meet Upsy Daisy and Iggle Piggle!
We took it in turns to ride the Spinball Whizzer but with a height restriction of 1.2m, our 5-year-old was not quite tall enough and so we had a few tears.
Don’t forget to take…
We spent 3-4 hours at the theme park before heading back for our Tipi Experience, which was booked in for 2:30pm.
Our magical Santa Sleepover - Tipi Experience
Back at the Enchanted Village reception, we were greeted by some over-excited elves who checked us off on their list and then led us to the tipi.
As we entered the tipi which was festively decorated with twinkling lights, baubles and Christmas trees, we were offered mulled wine and hot chocolate. We obviously took both and they were both delicious – Christmas isn’t Christmas without mulled wine!
We sat at individual tables and the elves and fairies helped the children make festive crafts.
Then it was time for Santa Claus and Mrs Claus to come out. Whilst everyone continued with their crafts, each family was called up one at a time to meet Santa and Mrs Claus and receive a present.
Our eldest received a lovely skipping rope and our youngest received an ‘Elf on the Shelf’ (which meant we now have two naughty elves to get up to mischief at home)!
The whole thing lasted about 30 minutes but it was a real Christmassy experience and the kids loved it.
Jack and the Beanstalk Pantomime
We returned to our Enchanted Village lodge and had a short rest before heading over to the Alton Towers Hotel for our 4pm pantomime – Jack and the Beanstalk.
The room was quite full but we managed to get reasonable seats. Our eldest went down to the front where they had bean bags laid out on the floor for the kids.
The pantomime lasted about an hour, our eldest enjoyed it that much we watched it again the next day.
Top Tip – allow yourself more time at the theme park on Day 1 by choosing to watch the pantomime on Day 2.
We enjoyed watching the pantomime before our evening meal on Day 1 but there were far fewer people on Day 2 – we even got front row seats.
We personally didn’t feel like we needed more time at the theme park but watching the pantomime on Day 2 would allow more time for the rides on Day 1.
A fabulous festive evening meal in the Crooked Spoon
The Crooked Spoon is the restaurant/bar located in the Enchanted Village. Similarly to the Santa Experience, the meals are served in different restaurants depending on where you are staying.
Our festive three-course meal was booked for 17:15 and we were certainly ready for it. The Crooked Spoon is spacious, modern and had a great atmosphere on the evening we ate there (and our Christmas dinner was really tasty too).
An evening of entertainment
After our dinner, we wandered over to the Alton Towers Hotel to check out the evening entertainment.
Festively decked out with impressive garlands and a stunning Christmas tree, with the magnificent Sir Algernon’s ship taking centrepiece; the Atrium is the perfect place to sit and enjoy the evening entertainment.
However, it was very busy and there was no room to sit down. We stayed whilst our eldest watched a magic show, then decided to retire for the evening.
The children were very excited about sleeping in their special ‘woodland’ bedroom.
Day 2 of our Santa Sleepover at Alton Towers
Waking up to a special surprise…
The day before, our eldest had written a letter to Santa and posted it in the special post box in the Enchanted Village.
When we woke up the next morning, she was very excited to find a letter back from Santa, which had been hand delivered to our door.
A hearty breakfast in the Crooked Spoon
We enjoyed a delicious buffet style full English breakfast which was served back in the Crooked Spoon. There was plenty of choice with hot and cold drinks, hot breakfast items as well as cereals and pastries.
Our breakfast was booked in at 08:45, which gave us plenty of time to get ready and pack up the car before heading over to the waterpark.
Enjoy a splash at Alton Towers Waterparks
We spent about 3 hours in the waterpark but there is no time limit, you can stay until closing. It was busy in the morning but as it got closer to lunch time, people were starting to leave to go home.
The waterpark had something for all of us and the good thing is, its warm inside so babies and young children don’t get cold quickly.
We took it in turns to take our eldest daughter on the bigger rides like the Master Blaster; whilst our youngest was happy to paddle around the Wacky Waterworks Tree House and float around The Lazy River.
Top Tip – Towels are provided in the accomodation, but you will need to take your own for swimming (or you can hire them for £2)
Our Verdict
Our Santa Sleepover at Alton Towers really was magical and allowed us to enjoy a lovely Christmas experience together as a family. We visited the weekend before Christmas and came home feeling extremely festive and excited about Christmas.
I would definitely recommend a Santa Sleepover but book early to avoid disappointment or high prices.
To book your Santa Sleepover at Alton Towers, click here.
Let me know if you need any further advice?
Or maybe, you’ve already been? If you have, leave a comment and let me know if you enjoyed it too?
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This has got me feeling all festive! It looks so magical, especially the tipi! Your kids (and you) must have had the time of your lives. What a wonderful way to spend time together for Christmas.
Hi Ruth, thanks for your comment :). It certainly was very magical and when I read it back, I want to go again! But there are plenty more places to try, so this year we will be on the lookout for more festive days out and sleepovers!