Dartford Living was lucky enough to visit the brand new ‘Believe’ grotto at Bluewater. The Grotto has a brand new home in the shopping centre (just opposite Superdrug) which we were grateful for as it would have been a chilly wait outside otherwise.
To start with, guests are welcomed into Santa’s magical post room, a hub of letters from all over the world and a place where the elves need some help making sure everything is in place.
Next is a stop to decorate a delicious gingerbread treat (we were asked if there were any allergies so that a suitable alternative could be offered but no one in our group needed a swap so I am unsure what the alternative is). There was icing and sprinkles galore and plenty of time to turn a gingerbread into a colourful, sugary treat! The children we were with made sure that every drop of icing and sprinkles made it onto their biscuit and thankfully each child was given their own packet of sprinkles and an icing pen so there was no risk of anyone hogging them.
Finally we moved on to wait for the main man himself. There can be a bit of a wait to meet Santa but the queue keeps moving and we found there were plenty of elves to chat with along the way. Also who wants to be rushed when it is their turn to see Father Christmas so we didn’t mind a bit of a wait if that meant we didn’t get rushed through.
When we finally arrived in Santa’s study it was lovely and warm and cosy. The children really loved meeting Santa, he took time to chat to them about their interests, ages and wish lists and was sincere and thoughtful and made the kids laugh as well. They then each got an age appropriate gift which they both liked. Although Believe at Bluewater is perfect for younger ages even our 10 year old got involved and enjoyed all of the activities especially munching on his gingerbread man at the end.
Tickets can be booked at https://bluewater.co.uk/believe and the Grotto is open until 24th December.