Frequently Asked Questions
What does my ticket include?
This year, the experience will start from our reception area located in the railway car park (car parking available in nearby). We continue to offer complimentary drinks (tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or squash) before your journey from our under cover waiting area. Festive treats, and a small selection of confectionary items will be available at a small extra charge. You will continue to enjoy your own dedicated elf who will escort you the short distance to the decorated Christmas train. Alighting at our Santa Station, a new pathway will await you, meandering through a mystical woodland, you will arrive at Santa's new bigger grotto, with more space for larger families. Having received your gift from the man himself, a short walk will return you to the train, for the return trip to Bentley Central. The train trip is around our 1/2 mile circuit.
New for 2022, you ticket will include a personalised festive keepsake, reindeer food and arts and crafts.
Personalise Christmas items such as baubles and crackers are also avaliable starting from £5.
Additional Visitors
Each paying child may bring up to two adults free of charge. Additional adults are welcome at a small extra charge.
We know that some children may want to join their siblings but not require a gift. Please include these in the "any other information" (so we can ensure space is available on the train), but not in the bookings section.
My child requires a different age group gift
Every child is different, and we appreciate the frustration of receiving a gift that is not appropriate for your child. We attempt to obtain gifts that are appropriate to the gender and age band, but if you have a specific requirement (younger age range gift, or child’s birthday is imminent etc) please let us know in the "any other information" section. Similarly, a small number of gifts may be considered gender specific, if this would be an issue, please let us know.
How long is the experience?
Your booked time will be the time your elf collects you from the Reception building. In total the experience will last around 40minutes from departure time until you return to the reception building.
How many people can fit on a train?
Each train has 16 seats. Typically this will include two groups, maintaining social distancing. Group sizes will be matched to ensure that each child has sufficient time with Santa, and no one will feel rushed.
What should I wear?
Whilst we want you to be as festive as possible, remember this is a woodland environment, and it is December! It is cold, and often quite wet underfoot. This year we have moved our grotto so that we could considerably improve the footpaths around the site. However, we still recommend that good outdoor walking boots are worn, and appropriate clothing dependant on the weather is essential.
When are you running?
Trains run every 15minutes between 1500hrs and 1845hrs on the following dates:
Saturday 2nd, Sunday 3rd
Friday 8th, Saturday 9th, Sunday 10th
Friday 15th, Saturday 16th, Sunday 17th
Thursday 21st, Friday 22nd, and Saturday 23rd
Accessibility Information
Where possible we can make reasonable adjustments to make this experience accessible to all. We have made improvements to our pathways, however they are a woodland environment, and can be affected by the weather, as such may make wheelchair and pushchair access tricky. Users of wheelchairs will need to alight before boarding the train, although the chair may be carried on the train.
Toilet Facilities
There will be porta-loo facilities outside the reception building, including baby change and wide access facilities.
Booking as a Group?
Do you wish to book your experience at the same time as another family? To ensure we can accommodate you, please can you book as one group where possible - we can invoice you separately if you prefer, just add this in the additional information area. In this way we can make sure we allocate the whole slot to you, rather than potentially splitting your group
Why do you ask for 2nd and 3rd preferences?
Each 15minute departure has potential to include two groups. In order to ensure each child has sufficient time with Santa, one of his elves checks each booking to keep the total number of children, and passengers to an acceptable level. Therefore larger groups may be offered their second choice so that you do not feel rushed. We pride ourselves on each child having a reasonable time with Santa, and not pushed through.