Father Christmas at The Eden Project

Hooray hooray, we are off to see Father Christmas today! 

We have had some lovely visits to The Eden Project, so when I saw they had a Winter Wonderland experience I quickly booked tickets for me, the Zebra and Nana. It was only £11 so not crazy expensive either. 

When we arrived the weather was rather miserable, and it's a long walk down from the car parks.

As expected, it was very busy - and the queues at Eden never move fast... 

We were able to renew our Local Pases, which is a fantastic scheme to join. For £12 I now have unlimited entry for 12 months - instead of paying the usual £25 entry fee. All you need to do is take along proof of address showing you live in Cornwall.

We arrived to Eden early so we could have a nosey around and grab some lunch. The restaurant was very pretty with lots of Christmas trees and decorations 

The food was very healthy and very yummy as usual, lots of fresh veggies which are organic and locally sourced where possible.

We only had time to walk around one biome, so we went for the cooler, Mediterranean dome - I didn't fancy walking round the rainforest in a thick winter dress! 

I was expecting the domes to have a winter wonderland feel to them, but there wasn't a single Christmas decoration to be seen.

At least the Zebra gave the rocks a festive look! 

Time to see Father Christmas! As tickets have a prebooked time slot, I wasn't expecting to queue outside in the rain for 20 minutes. It was only a drizzle by now but still not much fun

We did get to have a peek at the skating! It looks amazing for when the Zebra is older, and Christmas music was blaring out so we could have a dance while we waited.

The Father Christmas experience was amazing. It started with a stage show from the elves, before the big man himself came out 

I wasn't sure if the Zebra would sit all the way through, but she was mesmerised and loved the whole show 

It was only once we got to be front of (yet another) queue to meet Santa, that the Zebra decided she was quite happy watching him from a distance! 

She did get to meet him, but there wasn't a chance she would sit on his knee! 

They gave out a pretty crystal charms to hang on the tree to all the children, a much nicer gift to keep than the usual pound-shop tat that gets given! 

We had to make sure the Zebras Christmas wishes came true, so she wrote them down on her tag and gave them to an elf to have on the magic tree 

The Zebra was amazed with the real reindeer that Father Christmas had parked outside his workshop! 

It really was a magical day, and felt very much like a winter wonderland - even with all the queues! We will certainly be going again next year.