It’s the middle of January and I am finally getting time to type up the experience we had meeting Santa at Causey Farm. January is not just known for its January Blues but I find it a quite hectic month,too. We are all trying to get back into a routine. Slowly getting there.
Every year I am trying to book a difference experience for the kids to meet Santa and all the extras that comes with it. The weekend before Christmas, we headed up to Co. Meath. Many people have said to me what a great time they had with their kids and definitely would recommend it. I’ll be honest, it is not the cheapest experience. Children from the age of two upwards pay €25 and adults €15. It is one of the Santa experiences that do sell out quite quickly so we did get lucky to get a slot after the lunch hour.
The journey up to Causey Farm for us was roughly an hour, a little bit less from Co. Kildare. Once we arrived and parked, we walked towards the house where we would get checked in. Each family received a card they needed to fill in with the name and age of their children, as well as where they live and if they had a pet. Santa might mention this when meeting him. Our group was called “pudding”. After around twenty minutes we were called. We handed over our cards to the lady and made our way onto the farm around the back.
We started off with a tea, a cookie and mince pie for the kids before the lady guided us through the farm. First stop was to find the star where Mary and Joseph were waiting to tell a story. Then it was onto seeing a few animals such as a donkey and camel.
We had to wait a little bit outside the Christmas cottage before we sat down in front of a nice fire. The lady told a story about the Christmas pudding and everyone got to stir it.
Next up we moved into the next shed where one of the elves went through the letters from a handful of random children. The kids had to make out whether they were nice what they wrote or if they should be on the naughty list.
There were little stages of seeing the elf machines, visiting the elves bedrooms and heading upstairs to meet Mrs Clause. The children had to help her sort Santa Claus’ clothes and put them away in a chest in the corner of the room. As there were a few groups ahead of us, it was all delayed for a little bit. From heading from the elves bedrooms to Mrs Claus and then from Mrs Claus heading to the toy shop, it took quite some time.
Finally after meeting Mrs Clause, we walked down the stairs to the toy shop. Or in the kids case, they could slide down right into it, literally. Here everyone could spend some time trying out Santa’s toys before meeting the big man himself.
We all sat down in the next room in front of a massive chimney and a Christmas tree. Santa’s main elf introduced Santa and he came down the chimney with a ladder.
Once Santa introduced himself to the children, our group went into the final room. This is where we all gathered to receive a gift from Santa, have a chat and a photo taken with him. The setup was lovely and all with proper photographer lighting as you could get your professional photo taken as well. We did purchase it but the one off my camera was nicer in the end. It’s more about the right moment when the kids look into the camera than anything else.
However I did not like the waiting time in the one room with small children. There should have been some entertainment while people were waiting. With past experiences, families are called into the room one by one, rather than having a whole group gathering around. Hopefully this is something they might improve.
Afterwards we walked back to the main entrance. There is a cafe in it too. Before heading back home, we decided to fuel up with some sweet treats and a tea for mammy and daddy.
Overall the experience was grand but as mentioned above, there was a lot of waiting around in between sections. They tried to break it up by singing songs with the kids, though they were soon getting bored of this. But then again, if you go later in the evening, it could go smooth. It all depends on how it’s managed and if there is a delay in the first group as that will have a knock on effect.
