hawkstone park follies

Took our two 5 year olds and they loved it. We did the full 3 hour walk from steps to jungle to forests through caves up a monument, across narrow bridges and back along a fine high level walk. I believe that the price is excellent value for money for a fine family day out. Take your torches!

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments following your visit last year, they are much appreciated.

I am unsure when you visited Hawkstone Park Follies but it is closed at present and will re-open for weekends only in March and then every day during the Easter school holidays. The tea room facilities will be reviewed in time for our opening. We have to weigh up many factors when calculating the admission prices but we feel they do offer value for money for a day out with the family.

We are sorry you were disappointed with your visit. We take the health and safety of our visitors very seriously and handrails and signage are placed where necessary. Inspections are carried out regularly to ensure all areas along the route are maintained and are as safe as possible. However the park is a natural landscape and that has to be taken into account.

My partner and I visited here via an Amazon local deal which gave us half price entry. It certainly was better than we expected and the network of walks were very good. Not sure it is worth the full price, hence not 5 stars, but definitely a good place to visit on a nice day

The ticket price reflects the overheads incurred in providing what we hope (and many confirm) is a magical experience for the families who visit us at Christmas time. I am sorry that you felt it was not value for money. However all the feedback we receive will be reviewed when planning the event for 2015.

Last night we ( 2 adults and 2 kids) returned to Hawkstone Park for the Santa Safari having had a great time last year. Although I knew what to expect I thought it was great once again. I have read some of the negative comments on here and I think they are a little harsh, it must be really difficult to continue to make conversation with children time after time....so please lets not give the staff a hard time. The Safari has now finished for this year and if I can get away with it next year ( if my kids still believe) then I will be returning next year. A big well done to all the staff on the Safari but if I could make mention to two people in particular who without them I'm not so sure it would be as good. Barry the Elf, he was great last year and even better this year. Kept the kids entertained and was brilliant. However special mention should go to the lad ( i'm sorry I don't know your name) who kept the kids entertained, and me, with his animal impressions, stories etc. He was brilliant last year but even better this time around. Whoever runs this at Hawkstone should give him a huge pat on the back and you must do everything to get him back next year, I just hope you know how good he is. He is the first thing I mention to people when I recommend this to others.Well done Hawstone, for me its not overpriced. I wasn't disappointed. If my children enjoyed it then thats good enough for me.

We wnt at 5:00pm with a 7 & 4 year oldEnjoyable experience - very different compared to other Santa visits we have done. Bit of a mess up at the start on registration (confirmation email of times would be handy) however sorted out quite quickly. Use of Frozen all around the experience was a stroke of genius. land rover drive up to the follies was really good bumping the kids around in the dark was hilarious. staff during the experience especially arna/elsa/christophe and Santa was especially good characters and really played to the experience. Yes theres some tacky decorations but its for the kids and they don't care about quality of decorationsBetter than most santa experiences

We went on a 5.50pm Santa Safari with our 3 & 7 year old children. This trip has so much potential however is let down by tacky decorations, awkward pauses with some of the staff, cheap presents and it's missing the small touches such as mince pies and some drinks for the smaller children. Father Christmas didn't engage well with the children either.christoph and snowflake the elf were very good as were the reindeers.Overall this was overpriced and a let down. We will not be returning.

Overall we are glad to see you enjoyed your Santa Safari despite one or two shortcomings.

Myself, husband and 5 year old son went on the santa safari at 5.20pm in the evening. Being dark at this time, the lights were lovely and very magical. The land rover ride was exciting and the driver tried to talk to the kids to get them excited. It would have been nice if some Christmas music was playing at this point.It wasn't paticulaly busy when we went which was nice. When walking around the caves, different characters were placed around the walkways to slow your journey down. Unfortunately this was all too obvious as apart from Snow flake and 1 elf, the other characters didn't have much to say to the kids and it felt a little awkward at times. I've read reviews that Christoph was brilliant but he wasn't there when we went.The caves are magical but could do with a bit of an update as some decorations are a bit tacky.The bit that did let it down though was Santa himself. He seemed a bit out of touch with the ages of children. He hardly spoke to my son and spoke mostly to us although that conversation was unimaginative small talk. He did ask what my son wanted for Christmas to which he replied a Hudl (tablet), santa then turned to us and asked us if that was a good idea. Not quite sure what he meant by that but it felt quite a judgemental comment. My son is 5 1/2 and very articulate so there is no reason for santa to not try to engage with him. The present was also disappointing, it was a tractor which was more suitable for a 3 year old which surprisingly had ages 3-7 written on the paper. Again out of touch for the age that is being catered for. The first thing my son said when we left was "that wasn't the real santa was it because he didn't sound like him".In summary, the set up with the caves etc is unique so if the decoration inside the caves was updated, the characters were more interactive, especially santa and the presents were better then this could be a fantastic place to go. As it stands I wouldn't go back next year.

A great experience for all the family in a magical setting. With 2, 5 & 8 year old boys who all had a fantastic time as did mum & dad.All the staff, from the waiting area, drivers, elves & of course Santa were fantastic, dressed appropriately for thier role. As described by our 8 year old "better than awsome" well you can't ask for more than that!! The overall experience was good, the quality of the gift is almost irrelevent. Well done. Hope to be back next year.

We went to Hawkestone Follies today for the Santa Safari. Our party was a nearly 3 year old who fully believes, a baby and parents and grandparents.The positives:- the setting is magical, and the caves were decorated beautifully.- the hot chocolate whilst waiting to get on the land rover was nice.- it was good for the children to have some toys to play with in the waiting area.- it didn't feel at all rushed, even the bit with Father Christmas.- Father Christmas' interaction with the children was nice.Negatives:- all of the characters needed to be dressed up. The drivers, and the people welcoming us from the land rover were not in costume, and therefore not festive at all.- everyone bar Father Christmas and Elsa needed to have a better script, particularly the people before the caves. No one really seemed to know what to say, or how to make it more magical for the children, so we spent a lot of time saying 'do you think we'll see Father Christmas soon?', 'Wooow look at those reindeer!' Etc.- the gifts were very very inexpensive which was disappointing given the price.On the whole, it was a nice experience, but it wouldn't take much effort to make it better.

We went to the Santa Safari as my two year old daughters first trip to see Santa. On arrival both reception and the man sorting the vehicles were welcoming and my daughter was more than happy with the bracelet she received. Frozen was playing on a big screen in the waiting room which was a brilliant idea and all children were hooked!We then got taken by land rover to see Santa - the driver was excellent and chatty, telling my daughter lots of stories. On arrival we were met by Snowflake the Elf - she was excellent and able to communicate on every level with the children. Reindeers were lovely to see also.We then went into the caves (the natural beauty of this location is amazing). I felt that from this point if felt less personal and more like a conveyer belt with some of the entertainers telling us that there was a backlog so they were having to keep talking to us?!At one point we met Christophe, I was well aware that he was having to stall us however he was excellent. He entertained the children brilliantly and communicated well with children and adults alike. After exploring the caves we went to see Santa, I was unimpressed, my daughter was shy and he didn't try and talk to her or tempt her with a present, she was handed the present, which was very inexpensive ( I was expecting more for how much this cost).We then left and went back to the marque, we waited around five minutes for the transport to come back which really wasn't an issue.Although I am glad we went, it could be improved, they must be making a tidy profit and could use some of the money to ensure it was done a little better to make sure people came back year on year.Also of note for Hawkstone, if you were invited into a room on return for mulled wine/mince pies etc and maybe a shop, you could make it a bit more special.

We went to the Santa safari last night (7pm) as a surprise for my 5 year old and 2 year old And What a lovely evening we all had! Headed to reception at the hotel where the staff we all very and helpful she directed us to the waiting area where there was a frozen film playing with games & activities for the kids and hot choccy which was lovely. Then we were taken up the hill in Land Rovers which were very nice and comfortable (one little idea-maybe to have the drives dressed up too would of been a nice touch) when we got to the top there was a lovely lady elf who chatted to the kids and then took us to see the reindeers. We then went into the caves through tunnels into a few nicely decorated rooms, many of which were frozen themed with ana & elsa in them which was a massive hit for my 5 year old frozen mad daughter :) all of which were really friendly and good with the kids. I must say that The guy dressed as Christophe who did the animal games with the kids was brilliant! Gave us all a good giggle! There was a good 20mins or so in the caves and then we got to santas grotto, the room you had to wait in to go see Santa seemed a little boring compared to the others and the conversation wasn't quite as child orientated as the others (the lady was saying about how this was her work place and her job and she got the train there so any older children may of found this slightly confusing but my kids didn't mind those few minutes and didn't notice) Santa was lovely and the kids were very pleased with their presents. After we left Santa we went out a little doors to the woods right at the top of the follies and it was lovely although it was dark the view is really nice and the woods are all lit up.you then head back down to be picked up and taken back to the hotel by the landrovers. My kids absolutly loved it they thought it was a real adventure to go and see Santa rather than a grotto in a shop or something. We will defiantly be booking next year.