Winter Wonderland slammed for ‘rip-off prices’ – with family-of-five spending almost £200 and revellers joking they need to re-mortgage their house afford an outing
- With a £7.50 entry fee, people share their costly experiences at the attraction
- READ MORE: Woman’s £685 trainers go missing at Winter Wonderland ice rink
Winter Wonderland has come under fire by scores of visitors after they were charged extortionate prices for food, drink and activities during their experience.
The event is a popular Christmas attraction in London, with thousands travelling from all over the UK and beyond to experience a slice of the festive magic – but some have left feeling the pinch rather than festive spirit.
Visitors have taken to social media to share their pricey experiences at the winter attraction, including an initial £7.50 entry fee, ‘potatoes on sticks’ costing £6.50 and nine chestnuts totalling £5.
Nae, known as @na3na3inthehouse on TikTok, is a British lifestyle influencer who often uploads content surrounding food – from sharing delicious cooking recipes to trying various cuisines at restaurants in the UK and abroad.
How much we spent in Winter Wonderland 2023 (as a family of 5) 👭🏻👨🏽🤝👨🏾🧍🏽- total at the end! #winterwonderland2023 #winterwonderland #howmuchwespent #whatieatinaday #thingstodoinlondon #halafoodlondon
Winter Wonderland has come under fire by scores of visitors after they were charged extortionate prices for food, drink and activities during their experience
With an initial £7.50 entry fee, ‘potatoes on sticks’ costing £6.50 and nine chestnuts totalling £5.00, people have taken to social media to share their costly experiences at the winter attraction
The content creator posted a video to her 81,000 followers, which broke down how much it cost her family of five to visit Winter Wonderland and enjoy the ‘complete package’ of games, food and other activities.
Nae revealed that it cost £37.50 in total for everyone to gain entry, and went t on to detail the cost of her brood’s activities, including one ‘Hook a Duck’ game at £6, a ‘Roll-a-ball’ game for £5, a Pokémon themed game for £10 and two rides on the Aeronaut Starflyer, which totalled £16.
When Nae and her family decided to tuck to into some food, they visited a Mac Factory stall for two pots of macaroni cheese, which cost £19.80.
A hot chocolate, croissant and a portion French toast at the Chrome London stall in the park set back some members of the family £24.25.
Tempted by the option of Korean-style chicken at a Chick ‘n’ Sours stall, Nae decided to purchase chicken strips and fries – totalling £26 for two portions.
Some of the family members opted for fish and chips and a fish burger from E8Fish, totalling £27, and, for dessert, the family tucked into bubble tea and bubble waffles from DOT DOT, priced at £15.70 for the two.
In total, Nae rounded up the cost of the family’s experience to £192.35 – or £38.45 per person.
Rating everything I ate in Winter Wonderland❄️☃️ #winterwonderland2023 #winterwonderlandlondon #foodinlondon
Lifestyle influencer Nae detailed the cost of her family’s activities, including one ‘Hook a Duck’ game at £6, a ‘Roll-a-ball’ game for £5 and a Pokémon themed game for £10
Food reviewer Angelina uploaded a video of her visit to Winter Wonderland, and captioned it with: ‘Don’t be fooled by these influencers telling you Winter Wonderland food is incredible’
Another TikTok content creator, Angelina, who goes by @angelina.pj on the video sharing app, detailed her recent experience to Winter Wonderland, sharing similarly priced bills for food in particular.
The online food reviewer visited the attraction to explore various cuisines offered by stallholders in a video posted to her 85,000 following.
Beginning the footage by saying, ‘Don’t be fooled by these influencers telling you Winter Wonderland food is incredible,’ Angelina headed straight to a Meat Heads stall to purchase £9 tacos that she described as ‘lacking meat’ and were ‘really salty.’
The content creator then picked up a hot dog from an unknown stall, and expressed her shock at receiving a plain sausage and bun for £8, and rated it a three out of ten as she described the pork product as ‘almost as if it’s alive.’
Stumbling across the same chestnut stall that Nae and her family had visited on a separate occasion, Angelina opted to purchase the £5 nuts – but labelled it ‘daylight robbery’ after discovering she was only given nine chestnuts.
Angelina purchased ‘potatoes on a stick’ at Winter Wonderland, which set the influencer back a whopping £6.50
The content creator then picked up a hot dog from an unknown stall, and expressed her shock at receiving a plain sausage and bun for £8
Other discouraged visitors have taken to X, formerly Twitter, share their own recent Winter Wonderland experiences and thoughts of the attraction’s general prices.
One person wrote, ‘Winter Wonderland has always been a rip off,’ while another uploaded a photo of a cup of mulled wine from the attraction, writing, ‘£7.70 #BrokenBritain.’
A fellow dissatisfied visitor, who have been taking their children over the years, wrote: ‘We have been the past 3yrs with the kids and each time it’s got more and more expensive last year got no change out of nearly £200 for the day.’
One potential visitor, upon discovering the cost of the entry fee, announced: ‘It costs £7.50 to enter Winter Wonderland this year during peak hours? Before you’ve entered the park you’ve already nearly spent a tenner man bye.’
Another person, who is planning to visit the attraction in December, jokingly wrote: ‘I will probably go on a couple rides and get a bag of chips. I’ll begin the process of re-mortgaging my property to facilitate this.’
Discouraged visitors have taken to X, formerly Twitter, share their own recent Winter Wonderland experiences and thoughts of the attraction’s general prices
A spokesperson for Hyde Park Winter Wonderland told MailOnline: ‘We understand budgets are tight and strive to create a magical experience for all of our visitors, with the best attractions and something for everyone to enjoy at a range of price points, including various free activities and entertainment.
‘Despite rising event costs, our entry ticket prices have remained the same since 2021, we offer free mid-week off-peak entry tickets and a Family Day with free entry for all on 1 January, and have benchmarked pricing in line with other temporary events and winter attractions in London.
‘We encourage visitors to book advanced tickets online for the best prices and deals, including our new £25 Santaland Unlimited Ride Pass with free entry and unlimited access to over 15 rides, or free entry when you spend £25 per person on attractions, rides, games and food, and more.’
Winter Wonderland also recently held the inaugural “Winter Wishes” event on Tuesday 21 November – a free morning for charities, youth groups, and schools with students from disadvantaged backgrounds to enjoy Winter Wonderland.
The event was created for those with physical, sensory, or financial requirements, with more than 5,000 guests enjoying free entry and unlimited access to all the rides and attractions at a reduced capacity of 15% and in a lower sensory environment.
Winter Wonderland’s annual Market Day takes place on Tuesday 28 November offering 20% off Christmas Market products.
An exclusive report by MailOnline earlier this year in March revealed how assaults, sex attacks, robbery, drugs and firearms possession were among the 790 offences recorded by police at Winter Wonderland over the last five years it has run.
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