Breakfast with Father Christmas at Blooms in Cheltenham

There was much excitement in the house on Sunday morning.  Advent calendars opened, talk of Christmas cards and decorations filled the house and we were off to meet a very special person; the big man in red himself.

The Garden Centre Group contacted me a couple of weeks ago inviting us to attend either breakfast or tea with Father Christmas at one of their garden centres.  Blooms in Cheltenham is about twenty minutes away and one of those places that I drive past a lot, but have never stopped there before.

We had a really warm welcome from the staff and each table had a big sign with the children’s names and as soon as we had sat down, staff were quick to supply us with tea, coffee and squash along with a large plate of toast.

Each child has a double sided Christmas themed activity sheet and some crayons along with a cracker. My children are obsessed with crackers and A was so excited that she pulled the cracker with herself!

Breakfast followed shortly and the adult was a full English and the children had a hash brown, sausage, bacon and beans.  It was a lovely breakfast, made even nicer by the attentive staff who were rushing around refilling our drinks and toast.

Breakfast was lovely and the next activity was decorating some gingerbad men.  Each of the children was given a gingerbread man with a little bag of icing and some chocolate drops to decorate them with.  I thought that this was a lovely touch and although the children were too full to eat their creations, we were given a box so that we could bring them home for later.

So where was Father Christmas?  One of the very enthusiastic staff members gathered the children together with a story of Father Christmas being lost and she whipped them up into a frenzy of excitement as they were all calling for Father Christmas at the tops of their voices until he appeared.

There was a special glass fronted room adjacent to the cafe and each child had a few minutes to sit with Father Christmas for a chat before choosing a gift to take home.

There was a huge selection of really nice gifts to choose from and all three children quickly made their selection before we said our goodbyes.

I have to say that I was very impressed. We have done a variety of visits with Father Christmas over the years and this is one of the best yet. The staff made the experience really special and they were so helpful and friendly.  The combination of having breakfast and the activities kept the children occupied and happy until Father Christmas arrived and the quality of the presents was really good and all of ours have been opened and played with already. The prices for breakfast with Father Christmas are £9.99 for each child and £7.99 for an adult and considering the time and effort that has been put into this event, I would thoroughly recommend it and my husband enjoyed it so much, he is quite keen to go again and we will definitely visit the cafe again in the future.