Winter Wonderland, which is located in Hyde Park is an annual Christmas event that takes place from mid-November to early January. It includes various rides (spanning from ones accessible for children and others for adults), markets as well as live shows, such as the circus; restaurants and even an ice rink. Therefore, everyone of all ages is able to enjoy and find something suited for them. However, this year the event received a lot of backlash and condemnation from the public.
Due to this, I decided to take a trip to Winter Wonderland to assess how fair this accumulated criticism surrounding the fair had been. I went with a couple of friends on December 1st during the time slot of 19:00 to 21:30 without pre-booking any rides or food/drinks. The entry fee alone was £5 which has been a new addition over the last few years as before COVID (2021) Winter Wonderland had always been free to visit. Most of the rides ranged from £7 to £10 and the price of the food depended on the quantity and stall.
I ended up spending around £45 which was a result of three rides, food and the entry fee. Therefore, personally I felt that this amount was quite reasonable. However, some of my friends spent £65 even though they had only gone on a few rides and bought a small amount of food. Celeste Aldington, who went, had protested that she had not, “planned at all or foresaw spending that much and I felt extremely irritated because I had to buy food on the way back as the food there was too expensive.” Majority of the public were also outraged with the prices due to the large amount of articles being released criticising the scheme as well as negative comments being shared on all social media platforms. Unfortunately, families were affected the most, spending around £200 in total on the outing.
To conclude, even though Winter Wonderland is a great way to spend time with close ones, I do not believe that it is a necessity to visit as there are many attractions and events taking place across London during Christmas that are just as enjoyable, but a lot cheaper. In my opinion, the prices are unreasonable and should not be rising as much as they are. Not only is this unfair for those who simply cannot afford it, but also take away from the pleasure and amusement of the whole event.