Alton Towers: Santa Sleepover magic kickstarts My Own Personal Christmas at theme park

Not ‘when is Christmas Day?’ which is obviously on December 25th come rain or snow (probably rain). But when does the ‘Xmas Season’ begin? Because it is getting weirdly tricky to pin down these days.

Shopping Xmas starts, seemingly, on the second-to-last day of the summer holidays and gets steadily earlier each year so that I wouldn’t be surprised to one day read that shopping for Christmas 2028 is forecast to commence just after next month’s January sales .

On the other hand, Advent Calendar Christmas can at least be relied upon to begin on December 1. Unless, that is, you fail to keep said advent calendar out of sight of your six-year-old, in which case all 25 Lego mini-figures are prised from their tiny cardboard refuges on the first dull Saturday morning of November (thus beginning and ending Christmas on the same day, which at least satisfies the purists.)

And there are even the Twelve Days of Christmas, which, unbelievably, are after ‘Christmas’, and by the end of which most of us are ready to tell even our true loves where to stick their partridges (clue: it isn’t in their pear tree).

Fortunately, many of us also have what I like to call My Own Personal Christmas as a layer of protection against all the seasonal calendar tampering. I am such a person, and My Own Personal Christmas started the moment I arrived at Alton Towers with my six-year-old son.

We had elected to take up the Santa Sleepover experience not really sure whether it was an ‘us’ thing to do, given it was, on the face of it, nothing to do with Minecraft, Zootropolis 2 (Zeebros!) or Star Wars.

We quickly realised it was an ‘us’ thing to do about the same time as the M1 started hinting Alton Towers was just round the corner approximately 25 miles out and our squeals of ‘Yay! Alton Towers!’ surprised even ourselves.

Even though the rain was hammering against my windscreen like a water-based Gatling gun, we were more than ready to receive festive cheer as we pulled up, pausing only to haul on our wellies and don everything in the car that had a hood along with all our hats before marching to the traditional theme park queue.

My Own Personal Christmas started at that moment because a) it rains on Christmas day all the time even though this somehow gets wiped from our memories by Boxing Day, so the weather was, to my mind at least, fittingly festive and b) I got waved at by an elf. This made me grin foolishly, I have no idea why.

Through the turnstiles we went and onto brightly coloured Towers Street, whose shops and arcades beckoned to us, promising every kind of saccharine treat and neon amusement imaginable. Tiny-voiced oohs and aahs along with familiar Christmas melodies accompanied us as we almost levitated towards CBeebies Land, stopping only every few yards to point and gawp at this jawdropping fountain or that magnificent decoration.

Here, the Christmas tunes briefly paused and the even more familiar strains of the CBeebies channel kicked in, making us grin at each other whenever we recognised the JoJo and Gran Gran or Peter Rabbit music - before tearing off in the direction of the beloved theme tune.

Because of the rain it wasn’t optimum conditions for most rides and while the queues were possibly the shortest ever witnessed at a theme park, unfortunately the precipitation literally put a slight dampener on the CBeebies fun. However, several of the attractions such as the photo studio and Duggee’s Clubhouse are at least partially indoors. And if you are lucky enough to find them, there are marvellous, giant all-body hairdryers that soon dry you off and warm you up for a modest price. I could easily imagine the Squirrels designing one to win a Technology Badge

One of the rides we managed to splish-splash aboard before the heavens fully opened was the Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure, probably the most daring attraction in CBeebies Land (admittedly a low bar) and which gave us both a mini thrill each time it whipped and twisted round high-speed corners. The likes of Nemesis Reborn and Oblivion were (understandably) shut for the winter, but it was a taster of the big boy stuff for when we are both bigger boys.

Next came possibly the most magical part of the experience - the bit that puts the Santa in the Santa Sleepover - an audience with the big man himself. Waiting in a corridor of Christmas trees, whispering reminders of the elves’ instructions to each another, it was an enchanting moment as we awaited our turn to knock three times on the big red door. It was clear my little one was spellbound.

Suddenly it was our turn. An unmistakable voice, deep yet jolly, bid us enter and the wooden door creaked open to reveal possibly the most Father Christmas wooden lodge in all creation. We both gasped at the sight of him, awaiting us in his corner armchair, resplendent in red, a leatherbound Good List sitting, almost glowing, on a side table. (Happily my little one features in it, at time of writing). After solemnly committing to memory the requested Christmas Day toy (he’ll see what he can do - great answer Santa!) an adorable teddy, quickly christened Snuffles, was handed over and hugged tightly. A brief photo later and we bid a reluctant farewell, both giving a ‘Bye, Santa’ with unexpected sincerity as we emerged, bewitched, back into daylight.

Activities available in the package to fill out our day included crazy golf - or as the website has it ‘nine holes of crazy, zany Extraordinary Golf’ - which for us was another casualty of the weather. And there’s also Alton Towers Waterpark, which is indoors and therefore not only wet, but thankfully warm. And a terrific show, The Sprout That Saved Christmas is yet another great option to keep the kids entertained in the covered outdoor area.

All of which meant we were delighted after the shortest of drives to arrive at the Alton Towers hotel, a stunning building apparently once owned by adventurer Sir Algenon. A daredevil explorer, he evidently had difficulty piloting his vehicular contraptions, as several of them remain crashed in unexpected places such as the propeller-driven motorcar in the spectacular fountain and the hot air balloon-stroke pirate ship in the lobby. The latter is the centrepiece of the entrance, and lit up in its festive finery is by far the hotel’s most popular selfie background.

As fantastical as all that was, however, the moment that took the prize for the entire stay as far as my son was concerned, was pushing open the door to our themed Arctic Explorer room. Made out like a sort of Victorian-era log cabin - there are several other themes available such as Explorer or Moon Voyage - ours was extra special with incredible little details everywhere. Imitation brass gas lamps and brightly-lit world maps above the headboard give it a cosy time traveller feel and wonderful arctic murals spread across all four walls hinted at adventures in our dreams that night. Even the carpets, while cosy in the usual way, were patterned with snow shoes and clumps of the white stuff that really transported us to a warm hearth in a frozen wilderness. Stunning.

Then, after taking it all in there was a delicious Christmas dinner buffet in the Secret Garden restaurant, followed by an unmissable Cinderella & Prince Charming pantomime. Although suffering slightly for its lack of tiered seating, it was absolutely crammed with hilarity and popular songs and was the perfect diversion to bring a magical day to an end.

If you want to get your Own Personal Christmas started, the Alton Towers’ Santa Sleepover truly is the time and place to do it.

For more information see the webpage for Alton Towers Santa Sleepover.