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Hyde Park Winter Wonderland: General Discussion

It's not the rides I think are overpriced. It's F&B - but this is Britain today. Seeing old prices scratched out into new ones was particularly hilarious.

Let's see if it lasts when money tightens over the coming months...

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Must admit the prices seemed extreme so we bailed to MeatLiquor enroute to Babylon Park
 
Just got home and had a brilliant day out.

Arrived at 12.30, done a lap of the site and sat in the beer hall for the rest of the afternoon/early evening.

£6.00 for a pint of weissbier is pretty good for central London. £6.90 for a 4.2% lager in the beer hall not so much.

For a booze up it's a great value day out. Free, live entertainment on stage in the Bavarian Village, in a really lively atmosphere.

Thought about doing some rides but have done them all before. Looping is good but not worth a tenner. Was good to see it with a massive queue most of the day.
 
Craig said:
Yes, it's expensive. Yes, it may be a "rip off" to some, but that's a subjective term - that's the point @pluk is making. If you've not been, you can of course comment on the pricing of things, but it's difficult to justify slating the whole thing having not experienced it. The fact is every single tourist attraction in London is a "rip off" because the sheer cost involved in running them is absolutely insane. Wages are higher, rent is higher, the level of security (especially with terrorist attacks at similar events in recent years) and organisation required for something so high profile in such a central location is crazy. Of course there's profit being made, but I doubt it's as much as you'd assume.
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I get that and almost certainly correct.
Craig said:
The term "premium" doesn't necessarily have to mean luxury either. An event can be referred to as premium because of it's location or the selection of rides it attracts. Winter Wonderland actually gets a LOT of flack from Hyde Park residents, they're certainly not visiting the place that's for sure! Like most attractions in the city, it's a tourist attraction pure and simple. It's not a community event, they're a business at the end of the day. Unfortunately all Christmas Markets have gone up in price in recent years, Edinburgh was the same when I was there last weekend.
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Yes I agree with the definition but I would say some of the prices suggest it's luxury while some suggest premium and some other suggest fairground. I think one of the problems with arguing about prices at winter wonderland is that the prices vary a lot.
I imagined there was some flack with the local residents, I mean it's a loud noisey big thing that turns up once a year in quite a posh area but I admit I'm a little surprised about just how much flack they get (after doing some of my own research and reading your comments).
Again Christmas markets are an odd one to judge in price, I've seen them vary so much, not just from market to market but stall to stall too. It's crazy to think just how much these things can vary in modern day Britain.
Craig said:
I would argue you can experience the event without spending a whole lot. It's entirely possible to pop along, do a ride or two (which covers your entry), have a wander and then head off somewhere else for food and drink if you really wanted to. You'd struggle to find many places in that area of London which are remotely sensible in terms of pricing though!
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Admitedly, this isn't an angle I'd thought off, and I complete agree.

I think overall my main problem is that as someone who doesn't live anywhere in London, there are so many costs involved just to get there, nevermind the costs inside (which we all agree are expensive, whether you agree if it's a ripoff or not is a matter of individual opinion) is almost completely priced out. I think for me it's a frustration because I shouldn't have to be priced out of such an event as I'm not on the bread line.
AstroDan said:
but this is Britain today. Seeing old prices scratched out into new ones was particularly hilarious.

Let's see if it lasts when money tightens over the coming months...
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Very true indeed. Such a shame we're reduced to this and it effects everything from a trip to the supermarket to the hobby we all have.
 
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JAperson said:
I think overall my main problem is that as someone who doesn't live anywhere in London, there are so many costs involved just to get there, nevermind the costs inside (which we all agree are expensive, whether you agree if it's a ripoff or not is a matter of individual opinion) is almost completely priced out. I think for me it's a frustration because I shouldn't have to be priced out of such an event as I'm not on the bread line.
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I don't want to be argumentative, but this is just silly. The costs involved in me getting to the likes of Towers or Blackpool from down south are similarly prohibitively expensive to me as someone not on the breadline too. Should I begrudge them and consider them a ripoff because they didn't have the decency to build the parks near me?

With it being free or nearly free to enter, noone is priced out of the event.
 
Could I point out that Hyde Park isn't quite a posh area, it is in a very posh area indeed.
The smallest of one bed flats go for around a million and a half, all the way up to around ten million for a "standard" family detached in the area.
So yes, quite posh.
 
If you visit HPWW and do 5 or 6 rides, eat a meal and grab 4 or 5 drinks over a few hours - it'll be about £100.

At the end of the day, many people have money in this county and have it to spend. Others still have credit cards to max out.

I'm sure the Royal Parks are making plenty of dollar.

I went in this year and spent less than I ever have in there. Let's hope I am not typical as otherwise the event will be on a downward slope to irrelevance.

Europa-Park next week anyway. Bring on the €5 pint and €4 bratwurst. Oh well the travel cost me £100.

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I think the thing with the event “pricing out” folks outside of London is that I don’t think the event really needs many folk outside of the immediate area to visit for it to be a viable business proposition.

London is a very affluent area, and it probably has more than enough of a captive audience on its own for the event to succeed. 8 million people live in London, and that excludes the folk who live in the wider built-up area surrounding London, who would probably eke the figure up by another couple of million.

That also excludes the many foreign visitors to London for Christmas, many of whom would likely love an event like HPWW.

Besides, people living in cities like Birmingham and Manchester have their own similar Winter Wonderland events which probably suffice for most.
 
Matt N said:
That also excludes the many foreign visitors to London for Christmas, many of whom would likely love an event like HPWW.
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A good point. The pound is very weak on international markets (and has been relatively weak since mid-2016,) which will certainly support tourist spending at HPWW and in London generally.

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Whilst there is no doubt that there are some very well off people in London. A huge amount of the visitors to Winter Wonderland will be from the home counties. A mix of fairly well off families but also 20-30 year olds who live paycheck to paycheck due to the cost of living down here.

But yeah, if I were from the North I wouldn't see much value in visiting more than once due to the extra cost of getting to the event.

Then theres also the subcategory of the 25 year olds from Kent with a financed Mercedes, an occasional class A drug habit, a girlfriend with lip fillers and knee deep in credit card debt. Winter Wonderland is a megnet for them :tearsofjoy:
 
I did 6 rides whilst there (Santa's Runaway Train, Racing Coaster, Olympia Looping, Time Machine, Discovery and Crazy Clown) and spent roughly £40. I then did Babylon Park, Winter City, Lakeside Christmas Wonderland and the next day Winter Wonderland Norwich. As usual with trips, it's what you put in is what you get out. Entire trip probably cost over £300 but was a good laugh and got to see some mates in Lowestoft, help Matty get his new car and visit a couple of museums and railways.
 
RicketyCricket said:
Whilst there is no doubt that there are some very well off people in London. A huge amount of the visitors to Winter Wonderland will be from the home counties. A mix of fairly well off families but also 20-30 year olds who live paycheck to paycheck due to the cost of living down here.

But yeah, if I were from the North I wouldn't see much value in visiting more than once due to the extra cost of getting to the event.

Then theres also the subcategory of the 25 year olds from Kent with a financed Mercedes, an occasional class A drug habit, a girlfriend with lip fillers and knee deep in credit card debt. Winter Wonderland is a megnet for them :tearsofjoy:
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Keep up with the times, lip filler is out, it is all cheek suction now honey.
 
Maybe cause I got 2 kids aged 10 and 3 and the travelling to London on coach or train, overnight stay, food and drink that would be in the region of £300-£350 before we even got to wonderland so you got to add on another £150 so roughly £500 for a nights stay in London on the other hand I paid £107 for a family of 4 at Winter Fun land this week for unlimited rides for 4 hrs and hopefully the trains are running £6.30 return to Birmingham international
 
rob666 said:
But a day trip to Brum isn't the same as an overnighter in the capital though is it!
You aren't comparing like for like.
There is a lot of free sightseeing stuff by the river as well
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I hate London not been since 2008 and the closest I been since is Wembley now that is a great day out.
Anyway the place does look nice and I’m sure all the vloggers enjoy wonderland as all their subscribers/viewing has paid for their visit.
 
RicketyCricket said:
Just got home and had a brilliant day out.

Arrived at 12.30, done a lap of the site and sat in the beer hall for the rest of the afternoon/early evening.

£6.00 for a pint of weissbier is pretty good for central London. £6.90 for a 4.2% lager in the beer hall not so much.

For a booze up it's a great value day out. Free, live entertainment on stage in the Bavarian Village, in a really lively atmosphere.

Thought about doing some rides but have done them all before. Looping is good but not worth a tenner. Was good to see it with a massive queue most of the day.
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Yep I was paying £5.50 in a central London Wetherspoons last month. £6 a pint is fairly standard really in London now unfortunately.
It’s the food the feels expensive at Winter Wonderland as it doesn’t look substantial compared to the the price.
 
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