RK2007

The 'bustling' Christmas market at the Grotto, which cost an extra £10 to be allowed in.



The magical funfair, look at all the snow!



A lost polar bear, must have been told that there was going to be snow but he's already clocked the situation from the edge of the woods and doesn't want to enter the area.

Continued next post >

RK2007

If you weren't impressed by the outdoor nativity scene, not to worry - there is an indoor one too!



Another picture of the Christmas huskies.



The whole Grotto area - New Forest Lapland.

RK2007

Why is it when we do stuff over here in the UK, when we get it wrong we don't just get it wrong, we get it EPIC wrong?

parentrecovers

good grief!

so did ya go, rk? is that how you got all the pics? looks like a big hohoho rip off!

the bear one is a riot...

i think i could have done a better job than that in my own back yard (minus the merry-go-round which prolly wouldn't fit)

i'm still thinkin' chicago's "zombies on ice" will be the holiday event of the season.

RK2007

Nah, K - you wouldn't catch me dead at a failed gig like that.

I got the pics off AOL. That's another thing, the ice rink there didn't work and apparently Santa got attacked by angry parents and one of the elves got punched and put in a trolley.

parentrecovers

i was afraid to even ASK about the santa ..

RK2007

Visitors who had paid up to £30 each for tickets to a “Christmas Wonderland” in the New Forest were turned away yesterday by a woman shrieking: “Santa's gone home! Santa's f*cking dead!”

Dorset county council's trading standards department has received more than 2,000 complaints about the Lapland theme park since it opened last Friday.

This morning a convoy of lorries and horseboxes carrying reindeer, donkeys and huskies left the muddy site after contractors called in the police, claiming they had not been paid.

More than 50,000 tickets to the attraction known as Lapland New Forest had been sold in advance. It is not known whether any of those who had paid up to £130 for a family ticket would get their money back.

Visitors complained that the site, which boasted an ice rink, a snowy “tunnel of light” a nativity and Santa's grotto as well as animal attractions, was little more than a mud-covered carpark. The ice rink had melted because of a broken generator, the “tunnel” was a few Christmas trees sprayed with artificial snow, and the “nativity scene” was a badly painted billboard.

Santa's Grotto did actually exist, but there was a four-hour queue for entry and an additional £10 charge for photographs once inside. During a confrontation with angry parents, one of the three Santas and several of his elves claimed they had been beaten up.

Today families were arriving to find the entrance coned off. A woman from the park shouted through the fence: “Santa's gone home, Santa's f*****g dead.”

Becky and Gerhard Venter, and their 12-month-old son Lucas had driven from Thatcham, Berkshire despite the poor publicity. She said: “We weren't too excited about the prospect of coming here as we had heard it was bad but we had bought the tickets anyway and had no choice.

“But I was furious when I found it closed as my husband had taken the day off work and we drove two hours to get here.”

Tracey Baldock, 38, travelled from Brighton with her parents and three-year-old son Tijan. She said: “We had obviously heard about how awful the park was but were advised to still come and take photos as it may help us get our money back.

“We checked the website before we left to make sure it was still open and there was nothing on there to say otherwise. But when we got here it was shut and Tijan was really disappointed. I am absolutely furious as it is my birthday today and we have spent more than £100 to come here.”

A source at the Lapland site said today: “When staff turned up at 12 o'clock they were turned away from the gate and told everything was being packed up.

“The donkeys and other animals were loaded into horseboxes and the fairground was taken down. First aid people have also been told they won't be needed any more. It has been chaos.”

Earlier, officers from Dorset police were called to the site after a confrontation between contractors and the park management. A police spokesman said: “We have since been told the Lapland New Forest attraction has been closed permanently.”

Dorset County Council's trading standards launched an investigation into the attraction after receiving more than 2,000 complaints.

Henry Mears, Lapland New Forest's proprietor, said: “Mostly due to the scurrilous way the media has acted and reported this, the site is closed.”

Victor Mears, a director of Lapland New Forest Ltd, announced the closure of the attraction and said he hoped to reach a “satisfactory conclusion” with customers looking for a refund.

In a statement he said: “With my deepest regret and sincerest apology I am left with no option but to announce that I am forced to close Lapland New Forest. This is due to intentional organised crowd manipulation and event sabotage during and since our first trading weekend.

“The unscrupulous and inaccurate negative bias media broadcasts of both local and national press and television companies that contributed significantly to fuelling widespread public concern, frenzy and distraction.”

He added: “For all people wishing to claim financial reimbursement I can only advise that you return to our website for further information on this important matter. Both I and all of the Lapland New Forest team have had every intention of both continuing and continuing to enhance our children's event.

“We have all put many months of hard planning, endeavour and finance into the Christmas theme park. Our wonderful venture and advertising campaign proved to be highly popular and many of our visitors did have a great day with us.

“We are all deeply upset at the outrageous lies, slander, accusations, violent threats and lack of official support we have endured and I have every intention of pursuing all matters to the full extent of the law.

“From myself and every member of the Lapland New Forest team to all of our valued customers and incredible team players that contributed so much to our honourable enterprise, we look forward to reaching a clear and satisfactory conclusion as soon as is possible.”

parentrecovers

i just googled it and one of the bloggers has dubbed it "CRAPLAND NEW FOREST"!

gypsytears

Morning peeps .

Jules, thanks for posting that. People's pattern's do become obvious. When I saw stoney hadn't posted yesterday I immediately jumped to the same conclusion. I hope I'm wrong too.

Stone: please check in and let us know you were just napping all day or somfin. Tumor acting up? I hope to God or Buddha or the bush in your backyard that you haven't taken to drink again. It really makes NO sense at this point to keep returning to the same behavior that you know doesn't serve you.

gypsytears

RK thanks for sharing the festivities over there . I wish I could bring my children to see that so they would appreciate our yearly trek to NYC to look at the tree at Rockefeller Center and the store windows (and out to eat at some non Christmassy usually Asian restaurant).

gypsytears

I have just filled out another full box of Christmas cards. I need to shower, go to the PO and mail them out, banking and other errands await me today.

* If any idiot here wants to get on my list, it's not to late. PM me your addy and I'll send a card full of holiday cheer. Running low on the sawbucks though... so get in while you can .

Ananda

I'm begining to think the whole country sunk into the sea or something.....



Maybe a power outage effecting computer access for all of the UK?

funny how sometimes I hope for a big disaster as it seems better than some of the options.

I'm off to work late again......oh well...maybe someone will show up later

Rowan

Good morning. Nice Crapland, RK. That's pretty sad, actually.

I feel a tiny bit better this morning. I got up and made a cup of morning coffee which is encouraging. We got a lot of snow last night I'll wait until daughter is home from school and can help me shovel. Dee, I've been on meds all along; your comment about this going on long enough didn't make sense, so I figured you never knew about them. I just need to increase the dosage. It's a familiar scene for me.

I know that Paul is drinking - not that I have been in contact with him, but the writing is on the wall. He disappears, and it's a sure bet that he's back into the vodka. I've had to completely detach from this side of Paul, because to do otherwise would not be helpful - to me, anyway. I used to take his drinking personally i.e. 'why didn't he take my advice?' 'why didn't he call his sponsor or go to a meeting?' 'why didn't he ask for help?' but none of it really matters. Paul wants to drink, so he drinks. I love him, but I'm done giving advice or getting involved. He knows this.

Guys I feel totally lost and overwhelmed - the thought of putting up a Christmas tree depresses me. The thought of Christmas shopping - makes me want to cry. I have gotten a few things but just don't know what to do next. I have phone calls to make i.e. eye doctor for daughter, head doctor for me, cable company, etc. Maybe I will do those now. Make something to eat. Have a bath. Change the sheets. Maybe that will be enough for today.

Tonights xmas party thing - I am really glad I am missing it. I know I wouldn't drink if I were to go - I'm beyond that, I hope, but the obsession would be there - and if I hang out in slippery places while in that state of mind - I'm no fool; it would only be a matter of time.

Sorry for the ramble/rant.

gypsytears

Oh Ro . I don't know what to tell you. I know you don't feel like decorating but maybe doing just a little? I mean... your daughter will appreciate it I'm sure. Nothing big... just a few things. Or maybe you can pool your energy and bake some cookies.

Have you spoken to your doctor about this wave??? It might be helpful. I know you're on meds and probably need to change the dosage. That makes sense. But a visit to see or at least a call to the dr might be in order.

Stay busy if you can. Make the calls,make the bed, get some things done even if you don't want to. I'm almost certain that if you crawl back into bed, you'll feel worse for not taking care of things.

****{HUGS}}}

gypsytears

Re: Paul...



Enough is enough. Too much even.

tellus

(((((Ro))))) Take care of yourself, hon.

I hope Stone is okay.

Rowan

I made eye doctor appt for daughter for tonight. She has been having difficulty seeing. I made a doc appt for Thurs for me to increase my meds. I changed the sheets. I put on a load of laundry. I made a small pot of jasmine rice for my tummy. I changed the cat litter. I will put out a few decorations this afternoon or tonight for Sarah. We will get groceries tonight. Everything will be okay. I will probably nap again later, but at least I have accomplished a few things.

Thanks for the support guys.

gypsytears

Love and hugs out to you RoRo. Like Jules said... sometimes talking is even too much. I wish we lived closer so we could huddle on the couch with Dexter and some popcorn. I'm sorry, no toe nail clippings! :ghug3

Rowan

Thanks Gyps. Cuddling with the pets and popcorn sounds nice. I would keep my socks on. It has helped to come here and share what's been going on.

I just called my cable company and paid my bill. Gonna cancel service to save some $$.

I'll be back later. Gonna eat and lie down for a little bit then have a bath.

parentrecovers

hey newf, here's how i manage the holidays the past few years. i bake ONE kind of cookie, and make more than one batch. if i do more, it's just because i feel like it. all the girls on my list get the same thing, and all the guys on my list get the same thing. i keep it under $5 each. they get a simple ribbon around them, and get put into one grab bag for handing out. girls are easy. boys get things like socks, flashlights, stocking caps, work gloves - just whatever i can find that's easy and in my $5 price range. maybe a few kids gifts if they aren't old enough for grab bag.

one gift and stocking for mr k, one gift and stocking for daughter. for decorating, i go down to the boxes and choose the top 10 things to put out (we have tons of it, so it's overwhelming...i narrow it down and just appreciate everything but the top 10 for a few minutes from the box). my god damn tree is maybe five foot tall charlie brown and i put a star and lights on it. i put a basket of ornaments underneath, and anybody that feels like sticking one on -can. i only send cards to folks i don't speak with otherwise.

then we bake something for mr k's work group, which gets a bit hectic.... but we have fun with it.

just keep it real simple. folks around you will like it. the folks around me do anyway

hugs, k