Mrs Dowsons Farm Park — Attraction in Ribble Valley

Overall, Christmas at the farm is a good experience. The elf actors are funny for the kids and Mrs Claus is amazing. My girls enjoyed the gingerbread activity, although youngest couldn't eat it as it was too tough, maybe should have a softer option for the babies in the group. The timings were a little off which required some waiting around, not a big deal unless you weren't wrapped up. One of the children had to be given a blanket as she was very cold so I would definitely recommend wrapping up as it's mostly outdoors/under cover but still open to the air. Santa Claus was okay, he read a story and told a few jokes in between, however the humour was a little lost on the children. The picture and sitting with Santa is quite quick and done in front of everyone else waiting. We didn't really like our picture as we didn't get chance to make sure we were all looking in the right direction, which isn't the easiest with young children anyway. The biggest disappointment is that you have to pay a minimum of £18 for the picture, £30 if you wanted the digital to make your own images. I think it is a bit silly, given that we had already paid £70 for the experience for two adults and two children. You were not allowed to take your own picture, which meant that we walked away without a picture of our children with Santa. I can understand charging extra for printed pictures and the professional imagery, but I would expect that you would at least be given the option to take your own picture. I think this should be made clear before booking, as the picture is important to some people. Afterwards, we were able to walk around and see some of the animals, but it was so cold that we didn't stay long. Overall, we were there for 1 hour and 30 mins, including parking, queuing etc. I just want to say that the staff working there are lovely and we could not fault them on anything. If you didn't have to pay for the picture or could take your own, and there was outdoor heaters dotted about in the experience or less waiting in the cold, I would give it a 5. Definitely small improvements needed, but we at least walked away with good memories...

Had a good day at Mrs Dowsons dinosaur day. I'd say the tickets reasonably priced as you get entrance to the dinosaurs as well as the farm park. Animal feed is available on entry for £1 a bag and is the small green pellet type.

The dinosaur experience is basically a show which lasts approximately 20 minutes with people dressed in pretty realistic dinosaur costumes as well as handheld 'baby dinosaur' puppets. It was pretty good 👍

There was a shop selling dinosaur related merchandise which tbh we knew was a rip off. We bought a dinosaur toy for my son and a money box which could be painted for my daughter. We paid two or three times the price for the exact same toys which I saw the day after in Home Bargains 🙄 so yeah, best avoid that if you can.

It was nice to look around the animals, although the small animal barn had no animals in it and there was no small animal feeding. The Ostriches were brilliant and pecked away at us whilst eating their food which the kids found funny.

We enjoyed the cow shed and fed the calves and larger cows.

My only negative has to be the food. There is an inside area selling ice cream and drinks. There was also an outside catering van selling burgers. This was 1, expensive 2, limited 3, not particularly good catering for children and 4, took ages to get our food. I would like to see a children's menu at a much lower cost as well as a choice of smaller snacks and sandwiches. We wasted half of what we got as they are adult sized portions. My son is autistic so there was nothing atall suitable for his food preferences (basic kiddy food). I also felt the cost of the food was too much given the current climate - so smaller options really would be a huge plus point.

The maze and small sandpit areas are also in dire need of some seating, benches or whatever. The larger sandpit and climbing frame has loads of big benches around it but there is nothing, bar a few big rocks on the other side. Bit of a pain for parents to have to either stand or sit on the grass (especially if it's damp).

Overall, I would recommend it, but if you're on a budget, avoid the gift shops and...

Christmas at the Farm 09/12/23 pm: This review is purely for their Christmas at the Farm experience, the Farm itself seemed great, although it was raining sideways so I can't really comment on the Farm, other than the fab indoor play area and the delicious ice-cream. We'll definitely return during Spring/Summer.

The Christmas experience had my 6 year old daughter questioning the authenticity of Santa. After a short wait on arrival, our group was lead by a jolly elf down to the Elf Academy, the kids liked this and learnt the Elf hello. Then onto Mrs Clauses kitchen where they decorated gingerbread, again great, the kids, 5 and 6 loved this. Then they got to collect some reindeer food to take home before being lead into a room with Santa himself. He was sat on a chair with a bench next to him for the kids to sit on. Perfect photo opportunity. He asked the usual questions and told them they could pick any gift they wanted from his workshop next door. The Santa was terrible and me and my husband raised our eyebrows at each other when we saw him, but obviously said nothing. Overall as adults, we felt the experience was ok, not as good as the more expensive Reddish Vale Farm we visited last year, but the kids seemed to love it. However as we drove home, my 6yo daughter said quietly, ”I noticed some things about that Santa” Me: "Oh, what did you notice?" 6yo: He didn't have glasses...and he was really young...and his beard wasn't real" Me: AHH um well...The Clauses are a really big family so maybe Santa asked his cousin to help out...

She seemed to accept this explanation, thankfully!

But she was right, although the "Santa" had glasses but they were rimless, he had a really poor quality fake beard that was flapping away from his face and he was early thirties maybe. I think he really let the show down. If you're going to put on a whole experience, at least get a convincing Santa!

I'd give it 3 stars but I didn't want to diss the Farm as a whole. We can't wait to visit it in Spring, but we certainly won't be going back...