Santa Enchanted Castle Enniscorthy 2018
We have been going to see Santa in Enniscorthy Castle for the past 2 years and it has always been magical. It blows us away, the attention to detail they put into each tour. Their magical characters are from the Rathnure Panto Society which includes both children and adults.
The cost of Santa enchanted castle in Enniscorthy
Children(all ages):€20
Off-Peak: €15
Big People: €10 (includes Festive Snack)
Santa Photo pack: €10
Tour Duration: approx 60 minutes
You can buy your tickets here
The Christmas Disneyland of Ireland in an Irish Castle
The first year we went to the Santa enchanted castle for Christmas 2018, there was a great mixture of characters like Charlie and the chocolate factory, beauty and the beast, ice age, frozen, Mrs Clause with her vintage sweet shop, The big man himself-Santa along with many many more Disney Characters, including the amazing Minnie and Mickey Mouse. It was like been back in Euro Disney again.
This Santa experience is for any age, we all really enjoyed it, from my 73-year-old mother to my two-year-old little daughter.
If I had to describe this Santa Experience in one word, I would have to say “Magical“.
Parking at the Santa Enchanted Castle in Enniscorthy
There is no onsite parking at Enniscorthy Castle itself but there is street parking nearby. We parked at the Abbey square, which was free at the time we were there.
There is also parking in the following places:
- The old Dunnes car park (5-minute walk)
- Abbey Square (3-minute walk)
- Riverside Park Hotel (7-minute walk)
Arriving at our Santa enchanted castle experience
Try to arrive early and enjoy the waiting area in the castle. We were greeted by elves, who will check your tickets and hang up your coats.
Tip: The castle is warm throughout the Santa experience, so I would advise you to give your coat in the waiting area, as its one less thing to carry.
You will receive a special coin to spend at the Mrs. Clause shop near the end of your Santa experience. There are elves doing face paintings for the kids. There is also a giant sleigh where you can take pictures in.
There was also a gingerbread house and spiderman was in a little room where you could go to a meet him. (Ourlittlehiker was scared but Nannyhiker went in to get her photo taken with him :) )
The Santa Tour that keeps on giving
We got so many treats and surprises in each room we went into, like the lollypops, biscuits, nuggets of honeycomb, ice pops, sweets, juices, teas, coffees and your present from Santa.
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and Micky & Minnie Mouse
As you walk through the different rooms and magical chambers of the castle you will see a different theme in each room, the first room was Charlie and the chocolate factory where you could meet willie Wonka, get some lollypops, hop inside the Wonka machine and you also have a chance to meet cinderella. Then Minnie and Mickey arrived and played a little video for us and we all got a chance to get our pictures with them.
We then walked through a little hallway with music from the little mermaid, “under the sea” the fish were lit up with UV lights and bubbles were blowing everywhere. Everyone was super excited and very amused
Winnie the Pooh & Tigger Too
We walked up the spiral castle stairs to another level where we could hear elves snoring. We saw them asleep in bunk beds. We then entered a woodland themed room where we saw a sad Tigger because it was Winnie the poohs birthday but he was hibernating in a tree so we had to sing happy birthday to wake him up. We all got a lump of yummy honeycomb to celebrate his birthday.
Beauty & the Beast
We then wandered along into the Beauty and the beast room. It was like stepping into the cartoon especially with the music playing in the background. One part of this room was the library scene with the candlesticks, Mrs pots and a giant “chip” cup that we could sit into. We then met the beautiful snow-white. As we walked around the room we saw “the Beast” up on the balcony. We walked up the steps to meet him, I was so surprised that Ourlittlehiker was not scared and actually really loved him. Beauty was in another section. All the children were then asked to sit down at a big banquet table just like in the movie and we got to enjoy digestive biscuits with the Beauty and the Beast.
Ice Age and Frozen
The next room we entered was a scene from Ice Age and Frozen. The whole room was white with the ice castle and it looked like it was covered with snow. We got to meet the characters and got ice pops from the characters.
Alice in Wonderland, Mrs.Claus sweet shop and Santa Clause
We moved into another area of the Castle which was like an elf school full of games/puzzles. There was a teacher here and loads of elves and lovely Christmas music. Two Paw Patrol dogs came out and Ourlittlehiker had a great time dancing with them. I got a little recording of it that will be great to show her when she’s older. I have some videos clips saved to my highlights on my Instagram page @ourlittlehiker
We then went into a room which was the last “waiting area” for Santa. We made it to Mrs Claus vintage sweet shop. We handed in our special Santa coins and got to pick a lovely bag of sweets and the adults could have teas/coffees or juices, The shop was the exact shop they used in the Film Brooklyn which was very cool to see.
While we waited for our names to be called to see Santa, we did some colouring in and listened to stories read by Alice in wonderland and the elves. The time flew by and we got to have lovely chats with Mrs. Claus, which was so nice, she had a great amount of time for everyone in the group.
Finally, we got called to meet the big man himself, Santa Claus. He knew exactly what Ourlittlehiker wanted from him and he also knew she has been up 29 of Ireland’s highest mountains.
Note: when booking this, you can write a little info about your child like their hobbies, pet names, what they want from Santa. It’s a lovely personal touch.
Santa was so nice and the magic selfie mirror said we were on the nice list, thank god for that. We received our photograph when we left Santas room and we made our way back down the stairs to the start to get our coats.
Santas enchanted castle 2019
Again, we were so excited to see what was in store for this year at the Santa experience, I brought my little nephew with us, as well as Babyhiker who was in my tummy last year when we went.
When we entered the castle there was a Santa sleigh as well as Aladdin’s Cave, cut-outs of Aladin and Princess Jazmine were here, where you could pop your head through, there was also a little post office, and a sleeping elf. We each got coins for a special surprise in Mrs.Claus’ Icecream Palour (it was icecream, yes ice cream for everyone. AMAZING.) and we also got a Christmas star decoration to protect us from the evil snow queen.
Toy Story
In the first room, it was like we stepped into toy story where there were large toys in their boxes not moving, the elf told us that they won’t come alive once the parents were there but if we all truly believed they would come alive and so they did, there was great excitement.
The Elfport & Security
We had to go through the elf port Security to make sure we were not working for the evil snow queen. We watched a little video in this room and then we lined up and put our hand into a security scanner. If the light turned green, we were safe to go through to the next level, luckily it didn’t turn red so all the boys and girls could continue on. This was such a fun part of the adventure, the room was like an airport with suitcases and elves.
We then went up the Castle spiral stairs to the Elf workshop, where noisy elves working were away on toys and Santa’s sleigh. We got to see the very first Santa Sleigh here before Santa modified it and made it bigger.
The Lion King
We then went into a dark room, filled with cardboard cutouts light up with scenes from the Lion King, along with music from the Circle of Life.
The greatest Show
We walked into another room which was made to like a theatre. Dorty was in a Hot Air ballon, there was a wicked witch and a popcorn machine. We all sat down and the witch put out pots of popcorn for us to wait for the show to begin. Great music was played into the room, such as the lion king, baby shark, superheroes, the greatest showman just to name a few.
Ice-Age & Frozen
In this Ice room we saw the characters from the Ice age movie and the princesses from frozen, who put on a great show with the Ice Queen, it even started to snow in here.
Mrs Claus Ice-cream Parlor
Mrs Claus gave everyone ice-cream in exchange for their coins in her ice-cream parlour (this was in the same place as last year’s sweet shop). Mrs Clause helpers served the icecream while Mrs Claus herself gave you a choice of syrup and sprinkles. Everyone got an ice cream even the grownups, which I thought was great. After our ice cream cone, we coloured in while we waited for Santa and the kids got to sit into the Ice queens carriage.
Santa and his Magic Mirror
Santa was lovely, he chatted to the kids and knew all about them, they got a toy and found out they were on the nice list. We had our picture taking with the magic selfie mirror and moments later we received our picture and were on our way.
We are already looking forward to Santa enchanted castle 2020
Sensitive Sensory-Friendly Santa Tour in Ireland 2020
There are specific dates allocated for specially designed tours to help support children with autism and other physical, developmental and sensory needs.
Overnight Santa sleepover experience in Ireland 2020
We have not stayed overnight here, as we only live 20 minutes drive away but there are some great options if you are interested in enjoying an overnight Santa sleepover.
Both Hotels below have a package that includes an overnight stay with a full Irish breakfast, Tickets to Santas Enchanted Castle with a free photo pack from the Magic selfie mirror along with other little Christmas treats. You can check out more from links below:
Riverside Park Hotel and Leisure Club https://www.riversideparkhotel.com/santas-enchanted-castle.html
Traceys Hotel and Slaney suites https://www.treacyshotel.com/things-to-do/santas-enchanted-castle/
Family-Friendly Walks In Wexford
If you happen to stay the night for the Santa sleepover and want some fresh air you can try some of these beautiful Irish Historic 1798 rebellion walks- Vinegar Hill and Ourlert Hill.
Vinegar Hill is a 7 min drive from Enniscorthy Town (2.9km in the car) – It is a Short stroll with lovely views.
Oulart Hill is a 14 min drive from Enniscorthy (13.2km in the car) – You can do a short walk from the car park up to the Tulach a’tSolais monument or you could do a longer walk called The Jean Kennedy Smith Walk, you can read about it here https://www.ourlittlehiker.com/oulart-hill-wexford-walk/
The best Santa Experience In Co.Wexford
We have enjoyed so many Santa visits all over the Wexford area and this Santas Enchanted castle experience is by far the best in our opinion.
Review of Santas enchanted castle experience in Co.Wexford
Overall we really enjoyed every minute of both our Santa experiences in 2018 and 2019. Here is a list of why we love it so much:
- Its all indoors, so once you arrive it doesn’t matter what the weather is like outside
- Most of the cast are from Rathnure Pantamine so they were great characters full of enthusiasm.
- They had so much time for you, we never felt rushed and had loads of time to take pictures, etc
- You get a little treat in each room that you enter
- The attention to detail was incredible, a lot of thought and effort has gone into this Santa experience
Just to take note: You cant bring your pram/buggies, we didn’t mind this as we have been using our ergo baby carrier while hiking, so if you have a baby bring your sling/carrier with you, as there is a lot of stairs in the castle.
Enniscorthy Castle is wheelchair accessible as there is a lift to each floor.
There is a charge for babies, €20 or €15 for off-peak. Our Babyhiker was 10months so as well as getting her present from Santa, she also received a Santas enchanted castle bib which was a lovely keepsake.
In 2019 I dressed the girls in matching Christmas outfits that I bought in Penneys. In 2018 I bought a beautiful Minnie Mouse dress from the online Disney Store, I also got her name on it. https://www.shopdisney.co.uk/
Santas Enchanted Castle 2019 Santas Enchanted Castle 2020
Tickets for this year’s magical Santa experience will go on sale later in August 2020. You can go and explore many chambers of the enchanted castle in the Enniscorthy Castle. It is a wonderful family experience that is not to be missed, you will have memories that will last a lifetime. Enjoy xx
