Saturday, 16 November 2013

REVIEW: Santas Magical Kingdom 2013

Last night (Friday 15th November) I was reminded how much I love Christmas.
We were surrounded by early Christmas festivities and everyone young and old were brought into a magical kingdom. 

I truly can't believe where the year has gone for me! Feels like just yesterday we had Christmas. As they say - time flies when you're having a ball and this year my little baby girl graced my life. 

This year marks a special one for Dan & I as it's our first Christmas as a family. Although Niahbella is too young to understand what's going on, we are engaging her in as much of the festivities as possible making it special for us. It does being her some joy as well being so alert now and sending herself cross eyed as she looks at everything. 
As we arrived for Santas Magical Kingdom last night at Burnley Oval in Melbourne there was a big crowd eagerly waiting to get through the opening. The crowd mustered in pretty quickly surprised with the staff there moving everyone at a fantastic quick speed.




Once you entered the big white tents your childhood as a kid (for those that are older) come into play again. Your eyes are uncontrollable as you try to look at the amazing detail put into Santas Magical Kingdom.
Santas Magical Kingdoms first tent took the attraction of:
4 rides inside the tent, giant slide outside, Ferris wheel, sideshows, meet and greets with a reindeer, a penguin and a fairy, fake snow, a sleigh, story telling with Mrs. Clause, gingerbread making, meet and greet Santa and get a photo, Santa letter writing, crafting were all on the big list of activities you could do in the main tent. 

At 8pm our presence was required for a circus performance in the second tent. 
I love the circus (this would be my second time ever attending a circus performance) and was not disappointed at all - I did find that the circus acts were basically all that you would be able to see going to a Silvers Circus outside of SMK but I didn't mind watching it all over again. 
The lights went down and the circus acts were about to start we were greeted by Santa who sent out his Christmas wishes. 
Followed on was acts of:
The Globe of Death - 
Dominik Gasser, Ricardo Costa-De-Araujo & Jean Michel Lyelzkorozky Cardona make up our 3 Phoenix Riders who speed around inside of a 3 1/2 meter diameter metal globe. Missing not only each other but the brave Jessica Dobson by mere millimetres, they will certainly test your nerves while showcasing their expertise.


 Silvers Magic-
Be mystified by Simon and his beautiful assistants as they present the latest in Las Vegas style illusions.

Football Dogs-
The incredible AFL playing footy dogs are the latest high impact sensation at Silvers Circus. The Boxer dog is naturally athletic, coiled like a spring and ready to deliver the most awe-inspiring AFL experience. So... Bring along your colours and cheer on your favourite team like you've never done before. And please... A little respect for the umpires Michael Harrison & Anand Gasser! 

German Wheel- 
Emily performs breathtaking feats in her German Wheel. Her beauty & daring go hand in hand with her broad talents & tricks.





Diablo Act-
An amazing circus performer who uses a diablo in a crazy insane way that has you mind boggled at the speed and routine of his act.





My youngest sister trying her luck on a sideshow game
After the circus we were sent back to the main first tent where we could continue our adventures up until 10pm. 
This is where we took the time to get into the attractions. 
All the rides were included in your ticket price so no money needed to be spent on rides. 
I was really disappointed in the amount it costed to play the sideshow games though at $5 a pop for one shot at most of them was a bit rich for my likings. 





The fake snow set up with a sleigh was gorgeous - the scenery was flawless and was a great opportunity for photos! 
This section of SMK had me smiling at all the kids who were so over the moon 'snow' had been brought there!
Gingerbread decorating was invited for all ages to take part in. 

The meet and greets were there for photo opportunities as well as a cuddle from the children, they were handing out jelly beans which I thought could have been candy canes to match the theme. 

All in all I had a great night out celebrating and getting into the Christmas season with some of my family- Niahbella sent herself in to a head shaking big eyed little baby last night as she looked onto all the colors (Red being a strong color - we have found is a color to really attract her vision), all the lights, all the action!! 

Tuckered out little Niahbella
Upon leaving the carpark was very dark and hard to see but the security staff were lovely! We had a staff member ask to help us with the pram as it was getting a bit stuck and bogged in the mud and bark. He then made sure we could see walking down the back path to Yarra Blvd where our car was parked as he offered to walk down with his light. 
It's not often you get security who really go above & beyond their job but this security guard - you were a treasure! 



There was only 1 Parents Room which contained a 2 seater couch and a 1 change table at the event which was quite small but this was practically the same at the Royal Melbourne Show when it came to the parents rooms so maybe that's the normal? But I do think they could of had 2 Parents Rooms as I don't think it was big enough for more then say 2 women breastfeeding and there prams to be in the Parents Rooms at one time. 

Here are some key things to help you on your SMK visit:


  • If you are driving parking is free on site but is very limited so get there early if you want to park there - when we arrived carpark was full so we parked behind down in Yarra Blvd which was also free parking after 5:30pm I believe. 
  • If you are catching the train it's about a 10 minute short walk from the station to SMK.
  • When you arrive have a look around - take time to go on rides first, then see the circus act and then after circus take part in the activities of games, gingerbread decorating etc so you don't have to carry everything around from the start of event.
  • All seats within the second tent for the circus are good seats so it doesn't really matter where you sit inside the tent but I got in early as I love ringside seats to be closer to the action. 

The detail that went into SMK was just fantastic!! I don't think they could have done a more breath taking event. 
I can truly say it was a Magical experience. 
To see more pictures and even a video check my instagram - http://instagram.com/nakkers20 - be sure to follow me!

For more information and to book tickets visit: www.santasmagicalkingdom.com.au
For quick ticket access visit: Santas Magical Kingdom Tickets

**all writing in italics is as stated act details from Silvers Circus
All photos used are my own apart from first top Santas Magical Kingdom photo**


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