It is one of Greater Manchester's biggest and most popular places to visit Santa in his grotto. And this year, the Trafford Centre has gone back to a traditional style with its Grotto Experience.

In recent years, the shopping mall has hosted a series of big name character themes for its grottos - like Paddington Bear last year, and in previous years Peter Rabbit. But for 2023, visitors can expect a much more traditional Santa's Grotto experience.

There was criticism about the Trafford Centre grotto last year from families, who felt they were "rushed" through the Paddington Experience. Some parents felt the pricing was too high and a "rip off".

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Well, those parents may want to look away now, because the price is even HIGHER this year. It's £25 for children, compared to £15 last year, while adults must pay £7.50 for entry - up from £5 last year.

I was invited down on the opening night of The Grotto: Dear Santa experience, to see what it was like with my two young sons - aged 8 and aged 3. And I have to admit I was pretty surprised by that price hike for kids, as you're certainly not getting £10 more of an experience than you did last year.

It's all based inside former shop units at the far end of Peel Avenue, next to the Dolphin fountains. The entrance is made more festive this year by what was billed in pre-publicity as a "mini Christmas Market" outside.

I woudn't get your hopes up too much for this - it's basically three wooden huts. Although it does make a pleasant backdrop and you can get hot chocolates from £5 and brownies and blondies from hit bakers Finch Bakery from £4 a slice while you wait for the Grotto should you wish.

There was also a Face Painting stall in one of the huts when we attended creating quite spectacular festive looks for kids.

We had a booking for 5.15pm and were told to join the queue outside the Grotto, which is behind some lavish green velvet curtains attended by elves. But it felt like we waited longer in the queue outside than we did inside the grotto itself.

It does say online the "immersive experience" takes around 30 minutes, but we were in and out within 20 minutes (i have the timestamps on my photos) so I'm not sure why our timeslot went so quickly.

Some parents and carers may feel that it's actually better to make it quick than have to hang around in a festive wonderland for too long, and in that case you'll love it. But there may be others who think that for £25 per child and £7.50 per adult, you'd expect something a bit more than 20 minutes.

Once we were invited through the curtains, we headed into Candy Cane Land which looks great, and kids are going to love this bit. There's "snow" all around the ground that they are encouraged to pick up by the merry elves inside - and my two boys absolutely loved it.

Kids are then invited to take a dinky seat and to write a letter to Santa. The letters are already pre-printed, with spaces for your young ones to fill in their necessary details.

Naturally, my eight-year-old happily filled his letter in, but for my three year old we had to do it for him so this element was a bit lost on him. Although he did cheerfully report for the "What I want for Christmas section" that he wanted: "A stretchy whale".

You can take as many photos as you like in here. The elves were also keen to take family shots on your phone as well.

We then queued to walk through the "Enchanted Forest" which in reality was a really short path with a few snow-covered trees. Here we were greeted by a chief Elf who engaged with the kids in some witty banter and asked a few questions about ther letter to Santa.

We were then ushered into a quirky Santa mail room by another elf. This bit was particularly magical, she talked to the kids about all the preparations the elves and santa are making, and engaged the kids in a fun little game for a couple of minutes.

This is where they also got to send off their letter to santa through a little postbox.

Then - the big moment - a door swung open and we met the big man himself. I remember last year people complaining that Santa was not, perhaps, looking his best at the grotto, but there were no complaints from me on that front this year.

Santa was looking in really fine festive form and had great Santa banter as he met my kids. He knew all about what they wanted for Christmas this year, talking to my eldest about his love for Lego and how he could go on to become an engineer and talking to the younger one about animals.

They then posed for photos on little stools set up around Santa in his rather fabulous sitting room with a massive Christmas tree. You have a professional photo taken inside the Grotto, but I wasn't stopped from taking my own on my phone as well (as seen above).

Which is definitely a good thing, because when we got outside to the "buy your photos desk" we were informed that our room was malfunctioning so they'd have to email our pictures at a later date. So I couldn't buy the £10 professional print which was disappointing - but then it was the opening night so I'm sure those gremlins will be fixed by the time it reopens to the public next week.

The verdict

We enjoyed the whole "Dear Santa" letter writing experience - but it also poses a problem. By asking kids to write what they want for Christmas, sending them in to meet the big fella who then talks about said items, and then giving them a present, what do you think is going to happen next?

Yes, there was a meltdown when the youngest opened his present and it was NOT a "stretchy whale" that he had requested. Naturally, my older boy understood why his gift was not the Lego he wrote on the letter, but for a three year old it's probably a bit harder to understand that this is not how the whole letter to Santa thing works.

However, what I would say is that the presents were of a decent quality this year, and were beautifully wrapped up (unlike last year at the Paddington Grotto). If you can get your kid to NOT unwrap the gift as soon as they leave the grotto, then well done to you, you are definitely parents of the year.

So, was it worth it? Well, for a family of four the price weighs in at £65 which I personally think is pretty steep for what was essentially a fairly quick walk through to see Santa experience.

But it was a decent quality age-appropriate gift for each kid, probably worth around £10 each I'd say, while Santa was also on form and the rooms all looked pretty magical. There's also the convenience of the location for many families - it's free parking of course and ties in well with a festive visit to the shoppping centre.

And, let's not forget the all-important kid verdict. My two boys absolutely loved it - particuarly the snow in Candy Cane Land, and they loved meeting the Elves and the mini adventure in the post room where they delivered their letters and were set a cute little challenge to find a golden envelope.

My eldest even said it was the "best grotto ever." And what price can you put on your little ones' happiness hey folks?

Dates, times and ticket prices

The Grotto: Dear Santa experience is now running at the Trafford Centre. November dates are November 23, 24, 25, 26 and 30. Then in December it will be open daily from December 1 through to December 24 inclusive with sessions from 10am through to 7.45pm.

Tickets for the grotto are £25 for kids and £7.50 for adults plus booking fees when you book online at the Trafford Centre website here. Babies under 12 months go free - but won't get a present from Santa.

There are two "Whispering Winter Sessions" for those children and families who prefer a quieter session on Thursday 23rd November (1:30pm – 8pm) and Monday 4th December (1:30pm – 8pm).