Lapland UK can cost £1,000 or more per family with celebrities and royalty among those queuing to see Santa in the middle of the Berkshire countryside, MailOnline can reveal today.

Britain’s most exclusive festive grotto has the pricetag to match, with more than 100,000 people queuing virtually in March to grab tickets costing up to £179 each for Christmas 2023.

Former hedge fund trader Mike Battle and his primary school teacher wife Alison founded LaplandUK in 2007 because they were unable to find their four young sons a quality Father Christmas experience in the UK. 

The festive attraction, the biggest of its kind in Europe, will reportedly make more than £20million this year after selling out.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children have been among the well-heeled visitors to the Whitmoor Forest site near Ascot – just 15 minutes drive from their home in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The Beckhams, the Rooneys, Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Tom Hardy and their families are among the host of A-listers who have been seen at the ‘4.5-hour immersive Santa experience’. 

This bill shows what it sets back one family of five to attend LaplandUK this December, with tickets costing £179 per adult and child at peak times

David and Brooklyn Beckham on their visit with the family to LaplandUK, Britain’s most exclusive Christmas attraction

Cruz and Harper Beckham listen to Santa

Sir Elton John and David Furnish with former hedge fund trader Mike Battle and his primary school teacher wife Alison, who founded LaplandUK in 2007

Actress Liv Tyler pictured meeting Father Christmas at LaplandUK

The Rooneys with their boys at LaplandUK, which has also been visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales with George, Charlotte and Louis

Boris and Carrie Johnson’s son Wilf meets Santa and posts his letter at the immersive Christmas experience, which takes four and a half hours

Girls Aloud member Kimberley Walsh is among the stars who have gone for some Christmas magic this year. Abbey Clancy pulled on a Santa hat as she enjoyed it with husband Peter Crouch and their four children while Joe Swash, Stacey Solomon and their brood were there on Saturday.

But the extraordinary cost is grating with some visitors, with some claiming it may now be better value to get a last-minute deal to visit the real Lapland in the Arctic Circle for a few days than head to Berkshire for half a day. Several have said this year that that ‘magic is gone’ after getting ‘hyped up’ by celebrities and on social media.

One mother who went this year said: ‘We literally paid nearly £200 to see Santa, ice skate and decorate a gingerbread man’.

Tripadvisor is packed with reviews calling LaplandUK ‘the most magical place ever’ ‘and the ‘greatest Christmas experience in the world’.

But the website also reveals signs of dissent from some parents and grandparents about the cost of taking a family there. With many tickets approaching £200 each, the final bill with booking fee and other costs is approaching £1,000 for a family of four and well into four-figures for larger groups.

Several families took to Tripadvisor to say that after returning year after year, but some have claimed it has ‘lost its magic’ and they will not be booking for 2024.

One visitor wrote this month: ‘What a waste of money, and gone downhill, with management that do not give a stuff about customer relationship, 2 hotdogs and 1 portion of cold chips £27, three small mulled wines and a small hot chocolate £24. Not enough tables to sit on to eat the cold food, and when we asked we were told well you just have to go and find an empty one’. 

She added: ‘Over 1 hour queue in a thick muddy path to see the main event Santa, but this year it was more like the elf show, with the elf in our hut taking over the main event, the visit with Santa, lasted all of 5 minutes, so very disappointing this year, save your money and go to the real Lapland so much nicer and professionally run, with Husky sleigh rides and reindeer rides through a real snow covered forest, all I can say is greed has got the better of you this year, and stop sending me emails, I don’t want a letter from Santa for £25.00! We as a family will not be back’. 

Abbey Clancy and her family got into the festive spirit on December 1 by welcoming their Elf on the Shelf back into their home

Myleene Klass got into the festive spirit as she donned a Santa hat while enjoying a day out with fiancé Simon Motson and son Apollo at LaplandUK

Sam Faiers, 32, cut a casual figure as she stepped out with her family to LaplandUK at Whitmoor Forest in Ascot on Sunday (clockwise L-R: Sam’s son Edward, 19 months, Sam, her boyfriend Paul Knightley, 35, Paul, seven, and Rosie, five)

Making memories: Ashley James couldn’t contain her smile as she enjoyed a festive day out at LaplandUK with partner Tommy Andrews and their daughter Ada 

Recent Tripadvisor reviews on LaplandUK. There are many five-star reviews but for these visitors they were not happy with the cost or experience

Another said: ‘Santa also messed up by telling my son it was his second time there when in fact it was his 5th.

‘The magic is going! Worst year yet and won’t be returning. Expect to spend a small fortune, most of the village is shops selling stuff…. Sweet shop, bauble shop and main shop! The rest are food and drink! For me and my son, just on food and drink we spent £70!’.

A third wrote: ‘Disappointed. Complete waste of money. Don’t need to spend almost £500 for your children to have a magical time. Plenty of other places I would have preferred to have taken my children for a magical day for a fraction of the price. Social media has massively hyped up UK Lapland. Would never waste my money on this again’.

On arrival guests are presented with their own ‘Elf Passport’ – allowing them to travel along the elven pathways and through a magical door into a snowy Lapland.

The children and their grown-ups will head to the toy factory to help the elves build toys, there are gingerbread decorating classes in Mother Christmas’ Kitchen. 

Alison Battle, left, and her husband Mike, the millionaire founders of LaplandUK

The menu at LaplandUK – visitors have said that hot chocolate can cost between £4.50, £6,50 and £8.50, depending on its size and if it contains Baileys

Guests can also meet huskies, reindeer before an audience with Father Christmas. Other attractions include an ice skating rink, cafes and restaurants, a post office and sweet shop and a theatre where there is a 90-minute show. 

With food from home banned from the site, visitors splash out around £6.50 for a hot chocolate, or at least £10 for pizza, burgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese and chips. It even costs £3 to feed Santa’s reindeers.

Cash is also outlawed so Jingles are the official currency of Lapland – with an exchange rate of one Jingle to £1, handed to excited children and parents in velvet bags when they arrive.

But despite the eye-watering cost, many still love it – and LaplandUK still has a plethora of five-star reviews.

One family who visited over the weekend said: ‘Absolutely fantastic, tickets expensive but completely worth it. Magical experience from start to finish. Would recommend to anyone’.

Another convert said: ‘We had such an amazing experience and a special memory that will be remembered for a lifetime. Every part from start to finish was phenomenal. The detail and level of work that goes into each part is literally out of this world. Truly unbelievable’.

A third said: ‘The whole experience from start to finish is put together so well. It is so magical & worth every penny. The organisers have been very meticulous with their planning. My little boy loved every second & so did I. I was emotional at times watching how magical it was for him. Absolutely amazing. Will 100% be back next year’.

Lapland UK is based on the original storybooks of founders Mike and Alison Battle and invites families to discover how an ‘elven civilisation’ celebrates Christmas

Lapland UK in Ascot, Berkshire

Father Christmas and his wife are waiting for guests through November and December

Guests can enjoy some ice skating and a number of other activities

The LaplandUK website describes the visit as a ‘unique, magical adventure into Christmas with Elves and Reindeer and fun activities is suitable for the whole family.

Its website says said: ‘In the depths of The Enchanted Forest, a secret magical world awaits’.

Its owners promise families they will ‘step through a secret doorway into the mythical homeland of Father Christmas – Lapland. Bringing together the scale and detail of film production, with the believability of theatre, we immerse you in our original storytelling world to create family memories that will last a lifetime’.

Although branded expensive by some critics, there are activities included in the admission price, although some joke that the only thing that is actually free is the parking.

Each child also gets a husky soft toy and a toy factory toy secretly handed to parents to place under the tree on Christmas Day. Each booking gets one free picture with Santa.

MailOnline has asked LaplandUK to comment.