Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Christmas attraction closes after children leave in tears
Visitors complained that the festive wonderland was nothing but “a joke” and the Simon Cowell elf was “pointless”
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen promised visitors that his version of a winter wonderland would “push the envelope”, with a “sensational selection of woodland”, but the attraction has been forced to close after hundreds of complaints.
The Magical Journey attraction opened for the first time on Saturday, but was quickly criticised on social media for “ruining the magic of Christmas”.
Guests were charged £22.50 to visit the festive park, situated at the Belfry golf club, in Wishaw.
Some children allegedly left in tears after the disappointing experience.
Ben Harvey also voiced his disappointment: “There is nothing for kids to do, the elf who is meant to be Simon Cowell is completely pointless. The advertised pictures are very different from what you see or do, in the not so magical journey!”
The company has strongly denied claims of a drinking, smoking Father Christmas - asserting that the comment was a "mickey take".
The Magical Journey Experience has since issued a statement, saying that it will close for three days from today until Tuesday 25 November in order to “implement changes and improvements to the experience”. The company blamed “torrential rain effecting the lighting and sound”.
“It is important that we deliver the high quality experience you are expecting and hope to reopen with improvements and changes having been made,” read the statement.
A spokesperson for Llewelyn-Bowen could not be reached.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments