My daughter Phoebe turned 7 a week before Christmas. She really is at such a lovely age right now, and I was so conscious of soaking up every wee moment of Christmas magic this year. Kids don’t stay kids for long anymore and with that thought in the back of my mind, I did something that I don’t normally do … I booked a surprise trip!

This kind of stunt is usually something that my husband, Matt would do. A few years ago he’d organised a surprise trip to Disneyland Paris for us all and I had absolutely no idea about it. A giant, helium Minnie Mouse appeared on Christmas morning with instructions for Phoebe to take part in a scavenger hunt around the house. At the end of the hunt, Phoebe had to swirl her wand and say ‘bippety, boppity, boo’ to the TV, after which came a personalised video from Mickey Mouse asking Phoebe would she like to visit him and Minnie in Disneyland?! I was in pieces, bawling my eyes out at the whole thing. Matt had also booked us into a fab wee apartment in Paris, we’d be spending a day in Disneyland and a day in the city. The excitement and surprise was simply perfect! And this wasn’t the first time I’d cried on Christmas morning either! There have been a few lovely surprises over the years, so I thought it was about time that I had a wee go at this ‘surprising’ malarky myself.

About a week into December I’d seen someone post about Elf Town on Instagram. After a quick mooch around their Instagram and website I got the notion to take Phoebs - but there was one problem - Elf Town was in Galway. I google-mapped the journey - it would take 3 and a half hours. We couldn’t possibly do a return journey on the same day. We’d have to stay over in Galway for a night too. As the cogs began to turn in my head, I checked the last remaining tickets for Elf Town. December is a crazy busy month for Matt, for us all in fact! Phoebs and I didn’t finish in school until midday on Wednesday 22nd, leaving just Thursday-Friday (Christmas Eve) as possible days for the trip.

Thankfully there were some tickets left for Elf Town on the Thursday at tea-time. I wasn’t keen on cancelling my hair appointment on Thursday morning (I’d made it weeks beforehand), so I checked travel times again, booking tickets that would give us enough time to travel down and stop for food on route. I checked a couple of nearby hotels, settling on Menlo Park Hotel after we were offered a reduced rate on one of their lovely Christmas packages. Our room would have it’s own Christmas Tree and some hot chocolates, Santa hats, bath bombs and crackers - I knew Miss Phoebe would love it.

Matt knew only some select details about our trip, he was going to need to be the driver after all! We agreed not to tell Phoebe anything about the trip, keeping it as a complete surprise until we were actually going. I’m so glad that we did this, because as we neared the start of the Christmas holidays, covid cases were rising and I was certain that one of us would catch it, or that restrictions in the south would stop our trip from going ahead. Unfortunately my sister tested positive for covid, but thankfully our house remained covid free and we got the green light to go-go-go to Galway!

We told Phoebe that were going on a drive, having secretly packed our overnight bag into the boot of the jeep. As the drive lengthened we told Phoebe that we were going to a special place that was far away. After a time we told her that we’d be going to Galway and she was quite content. About an hour from Elf Town we stopped at Applegreen for McDonalds and that’s when we finally revealed the first surprise to Phoebs. The excitement in the jeep immediately ramped up a notch, growing and growing by the minute as we drove into the car park at Elf Town. We’d made good time on the journey and it didn’t feel as long as I was worried it might feel.

At our allotted time, we made our way to the ticket booth, collecting Phoebe’s elf passport, a map and our coded lanyard for Santa. When pre-booking our tickets we had to fill in some details for Santa to read out to Phoebe. He would mention her birthday and how he loved her unicorn bouncy castle. I couldn’t wait to see her wee face!

By this stage we were all feeling a buzz of excitement about what lay ahead. What followed was 2 hours of Elf magic and fun! I don’t want to give too much away in case you want to visit in the future but I will say that it was worth it - worth the money and worth making the trip. Our highlights were Jack Frost’s house, decorating gingerbread cookies with Mrs Claus and meeting the big man himself.

Santa took time to really engage with Phoebe and we never felt at all rushed. Phoebe was so shocked when he mentioned her party and absolutely delighted when he checked the ‘Nice List’ finding her name on there. To top it all off, he gave her a special Santa token that she could spend at the toy shop on whatever toy she liked. Phoebe was made up!

We left Elf Town with Phoebe skipping her way to the jeep, her new toy swinging off her arm. Tomorrow would be Christmas Eve and there was magic in the air that night! Phoebe had no idea there were even more surprises to come!

Our little lady was preoccupied by her toy in the back of the jeep as we made the 10 minute journey to Menlo Park Hotel. It was only when the jeep engine stopped that she asked where we were. I turned around from the front and said that since it was an awfully long journey home, maybe we could stay over in a hotel for the night. Oh that wee face! Phoebe looked excitedly out of the window to the hotel and back towards us in the front of the jeep before worriedly exclaiming that she didn’t have her pyjamas! I assured her that I had already packed her pyjamas in the boot of the jeep. She smiled a sweet little smile before her smile turned to a frown as she asked ‘but what about bunny and teddy?’ Again I reassured her that they too were packed safely in the boot of the jeep without her knowing. Safe in the knowledge that her ‘essentials’ were packed we bundled out of the car and into the hotel.

Despite a few previous hotel stays, Phoebe didn’t remember ever staying in one, so she was very excited indeed. Not only was the hotel stay a surprise, but she had no idea of the extra treats that awaited her inside our room! Phoebs opened the door to the room, excitedly spotting all the lovely little extras. She ran happily from one thing to the next, admiring her ‘very own bed’, the Christmas tree, busy bag, hot chocolates etc and after settling in, we made our way down for some food. I enjoyed two complimentary cocktails and we were more than ready for our beds that night! It had been quite the day!

Christmas Eve morning came early (as it usually does with children!) and Phoebe entertained herself on the iPad while Matt snoozed and I finished my book with a cuppa. After a leisurely start, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast before packing up our belongings.

I had a message to do before shop closing time in The Quays in Newry so we calculated our journey time home before popping into Galway for a coffee for the road. I’m so glad that we did take the opportunity to go into town, even if just for a quick peep. I hopped out of the jeep to go get our coffees, but got a little side-tracked by the Aran Sweater Market! I couldn’t resist a quick jaunt inside, picking up a lovely scarf for Matt and a little memento of our Christmas trip - a woolly sheep for our tree!

Thankfully our coffee shop was close by and I grabbed two flat whites before hot footing it back to the jeep. Coffeewerk and Press was as cute as I expected it to be and the coffee was delicious. Galway, we’ll definitely be back!

Tummies full from breakfast, caffeinated and content after a successful surprise trip, we put ‘driving home for Christmas’ on the playlist and made our way home to get ready for Santa’s big arrival.

We don’t usually go away at Christmastime, but it was really lovely treat indeed. We arrived home feeling festive and grateful for magic memories made together.

If you would like any more info about Elf Town or Menlo Park Hotel, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Although this blog is a review of our experience, it isn’t sponsored or affiliated in any way. We did receive a discount on our hotel stay, but there was no expectation of a blog review. Everything written here is an honest review of our trip. We’d definitely recommend!