Visitors to the Crieff Hydro Winter Wonderland say they have been left “disappointed” and “let down” by the Christmas activities on offer this year.
Several negative reviews have been posted online since it opened this month.
Crieff Hydro insists overall feedback from visitors to its Santa’s grotto, ice skating and train ride has been “extremely positive”.
However, of the 60-plus reviews left on the site of ticket vendor itison, a third have given the experience just one star out of five.
Only 20% of people have given the Winter Wonderland a five-star review.
The event has an overall rating of 2.6 out of five – with more than 3,000 tickets sold for each of the activities.
Reviews compare Crieff Hydro Winter Wonderland to Glasgow Willy Wonka experience
One visitor claimed the festive train ride, which promised an interactive journey through a “glittering winter wonderland”, would give the ill-fated Glasgow Willy Wonka experience “a run for its money”.
They also said the trip, costing between £10 and £15 per person “for not even 10 minutes”, involved a “very poor” light show.
Another visitor called the train ride the “biggest rip-off”.
They wrote: “Absolutely awful.
“Nothing to see on the train ride, until you get to a tent with a video of a much more impressive train ride.”
One two-star reviewer said the event was “very disappointing” compared to previous years and described the train ride as a “let down”.
It said: “We went last year to the Christmas experience at Crieff Hydro and we really enjoyed it, the whole family did.
“This year ice skating was good and the Santa visit was great but the winter wonderland train experience was really poor.
“It wasn’t a train! It went about 50 yards into a tent which had a projector showing a pointless winter scene.”
Another reviewer said: “The train went about 500 metres up a poorly lit, very dark road. We got a partial view of a dark overspill car park.
“We then drove into a tent and watched a video.
Crieff Hydro visitor ‘couldn’t have been more gutted’ with Winter Wonderland
“I think my daughter best captured the experience when she pointed at the video and said, ‘I wish I was on that train’.”
Another visitor said they had driven more than an hour to Crieff and “couldn’t have been more gutted with the time and money spent”.
Several other reviews described a disappointing experience, claiming the event was “not as advertised” and a “complete waste of money”.
They also said there were no fairground rides at the event, as there had been in previous years.
However, the Winter Wonderland also received a number of five-star reviews from impressed guests.
One said: “After reading some reviews we thought it was going to be a bad experience.
“It was really good. The lights and decorations were lovely and the train ride was good.”
Another visitor said: “The ice skating experience was fantastic! Both the children and adults thoroughly enjoyed it.
“It was the highlight of the festive experience and the only event that was truly worth the money.”
A spokesperson for Crieff Hydro said: “Having welcomed more than a thousand guests to our Winter Wonderland since its launch, the overall feedback from our Santa’s grotto, ice skating and festive train experience has been extremely positive.
“We are aware of a small number of visitors who felt disappointed by the train experience, and we aim to learn from that feedback for future events.”
Itison has been contacted for comment.
Crieff Hydro bosses recently revealed multi-million-pound investment plans for the resort.
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