December 7th 2024.
Several families were left disappointed and heartbroken after their highly anticipated trip to Lapland failed to meet their expectations. Despite spending a whopping £4,000, parents had to console their children as the promised "trip of a lifetime" turned into a series of unfortunate events.
According to reports from families who went on the festive TUI holiday, their arrival at Kuusamo in Finland was met with a lack of snow and disastrous and dangerous activities. To make matters worse, Santa himself revealed that he did not actually live there, leaving many children feeling disheartened.
Not only were the promised activities a letdown, but families also claim they were warned to stay away from an "angry reindeer" and that the Christmas feast included in the package ran out, leaving them hungry. This was all due to unseasonably warm temperatures and heavy rain, which caused the snow to melt at several Lapland resorts.
Unfortunately, by the time TUI cancelled several trips on Wednesday, hundreds of families were already on their way or had arrived. One father, Ricky Edwards, shared with The Sun how his six-year-old daughter was left in disbelief when she met Santa. "She turned to me and said, 'I don't believe that is the real Santa,'" he recalled. To add insult to injury, Santa himself admitted that he didn't actually live in Lapland, but rather, it was his holiday home.
Ricky also mentioned that Mrs. Claus was seen with a mobile phone in her pocket, further diminishing the magical experience for the children. While he understood that the lack of snow was out of anyone's control, he believed that there was no excuse for the other issues they faced.
One of the most disappointing moments for Ricky and his family was being turned away from the banquet hall where they were supposed to enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner. "We got turned away and were left in minus eight degrees to get a coach back to the hotel," he shared. This left at least ten children in tears, and according to Ricky, the families who were able to get in reported that the food was of poor quality.
Another family, Natasha and Scott Walden from Northampton, shared their terrifying experience on a sleigh ride on a melting lake. They were instructed to stay close to the edge of the lake where the ice was thicker, but Natasha noticed cracks everywhere, raising concerns for their safety. To top it off, they were also warned not to touch a reindeer tied to a tree because he was "angry."
TUI responded to the complaints by stating that they closely monitor the weather forecast and that snow was predicted during the dates of the families' visits but unfortunately did not fall. They also assured that they would be in direct contact with the families to address their concerns.
The Metro has reached out to TUI for further comments on the matter.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]