Santa’s Toy Mine at Rhondda Heritage Park

Paid collaboration with Rhondda Cynon Taff

What a magical evening we had visiting Santa’s Toy Mine at Rhondda Heritage Park.

The whole place looks absolutely incredible with twinkling lights, huge presents, reindeer, snowmen, light-up tunnels and even a giant sleigh as we made our way to meet the man in red.

When we find Santa, he is dressed in a plush red suit and surrounded by Christmas trees, lights and presents. He says hello to us all and then visitors wait their turn for a chance to say meet him in family groups and to get that all-important ‘meeting Santa photo’. You can take your own photo and/or have a professional one taken – we thought our official photo was great quality and were happy to pay the £10 additional cost for a picture in a presentation card. You can also choose from a snow block at £14, or a magnet frame for £12 as a lovely memento of the occasion.

Watch our Instagram reel here

There are lots of lovely photo opportunities along the way with beautiful festive set ups and light features everywhere you look, not to mention ‘snow’ at one point too. There’s even a light-up sleigh you can sit in in the entrance area. It’s clear the toy makers had gone to such a lot of trouble to ensure the mine looked as festive as possible.

After the experience, which took around half an hour, children can head to Santa’s workshop to select a gift of their choice. This is included in entry costs. We were really impressed with the size quality of the gifts, which included craft and activity sets, full-sized plush toys, games and more.

There’s also a lovely gift shop in the museum’s entrance area, with some lovely Christmas decorations, ornaments and stocking fillers too.

Santa’s Toy Mine is at Rhondda Heritage Park, Coed Cae Road, Trehafod, CF37 2NP until Tuesday 24 December. There is limited availability on some dates, the best options are weekday evenings.

Admission costs £12.50 for children and adults, and £5 for children 18 months and younger. This cost includes a gift. Professional photos available from £10, or take your own
Quiet tours on 4 and 11 December,

Visit the website for more information on Santa’s Toy Mine.