>Lapland New Forest was a Christmas-themed park that existed for a brief period in December 2008, near Ringwood, Hampshire, UK.[1] The park attracted a great deal of infamy in the United Kingdom in 2008 due to the extremely poor quality of its attractions, which largely consisted of a single billboard depicting the nativity, lights dangling from trees, mistreated animals tethered in the mud, a broken ice rink, empty garden sheds (previously described as log cabins by the website) and a very poorly decorated Santa's grotto.
>The park had been advertised as being a 'winter wonderland' that featured a huge amount of exciting family events, including 'bustling Christmas markets' and sold over 50,000 advance tickets,[2] with ticket prices beginning at £25. Over £1.2 million had been made in total.[3]
>After being open for less than one week the park closed and its website was removed, thousands of angry visitors having attacked workers at the site – including Santa and his elves, one of which was slapped around the face. Children who had looked forward to the event were reduced to tears, especially when Santa was caught smoking.[4] In February 2011, Victor Mears and Henry Mears, the brothers who ran the park, were found guilty of misleading advertising, and were jailed for 13 months each in March 2011.[5]
>In October 2011 the pair had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal following revelations that one of the jurors had been texting her fiance during the trial. The fiance had been present in court and the text messages (one of which simply read "guilty") had been seen by other jurors. The Court of Appeal's view was that this made the convictions unsafe. Dorset County Council, which had brought the original prosecution, subsequently indicated that it would not be seeking a retrial as the brothers had already served prison sentences.[6]
Britain can't do anything right, can it?
Well, that sure is something.
Charlie Brooker wrote on it:
>"Santa's gone home. Santa's fucking dead." As theme park slogans go, it's a winner. Sadly, it wasn't the official tagline for Lapland New Forest, the temporary Christmas attraction that was forced to close last week after furious visitors demanded their money back. Instead, the "Santa" line was shouted at a Sun reporter and a "handful of queuing families" by a member of staff disconsolately closing the gates for the last time.
>Lapland New Forest sounds like a barrel of laughs. The publicity material promised a glorious winter wonderland replete with animal attractions, an ice rink, log cabins, a nativity scene, a snowy "tunnel of light", and, of course, Santa's grotto. But according to incensed visitors, it turned out to be "little more than a mud-covered car park". They complained that the generator for the ice rink had malfunctioned, turning it into a pool of water, the "tunnel of light" was actually a few fairy lights dangling from trees covered in artificial snow, the nativity was an amateurish billboard, the log cabins were green sheds, and the animal attraction was a handful of reindeer and several "thin-looking huskies chained up in a pen". To keep the kids happy, there was apparently a four-hour queue for Santa's grotto, at the end of which families were charged £10 for a photo with the man himself. Oh, and refreshments weren't cheap either. Five drinks and a baguette would set you back £17.
>Many visitors, who'd paid around £25 per ticket, weren't especially impressed, and the mood quickly turned ugly. One of the security guards told the BBC he'd quit, partly because he was "really, really ashamed" to work there, and also because of the level of violence he and the rest of the staff had been subjected to by irate customers. "Santa got attacked," he explained. "One of the elves got smacked in the face and pushed in a pram."
>>78437038
God dammit UK
>>78437069
Neither can OP, since this is /co/ and not /int/
>>78437127
>>78437038
I wish this happened 5 years later, i would have loved to see footage of this.
>>78437038
oh my goodness it's real life Ed, Edd, n Eddy
makes me with there was an intentionally bad theme park where you can just fuck around for a day
>>78437541
Banksy's Dismaland? Kind of?
>>78437846
yeah, but less artsy fartsy and more "clearing in the woods with a big ass slide, minigolf, and stupid looking decorations"
>>78437038
The justice system, everyone
how is this /co/?
also, THEY got attacked? that's rich.
>>78438616
Theme parks have always been /co/ territory in a loose sense, due to many of their connections to animated properties, i.e. disneyland.
And yes, it's rich as all get-out.
