Well, the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Dates for 2014 have been announced. Seeing this news brought back memories of our time at the Christmas Truck last year and I searched this blog to read our post… I soon realised that I had never wrote the post up, so only a year later… here it is:
The main reason I wanted to visit the Coca-Cola truck was to teach the kids about the image of the Santa Claus that we know and love today. They already knew the story of St Nicholas, and why he gives to people each year. They know that as Santa is magic, no one truly knows what he really looks like. Thanks to Coca Cola, for most of us the iconic Haddon Sundblom Santa is our Father Christmas or Santa Claus. Therefore, for many people, Coca Cola will always be a part of the history of Christmas.
Don’t worry, I’m not getting confused with the meaning of Christmas or why we celebrate Christmas, I’m just acknowledging that for many of us Santa is a Christmas Tradition.
The one thing I did worry about when visiting the truck was crowds and queues. I didn’t need to however, as despite being popular, the queue moves along nicely and as you are given a Coca-Cola to enjoy, you really don’t mind waiting.
Our favourite part was just seeing the truck and listening to the Christmas songs. Ceri pointed out that it would be magical to see the truck at night.
If you’re out Christmas Shopping, I can imagine that this would make a welcome break and make the day more fun for the kids.
We had official photos too which Coca Cola then e-mailed to us. These are great for making Christmas Cards. There was a great, happy atmosphere at the Coke Truck and it was a great reward to all the cities that had done “kind deeds” that year.
We combined our visit to the Coca-Cola Truck with a visit to Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland. This is a great idea to make it a full day out and most cities hold similar events.
The Alpine Village, rides and ice rink looked amazing and there was fun all along the way. Unfortunately it started pouring with rain when we got there, so we couldn’t ice skate as planned. It was also very busy and there were big queues for tokens. I’m not keen on crowds and we even lost Caitlyn temporarily so I did get into a panic until she was found. I will try and pick a dry day and less busy time to visit in the future.
The Castle looked fabulous all lit up…we’re off for a visit here on Sunday which is sure to be special.
My favourite place to shop in Cardiff, St Davids looked great too and is a great place to visit whatever the weather.
We popped into our favourite children’s shops, The Lego Store, Hamleys and The Disney Store and checked out their Christmas Displays. The kids crossed their fingers that certain toys would be delivered on Christmas Day!
All in all, it was a lovely day to get us all in the mood for Christmas Celebrations!