The intu Trafford Centre Magical Christmas Parade 2017

Yesterday we were over at Trafford Park for 2 different events - so we were up and out bright and early to the intu Trafford Centre Management Office for a very unusual breakfast meet and greet with some of the stars of the Magical Christmas Parade!

We were treated to a buffet breakfast supplied by Leon (both of my boys devouring the sausages and bacon), as well as visits from several of the children's TV favourites who would be taking part in the parade.

My boys yet again refused photos, so I stepped in. The Trolls were lovely - they're my new mates.

After the official breakfast we window-shopped a while and then...erm...went for breakfast. We needed carbs to keep us going as we were heading straight over to the Digital Kids Show after the 11.30 parade. Where better than Bills. It was a payday treat and I really spoiled myself with their £4.65 shake. It was gorgeous. Anyone who has ever watched Pulp Fiction has to try a $5 shake...

We went to the nearest right-hand staircase at first and it was blocked as the parade was going to use it - a lot of people came behind us also attempting to get downstairs, so hopefully next time Trafford Centre Management will put a note up.

We were ready nice and early though, and it gave us time to enjoy the gorgeous Christmas decorations around The Orient ceiling. The parade started on the right hand side staircase, went up around the entire balcony and then down the escalator and into the stage area. It was all shown on the big screen, and stilt-walkers and other entertainers kept those of us downstairs entertained while we waited.

Once the cast started arriving it was non-stop. There were some amazing costumes and everyone was smiling. The amount of people involved was massive, with 2 teams of dancers on stage a lot of the time, plus TV and movie characters, Princes and Princesses and other entertainers.

As much as the ballerinas were graceful and serene, the wind-up drummers were hilarious.

The costumes for the Princes and Princesses were really incredible. They had the sparkliest of jackets, ballgowns and make up and all looked incredibly elegant. I don't think you'd get away with it on a night out in Manchester sadly.

At the back of the parade were of course Santa and the baby reindeer Norbert (we've met him before, reindeers live a long time and don't age quickly) and a couple of stray Minions.

At the close of the parade we were all treated to a couple of classic Christmas songs and then a surprise which was awesome and really made the children near me squeal - snow. Sadly this only falls over the front section of the crowd, but we picked it up and threw as much as we could elsewhere - first snowball of the season...

I felt that the intu Trafford Centre did a really good job overall. This was their first parade and they managed to take the cast as close as possible to a huge amount of people. They should maybe have made clearer alternate exits and where would be 'out of bounds' to the public during the parade, but this is something to iron out next time, and although people were crowding, it wasn't too dense to escape and centre staff were everywhere.

The costumes and make up were gorgeous, the performance seemed spot on and although there were times we waited, it was never too long for my excited 7 year old. It was lovely to see lots of children in the cast as well as adults, and the whole parade had a lovely mix of modern TV and Movie characters and classic fairy tale Christmas.

intu Trafford Centre is decorated for Christmas. Inflatable Santa is up in his tower and the real Santa is in place in Barton Square. You can book to see him and find out what else is happening over Christmas, enter competitions and more on the intu Trafford Centre website...