There’s nothing normal about Christmas this year. Families are choosing whether to risk mixing households, more people will be at home than ever before, and lots of kids won’t get to see Father Christmas.

But if you can’t get to a grotto, how about bringing the grotto to you? That’s the idea behind Santa – The Experience, where you can have a live video chat with Santa himself.

What happens?

Once you’ve booked your date and time slot, families are sent a unique Zoom code and told to log on 10 minutes before their allotted time.

My family and I – husband James and two daughters, Rosie, 11, and Poppy, 8 -squished up on the sofa together and waited for Santa.

We’re met by Elf Kringle, who joins us from the Flight Control Centre, where he prepares the reindeers to transport us to the North Pole.

The video is very professional, and for a minute, it feels like we’re watching a festive version of Star Wars. The reindeers take flight and we watch from our sofa-cum-sleigh as we climb up into the starry sky and land outside a wooden cabin, where we’re met by Elf Pickles.

We head off to wake up Elf Dimples, who’s fallen asleep and is still in his pyjamas and then take a look around The Post Room, the stables where Dasher and Prancer are hanging out, and then we find Mrs Claus, who’s baking cookies (of course).

It’s not long before we open the door to Santa and the kids fall into the deathly silence only the presence of this man brings. He asks them a series of questions, which don’t get a huge response, until he asks them to name all the reindeers.

He talks about the gifts they want for Christmas, and mentions their gymnastics, school work and the name of Poppy’s special teddy, which makes the whites of her eyes beam and sparkle with the magic of Christmas. He tells the girls how proud he is of them and we scooch in for a family photo, which gets sent to us afterwards. He tells them to be good, to brush their teeth and go to bed on time, and that when mum and dad tell them to get off the electronics, it’s time to get off the electronics!

He thanks us for coming up to see him and asks us to leave a cookie out for him on Christmas Eve, along with a carrot for the reindeer. He promises to bring some fun surprises if the girls are good and waves us off with a merry ‘Ho ho ho’.

Is it worth it?

The whole experience is lovely. It does feel a little bit magical, the production is really well done, but the chat with Santa is only five minutes long and, because you’re not seeing him in person, there are no little presents to take home, which can make the event feel pretty pricey. Prices range from £26.95 for a weekday in early December, to £60.95 on the night of Christmas Eve. The price is per household, so it works out better value the more children you have, but my two really enjoyed it. They were surprised by the American accents, loved the reindeer ride and felt giddy and festive afterwards, which is exactly what you want from a visit to see Santa.