Tinsel Town has returned to The Trafford Centre this Christmas as Manchester gets firmly in the Christmas spirit as this holiday magic event sees an ice rink, funfair rides and Christmas food come to the city. As a frequent visitor to this event, we ventured back up to Manchester to see what 2024 had in store for us! 

Nestled outside the iconic Great Hall (better known to many as the food court), Tinsel Town is easily accessible, with ample free parking available. This year sees a different layout for the funfair and a completely different home for the Gandeys circus tent which is located much further back near the Jurassic World Exhibition (which I highly recommend seeing before it leaves in January).
What I noticed this year was that there was a £3 charge to enter the event before you even pay to ride anything which has gone up from the last time I went when it was £2.80, although I could be wrong. I thought this was a bit cheeky and did explain why the entire Tinsel Town area was very quiet despite the Trafford Centre being rather busy.
There was a whole range of funfair rides to choose from and in previous years when rides were around 3 tokens on average (it’s £1 a token) this year most of the rides were 5 tokens (£5) so it was clear the prices had gone up since the last time I visited. 

Ice Skating was still available along with the giant wheel overlooking Manchester but the most terrifying ride of the entire event was located outside of Tinsel down as the 180ft Apollo 13 ride genuinely looked terrifying. Naturally, against my better judgment, I went on it and you can check out that rather scream-inducing footage in our VLOG below on our spin-off theme park and attractions page Lift Hills and Thrills.
 
Here was me questioning why I needed to pay £3 to walk around a car park and then I saw that to have one ride on this giant 180ft brown-pants-inducing experience would set me back a whopping £10, FOR ONE RIDE! I get that it’s in a prime location but charging London prices up north is criminal. Do better.
The ride was as scary as you’d expect but the price was the scariest part of that particular encounter.

Tinsel Town certainly felt more contained this year but the rides within it were a solid line-up but i’m going to say this again, just like I did last time.
AVOID THE GHOST TRAIN!
It’s pretty much empty inside and it costs £4 to do and whilst on the outside it looks epic, it’s utterly useless inside. A tourist trap of the highest order! I’m the idiot who loves supporting travelling showmen so I paid my money knowing full well what was inside but if you want to save your time and your pennies, AVOID unless you’re feeling generous like I was.

The Ferris Wheel gives guests great views over Manchester but similar to Apollo 13 it’s outside of the Tinsel Town event and charged separately. Adult tickets cost £16.50, child tickets cost £13.75, and family tickets cost £54 and off peak prices are £12.50 for adults, child tickets cost £10, and family tickets cost £40.
Damn, that’s expensive! 
What I didn’t find too expensive this year was the food with prices in the usual food stall range of any football game or any other event of its kind. No jaws were dropping to the floor at any of the prices and I’d say this was to be expected of any market / event-style pricing.
It’s a damn sight cheaper than a certain Staffordshire theme park charging just shy of £5 for a bottle of Coke! 

Tinsel Town is such a great event to soak up that Christmas atmosphere. The fair is small but has a lovely feel to it and The Trafford Centre is about the most perfect location you can think of to host such an event as you can simply head on inside when the weather is bad and soak up all the decorations inside this beautiful Manchester shopping mall.
Wrap up warm, get yourselves down and if you’re feeling really brave (or stupid like me) then get yourself on Apollo 13. It’s forceful, fast, tall and a brand new ride for the UK in 2024. Genuinely the most terrified I’ve been on a ride for a long long time!
I want to give a special shout-out to the person who was dressed as The Grinch, taking photos with everyone and having a laugh with everyone on this cold evening in Manchester!