Every year families across the country love to celebrate the return of the Coca Cola Christmas truck - as it signals the holidays are coming. Fizzy drink fans will even flock to visit the red truck, when it tours the country. But not every visitor is quite so delighted by the popular attraction, it turns out.
Reporter Adam McGroarty went along to see the famed truck when it visited Kent recently - and came away with mixed feelings. Adam said he endured an "agonising" wait, which saw him queueing for 90 minutes to take "a couple photos in front of the truck".
However, he did note there were some lovely touches along the way, including free Coca Cola. So, is it worth braving the queue? Well, here's how Adam got on in his own words, as first reported by Kent Live.
Explaining that the truck's visit to at Bluewater Shopping Centre coincided with Black Friday, Adam knew he was in for a busy day. Thankfully, he found the glistening red truck with ease. "But after taking a quick look at the bright red vehicle, I soon noticed something which caught my eye. I could see a long queue of tired-looking shoppers snaking into the distance and began asking myself if I was really up to the challenge," he wrote.
Adam continued: "With energy still left to spare from my Weetabix and a banana breakfast, I gritted my teeth as I walked up alongside the line questioning how long this would take. It turns out I wasn't the only one.
"'What have we got ourselves into here,' one mum said in front of me as I joined the queue. 'This better be worth it,' her partner replied. Tempers were already reaching boiling point and we hadn't even been in line for one minute.
"As I looked at my watch the minutes were flying by, but I wasn't moving anywhere. 'What are we even queueing for?' another asked as the queue began to grow behind them.
"The same question was on my mind too, I had seen the truck parked outside The Village so I had high hopes as to what I would see when I reached the summit of the lengthy queue. After half-an-hour had gone by I finally arrived at the first checkpoint and it felt as though I had completed a mission.
'Would you like a free Coca Cola Zero sir?' a member of staff politely asked. With my energy now seemingly wilting and my legs starting to feel the strain of standing, it goes without saying I welcomed the much-needed boost."
Adam added: "It was a nice touch to receive the free drink and it certainly had me in high spirits, although that feeling was short-lived. "It's like standing in roadworks isn't it," the dad in front of me joked as we hit yet another standstill. I'd just experienced some hold-up on the M25, but I didn't expect to be reliving that nightmare here.
"It soon became clear that we had reached the fenced-off area and were about to be taken to the final queue which weaved alongside the truck. After the agonising half-hour wait, a few people chose to leave the queue at this point but I was determined to see it through with the end-goal in sight.
"Little did I know that this would go on to be the longest part of the experience. Even the brilliantly charismatic group of singers on the stage struggled to lift the crowd who were seemingly on their last legs.
"There were some nice touches along the way, with stations to crush your empty Coca Cola can before binning it in the recycling, but the final part of queueing inside the fenced-off area took me just under an hour.
"As the clock struck 2pm I finally was shown to one of the picture stations where a member of staff was on hand to take snaps in front of the iconic truck. I had some photos taken through the official camera which delivers to your email inbox, while staff were also happy to take some more images on your phone."
His review concluded: "After making my way for the exit and picking up another free Coca Cola Zero I began asking myself if that was all worth it. A quick check of my phone confirmed that I'd been in the queue for 90 minutes, all for a couple photos in front of the truck.
"I saw plenty of lovely snaps being taken with families and couples, but I'd have liked to ask each of them if they would do it again knowing how long the queue took."
Have you visited the Coca Cola truck? Let us know how you got on in the comments
