Great Places to See Santa This Christmas

http://travelwithkids.about.com/od/christmasholidays/ss/seesanta.htm

North Pole

Looking for somewhere magical to visit Santa? In the next pages, you'll find great ideas for Christmas vacations, starting with:
The North Pole.

Watch those little eyes light up at this idea.

Twelve miles from Lake Placid in the Adirondacks is North Pole, NY, where year-round Santa fun gets serious at Christmas time. On five weekends in November and December, a two-night package includes most meals, admission to Santa's Workshop, and tree-trimming and other special activities.

Walt Disney World

Starting in November, Walt Disney World gets all lit up for Christmas, 1500 trees are put in place, and some major annual celebrations get underway.

In the Magic Kingdom, Mickey has a Very Merry Christmas Party on many nights, and Mickey's Very Merry Parade features a March of the Wooden Soldiers and dancing gingerbread men. (You'll hav to pay extra for the party, though.)
At Epcot, Holidays Around The World has story-telling and traditions from different countries. Also at Epcot is the Candlelight Processional: a celebrity narrator presents the Christmas story, with music by a choir and 50-piece orchestra.

At MGM Studios, the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights has 5 million of 'em-- twinkling lights that is, that twinkle even more in nightly "snow".

Universal Orlando

Expect lots of holiday decorations and festivities at this popular family vacation destination, plus two major Christmas-time events.

Macy's Holiday Parade:

At Orlando's Universal Studios theme park, this famous parade happens every night from December 9 2005 through January 1 2007, with authentic Macy's balloons and floats. This year, Santa and his reindeer come direct from the real Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.

Grinchmas

If you've visited Seuss Landing (in the Islands of Adventure theme park) at any other time of year, you may have wondered: Where's the Grinch? In fact, he's reclusive to the point of being invisible in other months... but in November and December, the Grinch and dog Max come out of their lair to join the frolicking Who's as Seuss Landing transforms into Whoville. highlight every night is a tree lighting and a “Whoville Whobilation” musical performance of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.

Both Macy's Parade and Grinchmas are included with regular admission into the theme parks. (You'll probably want to buy a double-park pass to experience both these Christmas events.)

Hershey's Christmas Candylane

Hershey PA-- aka "Chocolate Town"-- whips up a lot of family fun every year for Christmas-time.
Most notably, the HersheyPark theme park opens up for Christmas Candylane, with more than 1 million twinkling lights.

Visitors can also enjoy:

· Hershey Sweet Lights, a two-mile drive through woods filled with a million lights on 600 animated displays

Hershey also offers some special seasonal packages at Hershey Hotel and/or Hershey Lodge (both of which are family -friendly): Santa Packages at both the Hotel and Lodge; Holiday with Dickens evenings; Annual Teddy Bear Jubilee; and Family New Year's Eve.

New Orleans

Sadly, Christmas 2005 will not be the usual time of celebration in New Orleans, after the devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina.

But for future years, keep in mind that New Orleans -- despite its Bourbon Street image-- is a very family-friendly place, even at Mardi Gras, and especially at Christmas-time.

In the past, each December, the city has had a month-long "Christmas New Orleans Style" promotion, with Christmas lights, holiday regalia and nightly concerts. Family Events have included:

· a walk or drive through "Celebration in the Oaks," with more than 2 million lights in City Park;

· story-telling, "Jingle Bell Jam", reindeer games, and more at the Louisiana Children's Museum;

-holiday features at the at the Entergy IMAX Theatre, next to the Aquarium of the Americas;

Teddy Bear Tea, and Dickens-style "A Christmas Carol" high tea.

Breckenridge, Colorado

Soak up the Victorian Holiday atmosphere at one of Colorado's best ski destinations, Breckenridge: with decorations on quaint Main Street, Christmas Bazaar at Old Town Hall, Christmas tree light-up with fireworks, strolling carolers, Santa visits.

This is all, of course, in addition to a great snow vacation at Breckenridge. Like all top resorts these days, Breckenridge is a kid-friendly place: you'll find programs for kids age 3 and up, and also child care with a nursery.
Special snow events in December include: Demo Days, a chance to try out ski and snowboard equipment; celebrity fun races; Snow Search for hot skiers/riders age 7 to 13; Torch Light Parade on New Year's Eve.

Colonial Williamsburg Virginia

Not so much a place for Santa, but plenty of Christmas spirit:

Colonial Williamsburg is fun throughout the year, with a beautifully restored historic district peopled by real-life actors bringing to life the days just before the American Revolution.

Christmas is an especially good time to visit, with many special events, including:

Christmas windows in New York

In New York, the Christmas spirit gets started with Santa's appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The famous department store is also known for wonderful Christmas window displays.

About's Guide for New York City for Visitors has many photos of these Christmas windows:

She also notes other department stores with holiday window displays, such as Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Track Santa, wherever you are

And finally: wherever you are on Christmas Eve, you can track the progress of Santa and his reindeer, at the Norad web site.

NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) has been tracking Santa since way back in the fifties, when a child in Colorado dialed a wrong number for a Santa call-in line, got the Continental Air Defense Command --NORAD's precursor-- on the line instead, and asked about Santa's flight.

Things took off from there... and now the Norad Tracks Santa web site gets millions of hits on Christmas Eve. Every year the display at the site gets better and better.

Make sure you visit the site before Christmas Eve, to make sure you have the right plug-ins to display Santa's flight!

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