When I think back to my childhood, I can’t recall a time when we went to visit Santa, though I do remember amazing Christmases. My oldest child is now 24 since he was a little one, we have tried to visit Santa during the Holiday season. As a Mom of 6 little ones and my Husband deployed 6 different times, it was extremely difficult to take the kids out during the Holidays, but when he was home; visiting Santa is something we did. Now, as our youngest is 12 and the oldest at home is 17, and Visiting Santa is a Great Family Tradition. The kids look forward to seeing who can make who male the funniest face during a laugh, or who can make the others laugh out loud while speaking to Santa. It was perfect timing that the first snow of the Year happened as we were driving into Queens, NY.
This weekend my Family was invited to visit HGTV’s Santa HQ in the mall and of course we were excited to attend. Since this is the last year at home for our High School Senior, it is even more important for us to continue with our tradition and try to make her have the craziest laugh during the picture.
Visiting Santa’s HQ was so much fun, it was a welcomed change from a traditional red chair picture and what made it so much better than the rest were the interactive stations for everyone.
To visit Santa’s HQ, you can visit the site here and learn all about the HQ and its activities, for a time that best suits your schedule you can also make reservations on the site and avoid waiting in lines! You can also prepay for your photograph package, so the most difficult thing you have left to do is choose your poses!
Visiting Santa is a Great Family Tradition
The first fun thing to do was finding out if we made the naughty or nice list,
My Husband wanted to travel to the North Pole, but settled with knowing he’s on the nice list… for now
And of course I was surprised that it was taking too long to place me in the super nice list 😉
and some were very surprised at the results! She walked away fast before it could change results…
After the list screening, we got our first shot at embarrassing the kids in front of the photographers.
Parents 1 Kids 0
Next was the Elfie Selfie Station!
The next section was my favorite: The control room!
The kids can pick up the iPads on the control deck and use them to look throughout the room, the gadgets and gizmos come alive, as well as some surprise visits from the Elves!
And who can visit the HGTV Santa HQ without visiting the main guy himself?
It was time to see Santa!
She was proud to tell Santa that she has been good all year…
Can the Parents make the kids laugh for the pictures?
We asked the photographers to use the baby rattle, no rules in this game!
Of course! Parents 2 – Kids 0!
To see the joy in her face when she hugs Santa, even as she prepares to leave for College; I can not describe it!
Of course you didn’t think that I was too old to visit with Santa right?!
I will never pass up a chance to chat with the big guy and let him know that I still believe!
I do plan on keeping this tradition long after my children have grown, they have been warned many times. As Spouses and Grandchildren are added to the Family, so will the memories of visiting Santa!
If you haven’t visited the Santa HQ, make it a point to go, no commitment at all. You don’t need to make a reservation, just visit while you are at the mall and see for yourself if you like the HQ; I have a feeling you will 😉
I do hope that you are able to visit HGTV’s Santa’s HQ, it’s far more than just a visit; it’s an experience!
This is a sponsored blog post; while the opinions, suggestions, and wonderful memories are all mine, consideration was paid to review this product/place.
Visiting Santa has been a huge part of our Christmas tradition since my kids were little. Even though my kids don’t believe in Santa anymore, we still go to see him. It’s that big of a deal.
My kids visited Santa over the weekend and they had a lot of fun with the HGTV setup. It was fun for us too!
That looks like a lot of fun! All kinds of things to do, and, of course, meeting the Big Guy!
Now THAT is how you visit Santa. Wow, what a magical place for kids to visit during the holidays.
It certainly can be a great tradition but when I have kids, I am not going to tell them there is a Santa. I am going to be realistic with my kids because I don’t want them thinking I lied to them.
Visiting Santa is truly a family tradition many of us have. Santa’s HQ looks like it would be a fun experience for the whole family.
It’s definitely a fun tradition to do with the kids no matter how old they are! It’s really nice to see the kids smiling and just enjoying the whole thing!
I always wanted to see Santa. Visiting Santanis always a tradition. And even now I still believe in Santa If I could go there I’ll tell Santa that I did nice things this year. Oh by the way The screening is so cute!
This is really neat. I wish they had something like this around here. My kids would have really enjoyed this.
That looks like a really cool way to visit Santa. I love the looks of that place!
We don’t take our kids to see Santa. I’m just not a fan of the crowds. We do a few other traditions though.
What a fun event! Looks like you guys had a blast. That is so cool that you got to go, I would love to check it out next year!
This is one of our favorite and MUST DO traditions with our son. The first year he was just over a month so we have photos of “Santa’s” hands holding him but he has seen Santa every year and this year even saw Santa twice!
I wish we had this near us. I know my kids would have loved to meet Santa this year – and find out if they were on the naughty or nice list
Aww this looks like so much fun! We’re never too old for Santa.
What an amazing family tradition! I love meeting santa, it’s always such a blast for the family.
We also visited our local Santa HQ and it was so much fun! My kids loved it and I was happy to recommend it to friends across the US.
I remember doing the whole santa thing growing up, but now that I am married to scrooge LOL we don’t do holidays.