We haven’t been to Santa’s Wonderland in ten years. The place has grown exponentially in that time.

Short review: The entire staff had an attention to detail that I can appreciate. They are all very friendly and in the Christmas spirit. I saw one pick up a piece of trash which shows me they are trained to take pride in their workplace (think Disney). The experience was dreamy and you should buy tickets to go to Wonderland. Fair warning that it is C R O W D E D. See more details and tips for your visit below…

Longer review: We paid for parking in the Blitzen parking lot because we made a last minute decision to go the day before and the other lots were full. If you can pay for the other closer lots, do it. The Blitzen one has a very long line to get in if you arrive between 3:30-5:00pm. The line moved pretty fast and we chatted with others around us. Overall, it was around 30 mins. I appreciated the metal detectors and bag searches. Tip: there are golf carts in the parking lot. They are free and can take you to the line (or to your car on the way out. Bring cash to tip.) There are restrooms in the parking lots which is genius because the worst part about traveling to get somewhere is having to use the restroom and there’s not one in sight.

We arrived in the park around 4:45pm after getting through the line. We immediately went to the tubes on the mountain hill. This was a great move and I’ll say why. First, know that the tubes are soaked because of the snow so you will get wet getting in. I probably would’ve skipped if I knew that part. There is food by this attraction. We got the white cheese nachos and they were pretty good. They tasted like an elevated version of concession stand nachos.

Right after, around 5:15pm, we decided to get in line for the hayride since the line started forming. This was the good move I previously mentioned on our part because we waited 22 minutes and then we were on! No fast pass! The line went quickly. The hayride was the highlight of the Wonderland. It’s the perfect length and the lights are amazing. They have an incredible system with ten hayrides running at the same time. We saw people on the horseride carriage during our hayride. Honestly, for the cost, we wouldn’t pay for the carriage. To each their own.

At this point we went to the food section. The lines were crazy as expected since it was around 6pm at this point. The lines do not move quickly so if you want more than one thing, then split up and conquer. You can smell the food throughout the area, it’s amazing. We got the Mac and cheese first and it was “interesting”. It seemed a bit like grainy queso with noodles thrown in. My husband got the bbq on it and it looked good (still runny). We all agreed we wouldn’t purchase them again. The fries were delicious and perfectly seasoned.

Next, we went to the snow mountain. Tip: bring paper towels from a food station with you. Tip 2: buy hot chocolate on the way there. Tip 3: bring the kids’ gloves. Their little hands will be FREEZING and wet after they throw snow. Dry them off with said paper towels and then throw their gloves on while they sip hot chocolate when they’re done playing. If you have room in your bag, bring extra shoes and socks to change them into because those will get wet.

Last, we walked through the walking lights and saw the nativity scene. There are many photo ops in this area as well. The live camels were entertaining as they’re siblings, and were playing with each other. The attendant who was watching over them was kind and a current college student as a wildlife major. He made great conversation and I appreciated insight. I do hate that the camels are in a little tiny area as it seems a bit inhumane, but I digress.

We were there for a total of almost 5 hours. Next year, we will arrive at 3:30pm. We didn’t get a chance to go to everything even in those five hours! We are looking forward to returning and were really impressed with the overall operations of the place. Bravo, Santa’s Wonderland.