Santa has made it to Denver! Time to head to Santa HQ to experience an immersive and unforgettable Santa photo experience this holiday season. HGTV presents Santa HQ, now open nationwide, plan your visit today.
This is a sponsored blog post; while the views expressed here were genuinely mine, consideration was paid to me by Santa HQ to review this experience.
Holidays mean traditions and one tradition we have kept since Jude’s very first Christmas is heading to Flatirons Mall in Broomfield Colorado to visit Santa and get our yearly photo. Lucky for us this mall is a Santa HQ location which means we get the very best Santa photo experience! When we first heard about HGTV’s Santa HQ we knew that the kids would love it. This experience changes the traditional photo with Santa, in fact it gives the kids something to explore and do while waiting for their turn with Santa.
Experience Santa HQ
We started our morning off at the mall with a little breakfast with Santa. For those near a Santa HQ mall make sure you check out the day he is welcomed to the mall and see if there is a FREE breakfast and event for the public. This was the first year we did this and the kids loved it. We got to welcome Santa to his HQ and totally made us ready for the holiday season!
The Santa HQ is centrally located in the mall and cannot be missed. Guys, it is pretty amazing when you walk up to the HQ. Colorful, festive and BIG!! We made reservations easily online and walked right up to begin our experience through Santa HQ. I highly recommend doing the reservations as waiting in line is no fun for anyone!
Visiting Santa HQ – FlatIron Crossings Broomfield Colorado
HGTV’s Santa HQ adds a whole new dimension to the traditional family Santa Claus visit by guiding visitors through an immersive, interactive holiday extravaganza that uses of state-of- the-art digital technology. With 15 different locations at Macerich Shopping Centers in California, Colorado, Arizona, Chicago, Metro New York, and the Washington, D.C. corridor, each Santa HQ location is set with a dazzling array of holiday experiences, including:
- The traditional photo-op with Santa Claus
- Elfie Selfie: Where visitors take a selfie and star in their own holiday video
- Elf-Ray Vision: Guests can explore Santa’s Observatory through the use of special goggles that trigger a series of augmented reality experiences at multiple locations throughout Santa HQ including two triggers at Entrance Arch; one trigger on exterior of the Workshop; Toy triggers underneath the Christmas Tree in the Workshop, and enhanced triggers in the observatory
- Naughty or Nice Meters: Where visitors can stand next to an interactive board to find out which list of Santa’s they made
- Light Show: With more than 10,000 individual holiday lights synchronized to the tune of “Carol of the Bells” to create an illuminated orchestra
Will your kids be on the Naughty or Nice List? Surprisingly both Jude and Teagan were on the nice list. Not sure where those elves get that information! HA! This really is a fun opportunity for the kids. It is so fun to see the kids get so anxious and excited to see where that meter lands!
Once into the Observatory the kids do not want to leave! Santa’s Observatory is a full interactive section of the experience. First I need to complement the staff at our Santa HQ, they were amazing. So great with the kids and you could tell they all really wanted to spread that magical joy with kids. We could have stayed in this area for hours. It was so fun to use the tablets to search for those silly elves. Teagan loved trying to find Strawberry. Not only are the elves found using the tablets for the Elf-ray vision but there are really cool virtual pieces through out the observatory. The kids loved it.
Once we finally were able to get the kids out of the observatory, seriously they could have set up shop in there, we moved on to the most magical part of this experience! SANTA!!!!! Thankfully both of the kids are over being scared of Santa, in fact they are always ready to have a nice long chat with him. Adorable.
Our Santa was perfect, he has been at this mall for long time so it is fun to have the same Santa year after year. He was kind and great with the kids. Seeing him have a true conversation with Jude and Teagan made me happy. Oh and he told the kids that they need to make sure they are helping mom and dad out at home because this is a busy time of the year. Thanks Santa!!
PICTURES WITH SANTA:
No one likes waiting in line…especially excited kiddos! To enhance the enjoyment of Santa HQ’s photos-with- Santa experience and spend less time waiting in line, guest can now select the date and time of their photos session by making reservation online. The reservation system enables users to select and pre-pay for their photo package, and it gives them the opportunity to upgrade their package by making their family photo session days or even weeks in advance. The online reservation systems even has an opt-in text functionality to provide reminders about their Santa photo session reservation.
IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT OF GIVING
Visitors to Santa HQ will also be able to enjoy the holiday spirit of giving through HGTV’s Help Through Holiday Giving Drive. The program encourages visitors to donate new, unwrapped toys for local children in need with the goal of collecting over 1,000 toys per center. In 2016, HGTV’s Help Through Holiday Giving program collected over 66,000 toys benefiting local organizations like Forgotten Angel Tree, Salvation Army Angel Tree, Toys for Tots, and Spark of Love Stuff a Bus.
We had a great time at Santa HQ and for one more year the magic is strong with both kids! I LOVE THAT. Santa HQ can be located in malls across the nation. Make your reservations NOW!
