James and I had been told by multiple sources that the Santa at Northpark Center was "THE BEST Santa" therefore enough said…Nolan MUST visit "THE BEST Santa" in Dallas. The original plan was for James and I to take Nolan for his first visit, but time got away from us and we knew the lines would only grow longer the closer we got to Christmas. We decided it was best if I took Nolan as soon as the "Santa Village" opened on a weekday. My mom and grandmother decided to meet Nolan and I at the mall to watch the festivities first hand.
Don’t forget to view the "Nolan Meets Santa" photo album after you read the rest of the story.
According to Northpark’s website tickets for Santa’s Village are distributed starting at 9:00am each morning. Yes, tickets….Lines are so long for this Santa that tickets are distributed and you are told an approximate time to return. James and I assumed that if if tickets are handed out at 9:00 that must mean that Santa starts at 9:00. So the plan was set, Nolan and I would get to Northpark a little before 9:00, pictures with Santa by 9:30 or so and on our way we would go.
After battling an hour of rush hour traffic Nolan and I arrived at the mall at 8:45. I approached the Concierge desk to ask where the closest elevator was to get to the Santa Village. She casually mentioned that tickets start at 9:00 and Santa pictures start at 11:30 after Santa’s Storytime at 11:00. WHAT!! 11:30 is a good thirty minutes into Nolan’s nap and I don’t have his noon bottle. I quickly called my mom to fill her in on what I had learned. She already knew because she had ticket number eight and it was not yet 9:00. We quickly decided that we would wait it out and pray that Nolan could make it. We had gone to way too much trouble to give up at this point.
To kill time we shopped at Nordstrom, Nolan ate a little breakfast, and we went through a wonderful charity train exhibit which we all thoroughly enjoyed (especially Nolan). At about 10:45 we headed to the elevator in Neiman Marcus to make our way up for Santa’s Storytime. On a normal day at Northpark this would not be a big deal, but when this is the closest elevator to Santa’s Village all bets are off. We patiently waited our turn amongst single, double, and triple seated (yes triple) strollers to ride the elevator to the second floor. Apparently half of Dallas’ little ones would also be attending Santa’s Storytime. We waited in anticipation amidst a sea of strollers, children, and parents. When sleigh bells sounded and thumping from the roof was heard, Santa appeared out of the chimney complete with smoke and lights. It was quite a production. Nolan was thoroughly enjoying himself,but his urge to crawl eventually overcame him and with that not being an option, we left about half way through storytime. Nolan and I went to meet my mom and grandmother outside where we fed Nolan a pretzel to keep him from becoming fussy. I was reminded by one of Santa’s helpers that each picture takes approximately 2-3 minutes so I needed to plan accordingly if I was going to leave the village area. Average wait time for this Santa was SIX hours. "Don’t worry," I told her, we were not going to miss his picture. We would be back at 11:30. Not one to worry about schedules and pictures, Nolan was content to carry on his routine as if this were any other day. And carry on his routine he did; at 11:25 we all smelled "the smell." OH NO! Not now. I grabbed Nolan’s diaper bag and hurried back to Neiman’s for a quick diaper change. No time for the stroller.
Finally we reached the line to see Santa. During our wait we watched as the children in front of Nolan screamed and cried as soon as they hit Santa’s lap. It was as if they were re-enacting the famous scene from A Christmas Story. We continued to feed Nolan bites of a pretzel to keep him happy. He was looking tired, but hanging on as is his way. At long last it was our turn and the ironic part was that it was completely uneventful. Nolan seemed very interested in Santa. So much so that he didn’t have the slightest desire to face the camera. He was too tired to smile, but I think the innocence with which he observed Santa’s face was sweet. Three hours of waiting for two minutes with Santa. It was finally done. Thank goodness…smile or no smile for the camera.
When Nolan and I made it home I filled James in on the details of our adventures having Nolan’s picture made with "THE BEST Santa." I told James not to worry that he had missed out this year… There will always be next year.
James and Melanie,
Our Grandson looks
very curious, while
looking at Santa.
Melanie…. excellent
job of writing up the
experience.
Lastly…. we would like
to see more pictures.
Love You All,
Gran & Poppy
How cute is he? He looks like such a little man. Nolan, LOVE the sweater, it is so you!
love-aunt carolyn and uncle monkey
[...] tomorrow we will once again brave this craziness as we have in Year One, Year Two, and Year Three. I cannot wait to share the memories of Year [...]