Visiting Santa at the Eaton Centre has been a family tradition since my oldest was a baby. Our family has grown and the Eaton Centre has changed but a visit with Santa is still part of our holiday experience. This year we had the chance to hang out with Santa in his Toronto log cabin.
Visits with Santa use to mean standing in line with over excited children, waiting for a brief moment to whisper a wish list in the jolly man’s ear. The Eaton Centre changed this experience last year with a visit to the Toronto version of the North Pole for story time with Santa. This year the Santa experience at the Eaton Centre is even more personal as families are invited to spend fifteen minutes in Santa’s cozy cabin located within Trinity Square.
Santa’s cabin is a single room log cabin built by Timber Block. Inside you will be greeted by the man of the hour, Santa, sitting in his chair waiting to meet you and your family. Instead of standing in line waiting to speak with Santa, kids are invited to hangout on polar bear beanbag chairs or pull up a seat and colour within the provided activity books.
You’ll even find pre-stamped Christmas cards bearing a resemblance of Santa’s Timber Block cabin, ready to send to friends or family who couldn’t make it to the log cabin. For the child who doesn’t want to tell Santa his extensive gift list there is a handy mailbox right in the cabin too.
Like past visits with Santa at the Toronto Eaton Centre the kids enjoyed one-on-one visits with the wish list fulfiller but the cabin set-up make it a more relaxed and personal experience. There was even hot cocoa and cookies to enjoy. The fifteen-minute session means lots of photo opportunities too, with Santa and just hanging in the cabin. You can even grab a photo of the family in Santa’s sleigh right outside the camera or as one of the ornaments on Santa’s tree.
A visit with Santa is the perfect way to start the holiday season and having the Eaton Centre right outside of Santa’s cabin door means you can get a little Christmas shopping done and wrapped too (for free). You can visit Santa in his Toronto Eaton Centre log cabin during community Fridays, no reservation required, on December 6, 2013 from 4p.m. to 8 p.m. and December 20, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Even if you can’t make it down to the Toronto Eaton Centre Santa is always available for a Skype conversation.
Sponsored by the Toronto Eaton Centre though opinions expressed are my own.