Northlake Mall: Adventure to Santa

'Tis the season to round up the kids for their annual picture with Santa. We were invited for an interactive, exciting new take on Christmas pictures with Santa at the the Northlake Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina. They're hosting Dreamworks 'Adventure to Santa', which is an innovative digital holiday experience for kids of all ages.

It's recommended that you make reservations for your adventure online here to help reduce your wait, and avoid any long Santa-lines.

You'll join Po from Kung Fu Panda and venture with him and his cast of friends on a journey to the North Pole to deliver cookies to Santa. The 'Adventure to Santa' is located near the food court, but on the first floor - the digital village that houses the adventure is quite breath-taking. All sides feature digital screens that show silly holiday scenes with Po and his friends. 

After we made reservations online in advance, we signed in at the front desk and received our passport to the North Pole. We waited outside of the large red doors, the kids bouncing in anticipation of seeing Santa.

The first room introduced Po, who explained our mission. The kids got to play on digital screens and help Po collect points before we moved into the next room for the sleigh portion of the adventure.

Next, we all loaded into a sleigh in front of an IMAX-like screen. Then we were off, there was some rumbling of the sleigh as we sky-rocketed to the North Pole. The older two were grinning from ear to ear, but little bits at 20 months wasn't as keen. My husband was able to stand up with her and then she was fine until we arrived at the North Pole.

The third room allowed our kids to create a printable holiday card by donning Po with custom faces, clothes, accessories and their names. My kids handed each of theirs out to their cousins at a family gathering, and felt very big and important doing so.

The final room was where the man, the myth, the legend - Santa- sat in his North Pole study ready to listen toy hopes and desires. We all sat and took pictures - perhaps little bit's face gives away how she felt about Santa this year - but the older ones just adored this experience.

We had booked the Top Flight Package, and with this package they included one of the coolest things I've seen - a high resolution video of the kid's interactions with Santa that they gave us on a jump drive, as well as the digital images and printed photos.

You can check out the price points and what's included for each package below. I've looked around, and at first glance the prices look a little steep, but if you compare the prices for Adventure to Santa to any other mall Santa package in the Charlotte area, you'll quickly see that you get a much more immersive experience. 

At the end of the visit Santa gifted each of the kids these adorable plates they can set out with cookies for him on Christmas Eve. 

*Mom About Charlotte Disclosure: We were given the Top-Flight Package to facilitate the review, but as always all opinions are my own. I tell all venues/events etc. that I review, that  I only share what I love with my readers.