Santa Sightings in Southwest Denver

When your child LOVES the jolly man with a beard you make sure you go see him as much as possible! So this year we found Santa 6 times, yes you heard right s.i.x times with a couple honorable mentions!

1. Adventure to Santa at the Southwest Plaza Mall

We decided to try the mall Santa this year because I thought the theme looked really cute. I pre-purchased a package because I wasn't quite sure what to expect with the experience. We arrived, checked-in and soon started our adventure. My favorite part was the sleigh ride to the North Pole, which was a fun mini-Imax experience. Once we arrived to the North Pole, families could make digital cards while waiting for their turn to see Santa. Since this was our first Santa, my oldest son was so excited to see him. So excited that when it was time to leave he wanted a kiss from Santa! My youngest was not having anything to do with Santa so he stayed close to me! If you do the pre-sign up, Santa knows your child's name up front and also what their Christmas list is. Very cool personalization to the experience!

You can certainly walk up to the mall to sign-up for a Santa adventure without paying anything, but go on an off-time so you aren't waiting a long time. Other downside to this is you won't get a picture memory as no personal photography is allowed.



I signed up for this salon's E-mail after getting a haircut there for my birthday last year. So one of their newsletters was them having Santa and it was open to the public to stop by and take a picture. They also had a photography studio taking pictures too and they gave you the option to use the photo they took to make an ornament. But they were very kind and welcoming and I could stand right next to them with  my own camera taking as many pictures as I wanted. Which I did because I had to get the perfect crying toddler picture!




3. Wal-Mart

Reid took Carson out on some Christmas errands and said they ran in to Santa at the Wal-Mart near Bowles and Lowell. No pictures on this one but he gave Santa a hug and asked for another kiss.

4. Aspen Grove

I saw a Facebook event for a horse-drawn carriage ride with Santa. How fun does that sound? So I told my 3 year old we were going to go find daddy a Christmas present and left everything else a big surprise! As with anything that is free, there was a bit of a wait. So as we waited, the first time the horse came around my son got so excited. But that excitement wasn't anything to when he saw Santa in the carriage! He was more than happy to wait 30ish minutes for the ride. (If you want to judge how much your wait time is, each carriage ride lasted about 6 minutes). Santa even gave out a little gift at the end. You could pick glow-in-the dark stickers or candy.


5. Little Zags

Last year I found a group on Facebook called Gonzaga University: Denver Chapter and was so excited to see them do events for children. So when I saw they were going to do a Santa visit at The Streets at SouthGlenn we were there! We went to this location last year when it was open to the public, and it was so crazy that we didn't even wait in line so I love when events like this are planned. The decorations this year were so cute and of course my 3 year old was still beyond excited to see Santa (and get a candy cane) and my 1 year old got the courage to at least tell Santa hi (still right by mommy's side).




Our last Santa stop was on the Georgetown Loop Railroad where Carson and Reid had a weekday date. Get your tickets early! Carson was so excited to tell me about his jingle bell Santa gave him!

Honorable Mentions: places we saw Santa but did not 'visit' him

Downtown Littleton Tree Lighting: despite the busy streets, we found our place and waited for Santa to ride by in the parade.

Denver Parade of Lights: unfortunately I was standing in line for hot chocolate so I did not get to see the excitement when Santa drove by, ending the parade.





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