Planning Santa's Visit
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How to book Santa
Santa takes bookings up to one year in advance. Please book your reservation as early as possible in order to have the best selection of available dates. Santa is available for personal appearances throughout the year. Christmas season dates fill quickly. Don’t miss out. Book your event early.
The minimum booking window is 30 minutes. For multi-hour visits, the hours following the first hour are discounted by $25 per hour.
For rates and booking details, contact Santa via the sleigh phone or email. Santa or Mrs. Claus will contact you as soon as possible to discuss dates, times and rates. Once an agreement is made, Santa or Mrs. Claus will send you the contract via email. Once received, be sure to carefully review your contract and the deposit policy.
Events are not considered booked until the signed contract is exchanged with Santa along with the advised deposit. When you have received his signed contract in return, you can be sure that your event is on Santa's Calendar.
If Santa is not available for your date and time, and there is not a compromise that can be reached, Santa will forward your date and time request to his local network of Santa friends to see if another Santa can meet your need. We do this as a courtesy to you and our local Santa friends. We are not a booking agency and do not take any responsibility for the communications or actions that result from that referral.
If we provide a referral, we do request that, for future events, you give us another opportunity to meet your needs.
Santa hopes that this particular provision never has to be acted upon. However, Santa is still subject to human frailties. If Santa has an emergency that prevents his appearance, we will notify you as soon as humanly possible. We will make every effort to have the event attended by a Santa from our local network of Santa friends. If one of our Santa friends fulfills the obligation, your financial responsibility will remain the same. If we are unable to find a replacement, we will fully refund your deposit.
When planning your event, please allow 20-30 minutes leeway for Santa’s arrival. Santa travels by car between appointments. This can be affected by weather, distance and traffic. Santa will call you when he is five minutes away so that you can make preparations for his arrival.
Santa's time starts the minute he arrives at your door, and is limited to the time window contracted in advance. We will send you Santa's Tips for a Successful Visit along with your contract. Please read as this will help to ensure that you are organized and that there is enough time for the important things to happen during your visit.
It is important for Santa to leave on time so that he can make a timely appearance at his next appointment. If your event is Santa’s last appointment and he agrees to stay longer than the contracted time, there will be additional costs for his time based on the standard rates.
Please note: Children's attention to Santa can be very limited. They usually want to tell Santa only certain things. Once they are done, they quickly lose interest. Santa needs to remain the magical loving character that he is. Therefore, once you see that the children have moved on to another activity or lost interest, please encourage Santa to take his leave till next year.
The remaining contract balance is due at the end of Santa’s visit. It never looks appropriate when someone gives cash to Santa. Therefore, the remaining balance due should be placed in a Christmas card. As Santa is departing, hand him the envelope and say, “Thank you Santa, and here is a Christmas card from all of us.”
This is the perfect time to tell Santa that you would like him to come back next year, either verbally or as a note in the Christmas card. Let Santa know if he should call you to make the arrangements for the next year. If you already know your date and time for next year, please note it in the Christmas card. Since Santa and Mrs. Claus are extremely busy during the Christmas season, it may be early January before you hear from them.
If you think Santa has done an especially nice service for your family or group, please feel free to show him your appreciation with a tip. The tip should be placed in the Christmas card along with the balance due.
Tell Santa about the Children
If possible, tell Santa about the children before the visit. Send this as an email. Santa will slip this into his Naughty and Nice book before your event. This will help greatly to make the visit magical. Below are some suggestions. We don't need all of this. Just include what you think is appropriate.
- Child's first name
- Is there any special nickname
- Child's age
- Something for Santa to praise.
- Something for Santa to encourage.
- Somrthing that would be magical for Santa to know.
Make it even more magical. Tell Santa about the adults attending and some special Christmas memory of which Santa can remind them. This is especially fun with Grandparents or other older family members. After all, Santa brought them toys as a child also and should remember them. Include unusual details like Grandma’s pretty red hair or Grandpa’s special cowboy costume. Think of things that it would be magical for Santa to know.
Visit Preparation
Prepare your children for the upcoming visit:
Prior to the visit, tell them stories about Santa. Show them pictures in story books so that Santa’s fur and beard will not be scary during the visit.
Remember that you have taught them to avoid and be wary of strangers. Then here comes a big guy in a funny red suit with lots of fur and a big beard. It is only logical that they would be confused about why you would want them to sit on his lap while you step away out safe reach. Even as they stand before him, he is still two times taller than them sitting down. It is reasonable for them to be intimidated.
15 minutes before Santa arrives, be prepared for the visit:
Now this should go without saying…
Ensure your children are well fed, had the chance to go to the bathroom and get cleaned up. Parents should clean up soiled diapers, runny noses, sticky faces and hands before Santa arrives. Please do not allow the children to have food or drink near Santa.
Not only are these situations uncomfortable and a question of hygiene, but colors run and could potentially ruin a very expensive Santa suit. Santa’s suit requires custom cleaning with a specific cleaning company. This takes several days. A stained suit can have repercussions lasting far longer than your event. At the very least, this can cause a lengthy uncomfortable interruption.
As much as I hated to bring up this part, it's more common than you might guess.
Once you have received the call advising that Santa is 5 minutes away:
Quietly send out the assigned helper to help Santa get the presents in his bag and to come in the proper door.
Gather the children and the adults in a central location for Santa's arrival. This builds the excitement and allows Santa to play up to the crowd. Sing Christmas carols or read a story. Santa can arrive subtly and join in the song or ask question about the story. Alternatively, Santa can come in jingling loudly and making a grand entrance.
When Santa arrives, remember that your children may need time to feel OK about Santa. Let your children just be in proximity of Santa for a while. Let them wave, make eye contact. Allow them to familiarize themselves with Santa while Santa spends a few minutes doing a magic trick or telling a story.
When the time for pictures and individual visits arrives, remember that there is no pressure to have the children sit on Santa's knee. If they are not ready, don't force it. Santa can visit just as well with the children standing in front of him. Santa also brings a stool that the children can stand or sit on for both visiting and taking a picture.