The Santa Experience happens every year at the Mall of America, not far from out home. Santa not only sees children, he sets aside a few evenings for dogs to bark at him about their Christmas wishes. Mom chose December 2nd for us to head to the mall to see Santa Sid. There were no appointments, just a time of 7:30 – 9:30 pm.
We didn’t want to arrive too early because dogs are not allowed in the mall normally. Mom was afraid if we were early they would ask us to leave. That was the first incorrect assumption. We parked at 7:15 right by the Macy’s entrance and headed in. The store was a bit frightening at first! So big, bright, full of stuff, and slippery flooring. Just outside the door was The Santa Experience line. Not even starting time, and there were at least thirty dogs ahead of us!
As we waited in line, dogs and people were constantly trying to interact with us. My mom was irritated as she didn’t want us playing with dogs while waiting, and Bailie really wanted to just be left alone. I did my Walmart greeter impression and said “hi” to every human who passed by. My cuteness is something I enjoy flaunting. The line was not moving at all. Eventually it was 8 pm, and all the stores closed their doors. We were still in a line that was not moving. Bailie was getting really irritated as you can see from her always expressive eyes. Even I was beginning to tire of the situation, and was actually lying down a lot.
Finally at about 9:40, we were allowed to see Santa Claus. He was on the floor, so we didn’t have to squeeze onto his lap. Our leashes were removed, and we had about a minute to tell him what was on our list this year. He told us he has four dogs at home that he misses terribly this time of year. Both of us found him to be a real nice guy. After over two hours of waiting, we had our two minutes for a visit, and were on our way. We bought one 5×7 photo. Mom wanted a digital photo, but that cost $85, and that is not a typo! The photo you see is a photo of our photo.
Now for the good news about The Santa Experience. The mall was closed when we left, so we got to wander around a bit on our way out. You know I’m a tech hound with my real name being Ethos Intel Inside, so it was only natural for me to pose for a photo by the Microsoft store. I don’t do Apple at all, no Iphone, Ipad, or MAC for our house.
We took the Sponge Bob Round No Pants photo on our way out of the Mall too. Then Mom said we should just take a photo of both of us in the mall with no people, nothing going on. I mean seriously, who goes to the mall when it is closed? It was super fun to just wander around for a while in the closed mall, and look for fun stuff.
Back home, Mom had to frame our Santa masterpiece, and she decided to haul out previous pup photos with Santa. The dog in the middle is Trine. She had her photo taken in 1995. The other photo is Katie and Emma. They went to a different mall to see Santa their first Christmas in the USA, in 2007. I don’t think we will visit The Santa Experience again for a very long time, but it was definitely an experience, and it was much better than any PetCo or PetSmart Santa set up we have ever tried.
Such a beautiful picture!! I am glad you guys had fun. Sometimes only one visit is enough to create great memories.
We don’t need to go every year, that is for sure.
That’s a great photo! Dang, $85 for a photo sounds a bit greedy to me.
Well that is the digital version. They want you to buy photos and cards from them, not print your own.
This is awesome! But you had to wait 2 hours? You girls are so patient! We love your photo! And you got to go to the mall. You lucky hounds! Have a great day. your friend Lilly
We waited over two hours. It was crazy, but when you are in line and have already waited a long time, why give up? There are other mall Santas with appointments. We might do that instead if we decide to visit Mr. Claus again some day. Mom was just happy to get us into the MOA, that alone was worth the wait.
you saw him and we love his shirt… he looks funny and very festive… we probably get no photo with Santa, the french Pere Noel is not brave enough to meet us ;O)
You boys might be a bit much for Santa. Emma tried to pull off Santa’s beard one year, and she was always so well behaved.
Not the best, but I guess not the worst experience either. You ended up with a great photo.
The photo came out fine, and we got to tour the mall a little bit.
Oh my…you got to meet Santy Paws in the furs!!!!! Did you give him a list….did he say you were good and would get everythingy you wanted????? Oh gosh, I am beside myself, meeting Santy Paws has gotta be just the bestest!
Loves and licky kisses
Princess Leah xxx
We have met him before, but this time was a bit different. He is super nice, and I think we will get what we asked for.
I, personally, despise shopping malls, so none of my dogs have ever been to one to see Santa. But, they have visited Santa in other places, including PetSmart in 2005.
Love your photo! You girls look so cute sitting with Santa! As for the $85 digital photo, I’m with Brian – that’s just plain greedy.
We have been to PetSmart and PetCo to see Santa, but it has always been really cheesy, or a disaster. This was much more orderly, just slow. It was a bummer they charge so much for a digital photo, but I guess they want people to buy everything they sell and not print their own.
It is amazing how much they ould charge for a picture and I’m sure yours is better. Glad the girls got to experience the mall. I would love to see it.
They want to sell their photos and not have people printing their own, but that was a bummer.
Our local mall did this last week, for the 1st time ever. I only took one of the collies, but we had fun. I’ll write about it either tonight or tomorrow. 🙂
You couldn’t take your own photo, as they had their photographer there. It is a money making event for them.
That’s a long wait for a two minute visit, but what a shot. Adorable.
I linked this post to Awww Mondays.
Have a woof woof day. My best to your peeps. ♥
Thank you. At least we got to wander the mall a bit. That was more important for my mom than the Santa visit since we are normally not allowed in the Mall of America.
You both handled the wait, the people, and the stress so beautifully. I would have had my meltdown immediately as I do not care for crowds and strangers. That is a beautiful picture of my BGV buddies! XOXO, Sparkle
OOPS!! GBGV buddies!
We are used to lots of waiting for our sports stuff. Mom was more impatient than we were, but we all survived.
That picture surely was worth waiting for – it is beautiful !
My mom would not have been happy if there hadn’t been one good photo from all that waiting. I think she would have demanded another turn!
well, I think the photo was worth the wait. You girls held up beautifully. Hope your mom did as well. The digital fee is outlandish!!!
Thank you. We were all pretty exhausted after all the waiting and stuff, but we still had the energy to tour the mall a little bit.
Of course, Luke could never do something like that, and it’s probably just as well, since standing in line waiting is definitely not my thing! Wandering around the empty mall looks like fun though, and your collection of photos is great!
My mom was the most impatient of us three. She probably won’t do that Santa thing again unless there is an appt. to be scheduled, but checking out the mall made it worthwhile.
$85 for a photo! OMD!! I love how you posted your Santa photos! Wonderful Santa memories!
We know they don’t want people printing their own pics for cheap, so that is why it is so expensive, but we still find it a bit unfair.
Oh my DOG! Y’all met the REAL Santa Paws! We are so impressed.
We have met him on our own at PetCo or PetSmart when we were puppies, but Mom wanted us to meet him together and at the Mall of America, so we have that checked off our list now.
Yikes what an experience. Picture looks great!
An experience it was. At least the photo came out pretty good.
I love seeing Trine since she was part newf. I took Tyler who wouldn’t go near the man with that hugh beard, neither would lexie or Mica. So all our Santa pictures have Santa in back, then me then my dogs. I haven’t even tried with Aspen. Your pictures look very good though, especially after such a long wait 🙂
Getting into the room with Santa kind of woke us up after the long wait. None of Mom’s dogs have ever been scared of Santa. Emma tried to rip his beard off one year, and she wasn’t even a puppy, but otherwise, it has always gone well. The pet store Santas are never that good which is why Mom wanted to try the one at the MOA, but she says the waiting was for the birds. We didn’t even see any birds. We never knew Trine, but hear she was a wonderful girl.
I definitely wouldn’t pay the $85 either. If you want to dogitalise the photo you can use a scanner and it will upload it to your computer.
Merlin has met santa before, but he was scared of the beard.
$85…WOW! Over priced and a long wait…ugh..but the picture of you with Santa did turn out nice!
xoxo,
Rosy, Jakey & Arty
Mom says they don’t want to sell the digital photos because they want to sell their own prints. We get that, but for a blogger type like us, it is a bummer.
At least it was a great photo!
And we got to walk around inside the MOA when it was closed.
I love the photo of Bailie throwing shade while she waited in line. I think the whole thing would have left me very frustrated. And that sticker price for the digital photo? Outrageous. Where do they get off charging that much?
Your picture with Santa did come out nice though. I bet Mom is glad she has those other Santa pictures to honor those who have passed.
The night was an experience, but the best part of all was having us in a huge shopping mall and letting us experience that. The photo is not bad either.