'Magical' and interactive holiday light show brings Santa and his elves to Gainesville
Living in the Sunshine State, where a white Christmas is a rarity, it can sometimes be difficult to truly get into the holiday spirit.
A new experience coming to Gainesville this holiday season, however, hopes to make those feelings shine a little bit brighter.
Beginning Nov. 17, families are invited to enjoy a little Christmas magic and visit Gainesville's "Winter Wonderland," a new interactive show with over 100,000 synchronized lights.
“People will come in, and everything they see will be magical,” said Tom Snogles, the director and creator of the event. “They’re going to think, ‘I'm actually in the North Pole.’ ”
Tickets to the walk-through spectacle, held every Friday and Saturday night through Dec. 30 at the North Central Florida YMCA, 5201 NW 34th Blvd., are $15, and include games, the light show and customizable Christmas cookies. An Elf pass is available for $40, and includes general admission, a professional photo with Santa and an interactive magic wand.
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Tickets are available online at winterwonderlandfl.com and are sold by timed entry beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Intricate technology supports the light show, which Snogles said was important to give visitors a sense of true Christmas magic. The wands use RFID technology, which allows the user to trigger different effects when a button is pressed in designated areas.
The effects include a snow machine, cows that start singing, lights turning on and more.
Snogles, the director of operations for Twinkle Nights Holiday Lights, a Christmas light service in Gainesville, also uses a pixel-based light system, a technology relatively new to north Florida that allows the creator to have complete control of the lights and code them to synchronize the designs to the music playing.
“Even in Tallahassee, their big display is mostly minis, C9s and C7 wire frames. They are very bright but not really pixels,” said David Atlas, the event's resident Santa Claus. “They might have a pixel tree or two out there, but nothing like this.”
On top of the light show, guests can send a letter to Santa and watch it fly off to the North Pole, as well as talk with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Atlas said he's happy to be able to share this experience with families and visitors.
“I’m excited to see everyone here, getting people's reactions to it and being able to make everyone happy and bring a little bit of joy and Christmas spirit,” he said.
Additionally, Elf actors will be be running a gift shop — giving attendees another opportunity to buy a magic wand — and helping out around the event.
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Tropical Sno will be on hand every night with themed drinks for purchase such as hot chocolate and peppermint coffee. They also will be selling snowballs to throw at an interactive snowmen projection. A different food truck also will be on site each night of the event.
Snogles hopes the entire experience creates a magical time for his visitors.
“I just want everyone to have a great experience and continue to come back again,” Snogles said. “We'll just keep growing year after year.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Winter wonderland holiday light show Gainesville Florida at YMCA
