What it’s like to visit Santa at Macy’s Santaland in New York City

Visit Santa at Macy’s Santaland New York City – the home of Miracle on 34th Street.  

There is no better place to start your Christmas countdown with the children in New York than at Macy’s Santaland, it was such a memorable experience.

We love the movie Miracle on 34th Street and this is the store that this iconic movie was based on, so we had to check out the animatronic displays from Macy’s old Miracle on 34th Street windows before our visit to Santa.

Tip – For 2021 Macy’s Santaland will run from Nov 26–Dec 24 

Macy’s Santaland has been a tradition in this famous store in New York since 1902 with 13,000 square-feet of the 8th floor transformed into Santaland.  The North Pole Express was the start of our journey.

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At the magical Christmas Village we got to chat to Santa’s elves before crossing a rainbow bridge and walking through the Christmas forest.  On our journey we saw giant toy soldiers, mounds of artificial snow and Santa’s sleigh overflowing with gifts.

Tip – Bring your own camera/phone. There are so many great photo opportunities as you journey throughout Santaland. 

We followed the signs for the North Pole until we reached a little wooden cabin where we got to meet Santa himself.

Best of all a visit to Santa is free although there are photo packages starting at $20.99 (we also took our own photos).  Reservations are essential and I would recommend booking a slot (which is free) as soon as they are released on the Macy’s website.

Look for the “Believe Stations”

If you can’t get into Santaland, then dotted around the store are “Believe Stations” with a letter writing area and a Believe Meter which tracks Christmas magic.

Here children can write their Christmas wish lists and post them to Santa in the official R.H. Macy Santa mailbox and for each letter posted Macy’s donates $1 to the Make-A-Wish foundation.

 

2 Comments
  1. Hi, can you tell me which experience you would take 4 young believers to? They are 3,4,6 and 9, we have one day in the city and I don’t know if we should do Santaland or trattoria. Thank you!

    1. I would so Trattoria, much more immersive experience. Both are excellent though, kids would love them both.

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