With its rosy cheeks and its definitely-knows-too-much eyes, the Elf on the Shelf has become a Christmastime staple in living rooms. And now, it’s become an IRL holiday event, too.
The event debuted last year as a drive-through, but for 2021 it’s returning to Fairplex for a walk-through. This time around, you’ll wander through a Christmas village (with shopping and dining), glide around an ice skating rink (for an extra $20, with skate rentals), hop onto a trolley ride and venture on-foot past festive scenic displays at elf-scale (a rendering for the event shows a candy cane bridge over a river of milk and cookies, and a winding path through overstuffed mail bags of letters to Santa).
The pricing and length remain the same ($25 for about 45 minutes, depending on the date), but otherwise expect a considerably different setup compared to last year’s event. Tickets go on sale September 21 at 11am.
Last year’s car-based event (as pictured in all of the photos above) was the first Christmas drive-through we visited for the season (and ever, really), and we found it to have much more of an emphasis on live actors compared to other similar events (think: delightfully-committed elves measuring your car’s Christmas spirit, juggling pins or balancing on a tightrope of oversized lights—and even one who’ll accept your letter to Santa). We did wish there were more over-the-top light displays throughout, but hopefully this year’s will bump up the lighting. We also found that, since it’s a toy tie-in, the experience wass aimed squarely at kids, to the point that there wasn’t really enough for childless Angelenos to validate a visit.
Check out our footage of last year’s drive-through event below.
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