Last Saturday morning I got the opportunity to meet up with some other Cincinnati bloggers and check out Santa’s Workshop with the kids at Newport on the Levee.
First stop? The Shillito’s Elves. If you are local, you may remember this from years ago. They had a long history here, but disappeared in the eighties and changed hands a few times. Now they have been restored and are back in action to delight you this holiday season.
The scenes were fun to check out. Two were restored in 2010, but now there are quite a few more…I didn’t count them all! But they start with the Elves receiving your letter to Santa, lead you through the workshop (building toys and painting them) and then the toys are packed in crates and finally end up on Santa’s sleigh. There is also a weather-watching scene where the Elves are keeping an eye on things around the globe.
My kids enjoyed it and giggled a bit here and there. Particularly at one Elf who kept painting another Elf instead of a toy!
My pictures of this part aren’t the greatest because I was juggling the three kids with no stroller, my iPad (afraid I’d drop my “real” camera), my fourth kid dad, a way-too-heavy bag, etc. So you must go see it for yourself.
Then we went over to the Lego Train Display section. Extremely cool and creative. You can see Charlotte checking out Santa and his reindeer below.
You actually want to start your tour here because there is an area to write your letter to Santa. Then you can go over to the Elves display and put your letter in the mailbox!
It even had a drive-in movie theater and it was actually playing The Polar Express!
Charlotte insisted on this photo to end the morning:
Afterwards we headed to Dewey’s for lunch. It was definitely worth the trip down to the Levee. Tickets are $7/person and children three and under are free. Your ticket gets you admission to the Lego Train Display, the Elves scenes from Santa’s Workshop, viewing of a Dickens Village (also impressive) AND a 30-minute pass to Gameworks for video games.
For hours and directions, visit the Santa’s Workshop website.
Many, many thanks to my new bloggy friend Andi for connecting me to 365Cincinnati who invited me on this tour. My family loved it!
