225BatonRouge.com

It’s going to snow this Christmas inside the Mall of Louisiana.

This holiday season the Mall of Louisiana introduces some fresh new wrinkles to the Santa experience that should shorten the wait in that interminably long line for Santa pictures.

The mall has hired one of the top notch “Santa” to preside over Santastic, a new interactive Christmas experience that debuts in the mall’s center court Nov. 16. This wintry village is full of illusion and surprises.

The man in red will magically arrive each morning by chimney to his chair. While waiting their turn to meet him, children will have plenty to do in Santastic village. They can try their luck at the Naughty or Nice Meter, mail a letter to the North Pole, watch toys being made, or enjoy icy indoor snow flurries scented with mint and hot cocoa. Automatic cameras and photographers are stationed throughout to candidly capture kids faces as they work their way through the village (those photos, of course, cost extra).

“The holiday experience of old was one of standing in a long and boring line only to have a quick snap shot and a brief moment with Santa,” says Mall of Louisiana spokesman Brent A. Sims. “The future is an interactive and multi-experiential concept that brings the magic back.” malloflouisiana.com