Every family has their own traditions for the holidays and it is a special way to celebrate the season.  One of our traditions is to get a picture of our kids with Santa.  We always love seeing the smiles and excitement in our kids eyes when they see him and all of the Christmas decorations.  We even love looking back at the not so smiley pictures when our kids were really little and they are staring at Santa with a face of confusion and possibly terror about who this big jolly fellow is.  As part of our tradition we get our pictures with Santa at Bass Pro Shops each year.  We started going to Bass Pro Shops a few years ago because we saw they had a Christmas event called Santa’s Wonderland that not only includes getting our picture, but also some other fun activities.   

One of the great things about getting pictures done at Bass Pro Shops is that you can make an appointment in advance.  I will admit one of my least favorite things about Santa Pictures is having to wait in a long line and having to try and entertain the kids while we wait!  Nothing makes my two year old less happy than having to wait a long time in line with nothing to do!  Having an advance reservation at Bass Pro Shops makes the wait much shorter and you know you will get your time with Santa. You can find details about Santa’s Wonderland and how to make reservations here: https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/santas-wonderland.  

This year we visited the Bass Pro Shops location in Round Rock, TX.  Our reservation was for a Sunday afternoon and it was not too crowded.  I will say we scheduled our Santa visit in November before the busier month of December so the wait may be a little longer the closer you get to Christmas.  I know the store will be busier as everyone rushes to get their shopping done!  We walked in and went right to get in line for our pictures.  We only had to wait about five minutes before it was our turn which was great!  Our time with Santa was quick, but both of my kids had a chance to talk with him and we got a nice picture.  One of the other awesome things about Bass Pro Shops is you get a free 4×6 picture that you get to take home right away.  They also give you the option to purchase different photo packages.  I think it is great that the picture with Santa is free because it takes the pressure off of trying to make it a perfect picture with the kids and they don’t try to force you into buying more pictures.  You can also provide your email address so you can decide if you want to purchase the pictures at a later time.

After our visit with Santa my eight year old enjoyed playing some of the games in Santa’s Wonderland and my two year old had fun building with the Lincoln Logs they had laid out on a table.  There are also toys all around for purchase and some cute Christmas decorations.  We have been going to Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops for about 6 years and I have to say this was one of the smaller setups and did not have as many activities as we have seen in the past.  This could be because of Covid or it could just be because this location has a smaller event.  Each Bass Pro Shop that we have visited for Santa’s Wonderland has been a little different so it is possible that another Bass Pro Shop in Texas may have more activities setup.

After we finished visiting Santa’s Wonderland we decided to walk around the rest of the store.  One of the greatest things about Bass Pro Shops is that they have a large fish tank and animal statues all around.  When my eight year old was growing up we would often go to Bass Pro Shops as an activity to see the fish and look at all of the boats and 4-wheelers.  My two year old also loved exploring the store.  The fish tank is a kid magnet and there were many kids going right up to the glass.  Once we got our fill of seeing the fish and checking out all of the animal statues we decided to head out.  The last fun attraction at Bass Pro Shops are the small waterfalls outside.  My two year old watched those for a while when we were waiting for his older brother to finish inside the store.  There is something about waterfalls and water fountains that both of my kids love so this is just one other thing that makes this store unique.

As we all know there are many options for where to take your family’s Santa pictures and each one is unique in its own way.  Bass Pro Shops Santa’s Wonderland may not be the fanciest setup to take pictures with Santa, however it works for our family.  We appreciate the ability to make a reservation in advance as well as being able to take the picture for free and decide later if we want to purchase more prints.  We also enjoy just walking around the store and seeing all of the interesting decorations.  It is hard to believe that December is almost here, but all I have to say is bring on the holiday cheer! Happy Holidays!