North Pole, the New York state's edition :)

So to continue with some more of our trip to Lake Placid, NY... On our way to the Whiteface Mountain we passed a sight pointing to "North Pole". I immediately told hubby that will be our next stop after going up & down the mountain. After a bit of reluctance, he agreed.

(click on images to enlarge)

Welcome to the North Pole!
(one of many around the world)

Only a short ride away, we drove up to the parking lot of Santa's Workshop. I gotta admit, it's a bit weird to  be there surrounded by "elves" wearing Christmas hats when it's +20C outside and you're wearing sandals! :) To be honest, I forget how much our admission was, but our under-2 toddler was free-of-charge (which is funny, considering that most of the things inside are focused on entertaining children).

Inside the village you will find Santa's House, Santa's Reindeer Barn and Santa's Bake Shop along with many other "huts"

Anyhow, the inside of the park reminded me of the time I was a kid, going to park to ride some of those Soviet-era roller coasters - many of them could use a fresh coat of paint and some screech so loudly, it actually scared our kid! Some activities were great though - Christmas Carousel, Choo-Choo Train that did a few laps around, the Reindeer barn - there, you could pet and feed Dasher and Prancer and Vixen, etc. only Rudolf was MIA..., tons of workshops where you could build a little toy, have some pastries, get a personalized elf hat; they also have a great selection of Christmas tree decorations...

Tip: Pick up a paper snowman on a stick for each of your kids! Each workshop you visit will stamp it for them (no purchase necessary). These snowmen are available at every shop, it'll make a nice keepsake for the kids.

Missy's favourite was a bouncy castle. Though REALLY skeptical at first, we couldn't get her out of these after she got into all the bouncing!

All in all, it was a great way to spend an afternoon, so I would recommend it for the kiddies :)

Cheers,