Between the five loads of Christmas decorations you’re lugging out of storage tonight … and the Thanksgiving side dishes you have to start tomorrow … and the seven gifts on your Christmas list you’ll be
scurrying around town to shop for this weekend … the holidays are a lot to
handle.
Here’s a blueprint to make things just a little easier.
A few tips, suggestions and insider info about French Lick
Resort’s holiday season, which officially kicks off this Friday with our 50 Days of Lights programming from November 16 through January 6:
Take care of your
Christmas card photo
We're in the process of decorating the whole resort to the hilt in
time for the tree lightings this weekend at French Lick and West Baden, so use the
opportunity to round up the family and snap a photo to use on your 2018
Christmas cards.
You won’t be waging the annual battle against time when it’s
the second week of December and you’re still getting the decorations up at
home. And you won’t be tempted to recycle that photo from last Christmas before
your toddler grew by 4 inches. Plus, a 40-foot-tall Christmas tree (like you
find at West Baden Springs Hotel) never looks too shabby on a Christmas card.
Get a jump on the
line for Santa
If you’ve ever been here for the Friday night tree lighting
at French Lick Springs Hotel, you know it’s one of our busiest nights of the
year. And if you’ve ever gotten in the line for Santa Claus immediately after
the tree lighting, you know that it fills up dozens and dozens deep faster than
you can snap your fingers.
You can still enjoy the best of both. Scope out a spot for
the tree lighting on the veranda or somewhere near the front entrance of the
hotel, and after the lights come on, book it inside and through the Event
Center hallway to beat the initial rush for Santa. Ahhh … isn’t not waiting in
line the best gift of all?
Speaking of Santa…
Skip the mayhem of the mall. See Santa here instead.
The jolly guy is here every Saturday from 2-5pm from November
17 through December 22 to hear wish lists. (Be sure to have a camera or cell phone on hand to snap your own pics.) St. Nick is making other appearances here,
too — our Breakfast with Santa runs from 9:30-10:30am every Saturday from December
1-22 in The Grand Colonnade Restaurant.
Free for the taking
Your checking account balance at the holidays is frightful.
But free things are so delightful.
The holiday choirs at each hotel on Saturdays during the
holiday season are free shows, including the school choirs that evoke the
feeling of voices cascading from the heavens as their sound spills down from
the second-level mezzanine to the bustling lobby below. At West Baden Springs
Hotel, the Dickens Carolers — with their flowing velvet dresses, top hats and
coat tails — look like they came with the hotel originally when it was built in
the early 1900s.
Among the other free holiday attractions at the resort:
n
Both Christmas tree lightings (November 16 at
French Lick Springs Hotel with complimentary hot chocolate and cookies;
November 17 at West Baden Springs Hotel; both at 7pm)
n
Story Time and Cookie Decorating with Mrs. Claus
(every Friday and Saturday from 6:30-8pm; November 23-December 22)
Polar Express is
tough ticket
The mystique about the Polar Express must be spreading,
because tickets for the themed train ride go quicker and quicker every year.
The Polar Express rides offered through the French Lick Scenic Railway have begun with its 26
different run dates in November and December. But be warned, many dates have long been sold out, including all the Friday and Saturday slots.
To check availability, log on to www.frenchlickscenicrailway.com, or check out French Lick Resort's Polar Express packages combining the train ride with an overnight hotel stay. If you don’t have Polar Express tickets for 2018, you can already book 2019 Polar Express tickets for next winter to ensure you've got a seat to the North Pole.
Hang on to the holiday
magic
The post-holidays bummer hits hard every year, but the
season always lasts a little longer here.
An underrated time to visit? Try January 2 through 6. The
regular holiday madness will be in the rearview mirror, though all our holiday
decorations and half-million Christmas lights remain up until the final two
days of our 50 Days of Lights the weekend of January 5-6. You’ve still got the
feel of the holidays, with a more laid-back vibe and some of our best rates of
the year.