Las Vegas Christmas

Sin City may not seem like the ideal spot to visit during the Christmas holiday, but it’s important to remember that this desert metropolis is the Entertainment Capital of the World.

Las Vegas can provide a wide variety of experiences to tourists, but it can rarely provide a genuine white Christmas. The NOAA National Climate Data Center looked at almost three decades of weather and determined the city had a .3% chance of having at least one inch of snow on the ground and a .2% chance of having at least .1 inches of snowfall on Christmas Day.

Snow aside, organizations that take up residence in the city host wintery events in an attempt to recreate the traditional Christmas experience. On the following pages, the staff of Thunderground will provide our favorite places to visit.

Every year, the Ethel M Chocolates Factory decorates its cactus garden for the holiday season.

Photo by Billy Clouse

Ethel M Chocolates Holiday Cactus Garden

Dates: now until January 1 (closed Christmas Eve)

Times: Lights are on from sundown to 10 p.m.

Cost: Free

Location: 2 Cactus Garden Drive, Henderson, NV 89014

Lights: Over 1 million

Attractions: Self-guided viewing aisle, Cactus garden tours, skating rink (10 a.m. to 10 p.m., prices vary from $10-$20)

Located about 15 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, the Ethel M Chocolates Factory and Botanical Cactus Garden opened in 1981.

Forrest Mars Senior named it after his mother, Ethel, who created chocolates in their home. The original recipe is still used to create the chocolates, and they are packaged by hand.

This year marks the 24th anniversary of the Christmas lighting, which takes place in the factory’s world-famous botanical garden. It has over 300 types of cacti, about half of which are native to the region. The rest are from areas in Australia and South America.

After a stroll through the garden, visitors can watch chefs create the chocolates through windows. During operation, the factory contains between 20,000 and 35,000 gallons of chocolate. As a rule, the garden is crowded during the winter months, with a large number of the one million yearly visitors coming to see the lights. Although this event is outside, it isn’t cold because of the Las Vegas weather. If you are from Cedar City or anywhere in northern Utah, you shouldn’t find the conditions to be too bad. Make sure to check the weather before going so you can dress comfortably.

Bellagio Botanical Garden

Dates: now until January 1

Times: Anytime, open 24/7

Cost: Free

Location: 3600 S. Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109

Attractions: Holiday-themed floral displays, self guided tours, musical performances, Q&A sessions with employees

Every season, horticulturalists and designers decorate the 14,000-squarefoot atrium in the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. With each display, they recycle 90 percent of the plant life.

This winter’s theme is “Holiday Glamour,” and it features a 42-foot White Fir from the Mount Shasta Forest. The almost five-ton tree has an 18-foot diameter and is the focal point of the display. Over 7,000 white LED lights and 2,500 ornaments decorate the tree, and there are seven elves putting up the final decorations.

In addition to 28,000 new poinsettias, the display includes an 18-foot tall and 14-foot wide Ice Princess made out of around 1,800 white hydrangeas. The display also includes a family of polar bears; the mother alone is made up of 12,000 carnations.

From 10:30-11:30 a.m., employees will be available to answer visitor questions. From 4:30-6 p.m., holiday performances will be hosted in the South Garden.

Winter’s Village

Dates: now until January 7

Times: Varies by day (go to wintersvillage.com) — starting December 23, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Cost: $20

Location: 2300 Paseo Verde Pkwy, Henderson, NV 89052

For the first time, Green Valley Ranch Resort has transformed its pool into a Christmas Village, which will feature more than 60 trees and a 6,000-squarefoot ice skating rink. Every Saturday through December 23, Santa will come to the village from 2-6 p.m.

Inspired to give during the holiday season, the resort will donate a portion of the revenue to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, a local nonprofit. They will also bring every child from the Ranch to the Village.

During their stay, visitors can purchase holiday treats from the resort’s executive pastry chef. These include polar bear pretzels, wonderland cupcakes and snowy cake pops.

Magical Forest

Dates: now until December 31 (closed Christmas Day)

Times: Open nightly at 5:30 p.m.

Cost: Varies, $12-$22

Location: 6300 W. Oakey Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89146

Lights: Over 3 million

Attractions: Hundreds of trees with lights, Forest Express Passenger Train, Cheyenne’s Enchanted Carousel, Boris the Elf’s Experience, Avalanche Slide, The Blizzard (new mini-coaster), Rod’s Mini-Golf, photos with Santa in his workshop

The Magical Forest at Opportunity Village is a Nevadan tradition with lights, entertainment and food. More than 150,000 people visit each year. All proceeds raised at the Magical Forest will benefit people with disabilities at Opportunity Village.

The new Las Vegas Christmas Town is full of events for families.

Photo by Billy Clouse

The Las Vegas Christmas Town

Dates: now until December 31 (closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day)

Times: 5:30-9 p.m. (until 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday)

Cost: $20, free for children under 2

Location: 7055 South Fort Apache Road, Las Vegas NV 89148

Lights: Over 2 million

Attractions: Polar Express Train Ride (tour the town), Jingle Bell Sledding Hill (100-ft snow hill), Under the Mistletoe Skating Rink (skates provided), Santa Claus’ Cozy Cottage (visit with Santa), Blitzen’s Bounce House Bonanza, Christmas obstacle course, “Let it Snow” Spectacular (light show)

About the venue For the first time, Wet’n’Wild is hosting the Las Vegas Christmas Town inside the water park.

Throughout the location, millions of lights will shine and festive music will play, with faux snow falling in certain areas. Adding to the environment, employees are dressed as elves.

To compensate for the rarity of snow in Las Vegas, the park has a 100-foot sledding hill with real snow. It also has a light-covered ice skating rink where skates will be provided.

The park has some events solely for children, including holiday-themed bounce houses and a 40-foot inflated obstacle course. Children can also play in a snow ball pit and visit with Santa.

Throughout the season, winter characters will show up to the park to take photos with children. On opening night, Olaf from Disney’s “Frozen” made an appearance.

Expect that some attractions will have lines because of the large number of children who visit the park with their parents. Also, the big kids can’t play in the bounce houses.

In addition to the attractions, the Las Vegas Christmas town sells food at both it’s concession stand and various carts throughout the venue.