Several people have contacted me over the past week about Santa’s Workshop, the charming little cabin that’s part of the holiday attractions on the Ellipse, where (historically) every year at Christmastime, you can see Santa’s operations in action and take a photo with him. A visit to the workshop is a seasonal favorite for many, including our family — we always make a point to go every year.
However, it seems that this year Santa is…busy. Word has it that he’s not spending time at his workshop. And, apparently, the elves haven’t been able to keep the place running much either.
I’ve put some calls in to the North Pole, but haven’t heard back. Luckily, after some discussion on the KFDC Facebook page about what’s going on there, one of you got the scoop:
“So we went today and it was closed. A park ranger came and told us that funding was gone this year so no Santa at all, and volunteers were responsible for opening up the workshop, and they weren’t showing up often.”
Hopefully, Santa’s Workshop will be open this final weekend before Christmas — the website says hours will be 12:30-9:30pm both days — but I just wanted to give a heads-up that there’s a chance it might not be, so you can manage expectations of children excited to see Santa in his element.
An outing to the Ellipse wouldn’t be a waste of time — there’s still the National Christmas Tree and National Menorah to see, plus a great model train and other holiday displays. And it’s close to other attractions on the National Mall and downtown, so you can tack on some other fun. If you go, post a comment here and let the rest of us know about your experience.
