The most epic Santa visits in the Greater Toronto Area

Santa has his suit pressed and ready, the elves are hard at work, and his reindeer are practicing drills in flight academy. So what’s the CEO of holiday spirit to do in the weeks leading up to the big day? The parades and mall photos have their place, but now there are some new and downright awesome ways to get your Christmas cheer on and hang with the big man in red around the Six.

Here’s our kid-approved list of some of the most epic places to see Santa around the GTA.

Casa Loma

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The heritage castle in downtown Toronto transforms itself into a literal Christmas wonderland for indoor and outdoor holiday experiences.

Inside the Christmas at the Castle event, the treasured landmark is covered in Christmas flair with professionally-decorated trees, ice skating shows, roaming characters, and entertainers to meet as you tour the halls. That's followed by a magical journey to Santa.

SEE ALSO: Canada's most festive places

Visitors then travel in a festive underground tunnel to meet Mrs. Claus, see singing elves, write their own Santa letter (and even have the chance to mail it in his own mailbox), before making their way to find Santa in his lavish toy workshop. After a personal visit, there are candy canes and singing reindeer in the castle stables.

Then move outdoors for the separate “Holiday Lights” event where more than 1 million lights have been expertly placed around the castle grounds along with music, art installations, social media-worthy vignettes, carolers, characters, hot chocolate, mulled wine and other tasty treats.

Both events run on select days throughout December and into early January.

For details and tickets, go to casaloma.ca.

Mountsberg Conservation Area

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The list of epic experiences continues by boarding a guided woodland horse-drawn wagon ride deep into the beautiful Mountsberg Conservation area in Halton Region for their Christmas Town event. Cuddle under blankets and see the stars overheard as real working horses take you deeper into the lit forested path to a North Pole look-alike town: the Mountsberg Christmas Town!

Santa and Mrs. Claus greet you with a personalized visit outside their winter hideaway, fully decked out with maps and toys and Santa magic. After chatting with them on their patio and posing for photos, they gift each child, with a wooden ornament from Mountsberg and let you roam around the area to check out the rest of the festive fun.

Mrs. Claus’ cookie kitchen serves up tasty treats and hot chocolate and there are glimpses of elves working in their shop. There is also a walk-through experience of the toy drop and reindeer flight academy before boarding the wagon ride back to the visitors centre where there are more child-friendly elf games and crafts waiting along with a crackling outdoor fire.

Christmas Town tickets are limited and sell out quickly when the event is posted in October of each year. It runs from mid-November until Christmas.

After Christmas, the woodland trails are transformed into a winter lights event, “Winterlit” runs between Christmas and February and includes sustainable art installations, nighttime magic, and local musicians. More information for both events can be found on conservationhalton.ca.

Sensational Santa stops

In the end, we give these seasonal experiences a solid 5-cookie rating.

They're sure to have you requiring some Santa magic to top it next year.

We have checked our Weather Network list once and twice and determined all these Santa Visits are extra, extra nice. But here’s just one last piece of seasonal advice:

Before you dash away to catch your own glimpse of St. Nick, make sure you keep an eye on your Weather Network app when planning your Santa visit to find out if Kris Kringle will have to hold on to his hat or use Rudolph’s red nose in any winter weather when you’re with him.

From us at The Weather Network, a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Thumbnail image by Cheryl Santa Maria.