Decatur’s Breakfast with Santa – Saturday December 19th!
December 8, 2009 | 9:28 am
Photo from the DBA website
From The Decatur Minute…
The annual Breakfast With Santa will be held on Saturday, December 19th at the Decatur Holiday Inn. Santa will arrive on a City of Decatur Fire Truck at 8 am and the buffet breakfast will be served until 10 am. Entertainment will be provided by Decatur School of Ballet. Tickets are sold online or at Decatur CD and are $12 for adults, $7 for children. The ticket price includes a photo with Santa. The event is sponsored by the Decatur Business Association.
To purchase tickets online, click HERE!
Has anyone done this in the past? is a 2.5 year old enough?
Yes! This is a great Decatur tradition! The key is that you have to get there by 7:55 AM to make sure that you don’t miss Santa’s arrival on a firetruck. If you can, get there by 7:45 AM, go inside beforehand and get your spot at a table. You probably either want to be near Santa (unless your child is scared of Santa which is age appropriate at 2!) or near the performance area. (Usually Decatur School of Ballet puts on a fantastic tap dancing holiday performance.) Then, there’s a standard but kid-adequate buffet meal. After the firetruck event, you want to either get immediately on line for Santa or wait until the line dies down later. At age 2.5, your child may not be Santa eager yet, so you might want to wait and let him/her watch the other kids visit Santa.
I’ll be there and try to guess who you are!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Decatur Business Association for putting this on every year.
I am the really hot one. The really really hot one.
Although this event sounds fantastic for toddlers and young kids, I think it’s a bit much for a baby. Does anyone have suggestions on other good Santas in the area?
the santa at north dekalb mall is so great. he is gentle and very sweet with little ones. not scary at all. my kids all love him and have since they were little.
I am excited that you say it is ok for a 2.5 year old. We are always looking for fun things to do w/ our daughter. Especially since this weather is keeping us indoors more than we would like. And since Glenn Lake Park is still closed. I already bought tickets we will see y’all there too, but I thought I was the hottest mom in Decatur – we shall see……
No wait- I want to be the hottest mom!!
Someone call Daren Wang, rent the old Courthouse, and hire out the AsianCajuns, because “Decatur Metro’s Annual Hottest Mom & Dad Contest” (with all proceeds going to charity of course) is being born right now and there’s nothing we can do to stop it!
Dude, I totally win this.
Dude, I betcha I can win both categories.
Oddly, Gibby, I think you might.
Unfortunately, this annual breakfast is a prime example of permissive parents (which are all too common in Decatur) allowing their kids to run around, color inappropriately, put things on their heads, and make way too much noise. This really spoils the entire experience. Please do not bring your 2 1/2 year-old unless he or she can sit quietly for at least an hour and not disturb those at other tables. In my experience, this rarely happens. You should probably wait until your child is at least 12.
Thanks to cubra’s training camp, baby nellie never even says a peep in public.
There must be a category for “oldest and most cantakerous parent”
How about one for most bubbling fury? Oh, wait, wrong kind of hot!
We went last year with our then 16-month-old. We got there about 8:15a and couldn’t find a table where two of us could sit together (and hold said toddler). To us, the event was a great concept, but it was overcrowded, loud and seemed disorganized. We did stand in line for about 30 minutes to see Santa, at which our toddler screamed bloody murder (as any self-respecting 16-month-old would do to the jolly old guy). We’re not sad that we did it, and we are very committed to participating in Decatur’s fantastic city events; however, I must say that we’ll be skipping this event for the next few years.
“…the event was a great concept, but it was overcrowded, loud and seemed disorganized.”
You’re correct. We would LOVE to take our kids again, but these factors just make it too difficult.
It takes years of on-line training and practice to learn how to negotiate this event. I used to try to avoid it but the kids would insist on going back. Hence my knowledge of the best HI Santa strategy:
1. Arrive between 7:30 and 7:45 AM, stake out table, put enough possessions on seats that someone would have to be rude to take your spot
2. 7:45 AM: Pick up tickets
3. 7:50: Stake out spot on curb to see Santa arrive
4. 7:50-7:59: Endure whining about when Santa’s coming
5. 8:00: Hear sirens, scream “Santa is coming”
6. 8:01: Either tell child eager to see Santa to say excuse me when pushing through or reassure screaming, frightened child that they don’t have to say hi to Santa if they don’t want to.
7. 8:02: Head for Santa line before he gets up his dais and everyone else figures out to get in line.
8. 8:10: Santa over, put kids and one adult in seats so spot not stolen and get food.
9. 8:20: Eat food, fill out Santa lists (too bad that you already saw Santa; that’s what mail is for)
10. 8:30: Hopefully, DSB tap dancing show has started and kids can sit at edge and watch while adults get food
11. 8:45: Give 10 minute warning that you’re leaving
12. 9:00: Leave, grabbing free balloons on the way out.
Got it?
Don’t mean to pile on, becasue I appreciate the efforts everyone makes, but “ditto”.
Just be forewarned, or at least be prepared.