Last year’s hot new holiday ticket was Enchant, held at the Mariners’ stadium. Lumaze enters the Seattle scene with an enormous light maze, train ride, live music, indoor playground and Santa visits in the 100,000-square-foot-cruise ship terminal at Pier 91.
Lumaze holds shows in 10 cities in Denmark, across Canada, and for the first time this year, in the U.S. (Pittsburgh and Seattle are the two state-side stops.)
The theme of this year’s Lumaze is “A Fairytale Christmas.” In the light maze, you’ll see festive snowmen, presents, Santa’s sleigh — and a horse-drawn carriage and glittering castle where you’re greeted by actresses dressed as Belle and Cinderella.
Everywhere you look, there are tons of photo ops. The photos don’t even capture how magical it is in person, with twinkling lights, tinsel and ornaments.
The light maze takes up the entire second floor of the building. It was bright and open and fun to explore. When we visited on opening night, it didn’t feel overcrowded.
My 8-year-old’s favorite thing about Lumaze was the scavenger hunt. There are six super-sized presents tucked in the maze, each one staffed by a Santa’s helper who will stamp your card. When you collect all six stamps, you get a prize! (It’s a candy cane.) The scavenger hunt was challenging enough that I had to send my husband to scout out the elusive presents.
My 4-year-old’s favorite was the hopscotch part of the light maze. There are a bunch of plastic discs scattered on the ground, and every time you hop on one, it changes color.
Downstairs on the first floor, you’ll find the train ride, live music stage, Santa, playground, marketplace and food truck area. You can buy food and trinkets, but there’s no extra charge for any of the activities. I felt like Lumaze offered more for little kids than Enchant (where ice skating is the only activity apart from the light maze).
There’s no skating rink at Lumaze. There is, however, a mini train (the “Glowcamotive”) that takes passengers on a two-lap ride. The train is supposed to be for kids 12 and under, but our whole family got on board and the conductor assured me he’s “very lenient.”
The indoor playground was a big hit. My kids loved the gingerbread house-themed play structure with four slides. There are also five light-up seesaws and 10 light-up swings that change colors. My 4-year-old found out the hard way that the swings are meant for gentle swaying, not for going fast or high.
You know about Rody horses, right? There’s a coral of about 50 bouncy unicorns. (Maybe they ran out of reindeer?) There are also kid-sized tables stocked with coloring supplies and a light stick wall. We spent most of our time in the awesome light maze, but I liked that there were other kid activities too.
There was no wait for Santa when we visited. Unless you have a good flash, though, it’s hard to get a good picture with the big guy. Santa’s chair is covered with lights, but the room is dark so faces will be underexposed.
The marketplace is hit or miss. We saw holiday-appropriate vendors like fudge and light-up toys, and also booths hawking long-lasting lip color and Renewal Windows by Anderson. (Merry Christmas, honey?)
You do have to watch your step, especially on the first floor which is darker. Lumaze rolled out green turf over the cruise ship terminal’s industrial carpeting, and it’s easy to stumble on the edges of the turf or on one of the many ripples. Some of the edges are taped down, but they were going to need a lot more tape to do the entire building.
Unlike Enchant, Lumaze doesn’t restrict strollers or bags — so helpful for young families! You can take an escalator or elevator to get to the light maze on the second floor. The building processes hordes of cruise ship passengers from April to October, so it’s designed to handle a crowd. There are plenty of restrooms, all clean and tidy with changing tables.