If you’re looking for a memorable and festive family outing this holiday season, make plans to visit Christmas at Schnepf Farms located in Queen Creek, Arizona. As one of the best places for holiday fun in the Southeast Valley, Schnepf Farms transforms into a dazzling winter wonderland perfect for making holiday memories. From ice skating, an illuminated train ride, gorgeous Christmas lights, to meeting Santa, there is so much to do!
From now until December 24th, every Thursday to Sunday night, Schnepf Farms will light up the night with Christmas themed family fun. There is SO much to do and the kids had an absolute blast and never stopped for a minute.
There are Christmas themed bounce houses and an inflatable obstacle course that the kids loved! There is also a huge, “Sleigh Bell Slide.” The bounce houses are spread out a bit, which helps spread out the children who want to jump- which is always nice, as sometimes bounce houses in public places can be busy! My kids are 6 and 9, and they are all about the playtime!
After my kids bounced away, they found the old carousel, which is a historic 1955 carousel, featuring an antique Wurlitzer band organ. Super cute and tons of fun!
Scattered throughout the farm are different games set up and there is an awesome Snow Globe Mini Golf. We didn’t have enough time to play, but it looked so fun!
Kids can also write and decorate letters to send to Santa and make a cute Christman pinecone ornament. The farm also has an outdoor movie theater setup showing Christmas movies! I will say, my kids were much more interested in running and exploring, but the idea of a cup of hot cocoa and an outdoor Christmas movie by the fire sounds very nice!
Speaking of fire…. It is COLD in the desert at night… and I always forget that! We dressed like it was a slightly chilly Fall day and were pretty cold, but luckily, there were bonfires EVERYWHERE! So we could warm up anytime we needed to! I was so grateful for these! I saw that you can rent private campfires and buy food packs- these experiences are a bit of a costly luxury, but could definitely add to the evening- you can read more about these private experiences here.
A highlight for me (the crazy animal lover) was Santa’s Deer Hayride out to see the deer on the farm. I could feed deer all day and night and they are so cute! The hayride was a nice little break from all of the walking also! There was also a small petting farm set up, which was fun too!
All of these fun activities are scattered around the farm which is decorated in amazing Christmas decor that make excellent photo ops! You could just walk around all evening and enjoy the lights and take some photos! There are also some shops set up including a Sweet Shop and some toy shops, including a large store known as Santa’s Toy Shop! The kids had fun looking through some vintage and unique toys for sale! As you walk around, you may hear the Christmas Carolers singing some classics (and some modern pop songs)! We even saw the Grinch riding around on an ATV! There is a lit up trolley that will take you across the farm as well!
There are quite a few food vendors; dutch style pancakes, hotdogs, fries, ice cream, hot cocoa, and coffee. It also sounds like each night they may offer different food vendors. I will say, the food is priced a bit high ($7ish for a hot chocolate), so either come prepared to spend a bit to feed the family, or eat dinner ahead of time!
So… now onto the highlights of the event!
Meet & Greet Santa Claus– You can visit Santa in an old house that the original Schnepf family lived in. They have professional photographers at the end- it’s $20 for the initial 5×7 print and $10 for each additional print. The digital download option was not working that night. I didn’t try to take my own photos, and I am not sure if they would have let me if I did!
Outdoor Ice Skating– 15 minutes of skating/skate rental is included with your admission ticket.
If you want to skate more than 15 minutes it is $18 for one hour including skates or $12 for an hour if you bring your own. Anyone can go to the ice skating rink, you do not need to have tickets to the Christmas at Schnepf event!
Hours for the ice skating rink are Thurs-Sunday Noon to 10pm and Mon-Wed 4pm-10pm.
World of Illumination– The Illumination Express is an awesome train ride through synchronized lights, with popular Christmas hits playing along! This train ride, which was about 15 minutes, was well worth the extra $10! This is the same business that does annual drive thru experiences in Phoenix.
Here are some details about the event:
Season Hours
November 24th-26th, 30th-December 3rd
December 7th-10th, 14th-24th.
5:00pm – 10:00pm
Ticket prices are:
5:00pm – $22.95
7:30pm – $18.95
$10 extra for the Illumination Express
Parking is FREE
You can purchase online to ensure availability.. Or at the door. Visit their website for more info and to purchase tickets!
We LOVED our time visiting Christmas at Schnepf Farms and would definitely go back! My tips are to dress WARM… eat dinner ahead of time and just get a treat and cocoa at the farm, and definitely upgrade and ride the train! We will be adding this to our list of Christmas traditions!!
More great holiday events can be found on our events calendar!
