The days leading up to Christmas are a time unlike any other, with the season never failing to foster a festive nature of togetherness and family for one and all. And if you’re looking to create memorable experiences with your loved ones to mark the return of the yuletide season, there’s no better way to do so than with the return of Christmas House Long Island, now featuring a completely, 100 percent ALL-NEW and exciting redesign from the ground up for 2025!
Located in the Broadway Commons Mall in Hicksville – and brought to you by the same people responsible for Halloween House Long Island every October, an all-ages experience that’s more fun than scary – Christmas House Long Island is an exciting and immersive experience that celebrates the Holiday season in a fun and family-friendly manner.
Open since Black Friday, November 28 and running throughout January 5, Christmas House typically operates from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and during the Broadway Commons’ regular opening-to-close hours on weekends (11 a.m. to 9 p.m.), although – according to Jay, the company’s founder – those hours remain flexible depending on holiday traffic.
“There are many days during the week that we are open all day…it really depends on school schedules and things like that, because there are so many holidays and random days off,” he said. “Over the next few weeks, we sort of play by those rules, so if people are going to have the day off from work or the day off from school, chances are, we'll be open all day.”
Christmas House is an hour long, immersive walk-through event with multiple different experiences, and guests are not rushed through for the sake of squeezing as many customers in as possible; instead, they are encouraged to take their time and relish the interactive aspects, and can even backtrack to revisit favorite experiences if they so desire.
One notable aspect of this year’s Christmas House is the fact that it's essentially been completely redesigned with a set of all-new rooms for families to traverse; Jay notes that literally every single inch of the experience is different than it was last year.
“Long Island is our flagship location, so that's where we always introduce the newest concepts and the most exciting experiences before we roll them out to our other locations across the country,” he said. “So, this year, we really wanted to say, okay, let's start from scratch, instead of just iterating off of the past, and the results and feedback have been phenomenal.”
New for the completely rebuilt Christmas House this year are spellbinding attractions such as an indoor light show, which is five times the size of last year’s iteration; Christmas Karaoke, where you can walk by and listen to people sing Christmas music, and join in if you wish; a Christmas Carnival where you can win prizes and play unlimited carnival games; a brand-new Snowball Fight room, with falling ‘real’ snow and snowballs made of a cool material that feels like the real thing; an interactive version of the famous television trivia game show Jeopardy with the entire set built out, including a live host; photo ops galore, and much, much more!
And in addition to the all-new attractions and experiences, Christmas House is also introducing flexible ticket scheduling this year to take into account the busy lives of Long Islanders and their guests coming from Queens, Brooklyn, NYC and as far as Westchester, giving them the opportunity to easily switch the days and times of their visits if unforeseen circumstances should arise.
“We are now accepting tickets any day, any time, so if you book a time slot and something comes up, or you want to use these tickets early, we will honor your tickets at that time,” Jay pointed out. “We understand that people’s schedules get very busy this time of year, so we are looking to accommodate everyone.”
“So, people now know there's no reason to wait to get tickets,” he continued. “It's no longer, ‘well, let's wait until we know for sure that everyone can make it at this day and time,’ because the tickets can be used whenever they want now. It’s all about making things easier for our guests and giving them the best experience possible.”
But beyond flexible ticketing comes another initiative that Christmas House is proud to present, and it’s one that truly embodies the spirit of the season- the No Family Left Out Program, which Jay notes is for people that struggle to afford tickets to the attraction.
“If you are experiencing financial hardship, we have a 'name your price' rule,” he said. “We encourage anyone struggling to name their price, and whatever it is we will accept it. We will never let finances come in between a family and an amazing holiday experience at Christmas House Long Island.”
“We're a business with locations across the country, but at the end of the day, there are very kind-hearted people behind this business,” Jay added. “We believe that giving people an amazing experience during the holidays is infinitely more important than a financial bottom line.”
Jay also noted that all Christmas House locations nationwide are always 100 percent wheelchair accessible and all will go to extreme lengths to accommodate guests with special needs.
“There will never be a Christmas House location that is not wheelchair accessible, ever,” he said. “We are also very special needs-friendly, so, both for special needs groups as well as individuals, we do whatever it takes to make sure that they not only have an incredible time, we will also adapt our attraction to fit their needs as long as they let us know how we can make it better for them.”
Christmas House will be running seven days a week at its location at the Broadway Commons Mall in Hicksville through January 5, so there's still plenty of time to go down there and experience all of the festive fun the Holiday season can offer. For more information, please visit their website at https://christmashouselongisland.com. Tickets are limited!!