Christmas has come ashore in Long Beach as the California-style holiday event, CHILL, returns for a third year at The Queen Mary.  Gilded with twinkling lights, the iconic smoke stacks of the luxury ocean liner sparkle like diamonds. A bright and cheery atmosphere prevails on the shore nearby where a Christmas Village, a Glacier Slide, and a full scale Ice Kingdom await guests.  The best part of all is that now all of these attractions are included in the price of admission!

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In a vast improvement over last years convoluted pricing scheme, nearly everything is included with the price of admission.  This includes The Glacial Slide, unlimited tours through the Ice Kingdom, and best of all, Ice Skating.  There are, of course, a few things that cost extra money here and there such as making Gingerbread cookies, a picture with Santa Clause, or a ride on the swings.  The prices are as follows.

Pricing

  • General Admission $44.99
  • Children $34.99
  • Family 5 Pack $99.00
  • E.L.F. Pass $20.00 extra
    This ticket add-on allows you to skip lines at
    the Glacial Slide and Ice Kingdom.
  • Character Breakfast aboard the Queen Mary $39.00
  • Child Character Breakfast $19.00

Christmas Village

The first area that you encounter when entering CHILL is the Christmas Village.  Twirling snowflake patterns dance on the walkways as holiday figures and tableaus flank the path.  The atmosphere is a dazzling, nighttime carnival of music, food, and fun.  We round the corner and come to the central area of CHILL, the Christmas Village.  Here we have both the Bucking Reindeer ($5.00 ticket to ride) and CHILL Bounce House, now included in admission.

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Just a thought, but should sharp antlers be anywhere NEAR a bucking Bronco contraption?

Taking a queue from the much improved Dark Harbor layout, CHILL pushes everything to the perimeter and offers guests a chance to enjoy the expanse.  Central again, is the stage that features live performances, the Chairswing ride ($5.00 ticket to ride or free with the E.L.F. ticket add-on), and two promenades, Blizzard Boulevard and Candy Lane.

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The Holiday Beach Bar is a place for kids to play in the sand and for parents to enjoy a drink.

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Blizzard Boulevard is a pathway to the left of the chair swings and is home to the Claus Cabin where guests can visit Santa and Mrs. Claus.  What’s more, that part is free too!  Of course if you want a picture with him, you have to pay.

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Get your photos taken with Santa and tell him what you want for Christmas (Nov. 27 – Dec. 24).
Cost: $8 photo/$30 photo 4-pack. Hours: 5-10PM MON-FRI Nov. 27-Dec. 19, 1:30-4:30PM Thanksgiving & MON-SUN 1:30PM-8:30PM Dec. 20-24.

Story time with Mrs. Claus! 
Hours: 
MON-FRI 5:45PM, 6:30PM, 7:15PM, 8PM, 8:45PM & 9:30PM Nov. 27-Dec. 19
Thanksgiving- 1:30PM, 2:15PM, 3PM, 3:45PM.
MON-SUN 1:30PM, 2:15PM, 3PM, 3:45PM, 5:30PM, 8:15PM Dec. 20-24.

The central stage will be featuring a variety of acts throughout the run of CHILL including

The Sugar Dollz performing Nov. 22-23, 25, 28-30, Dec. 2-3, 6-7, 9, 13-14, 16, 20-23, 27-28, 30 & Jan. 3-4 & the 

Bling Divas will perform on: Nov. 23, 30, Dec. 3, 7, 10, 14, 19, 21, 23, 26, 28, Jan. 2 & 4.

Lela Brown and Laci Kay Live performances – On Nov. 25, 29, Dec. 2, 6, 9, 16, 22, 23, 27, 29, 30, Jan. 3 & 10, guests will enjoy music from up and coming musicians Lela Brown and Lacy Kay.

FULL ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE HERE

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Ice Skating

As we mentioned before, the Ice Skating is included in the price of admission.  The only thing to remember is that this requires a reservation.  We advise heading straight over to the Ice Skating rink and making a reservation for one of the available time slots the minute you enter the event.  If you don’t you may be relegated to a far later time that you want, or worse, not be able to skate at all.

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Gingerbread House

While free to tour and visit with the Gingerbread man, you can also buy a gingerbread house kit for $19.99 and build your own.

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Swings

As we mentioned, the swings are $5 to ride.  But if you pay for the E.L.F. add-on to your ticket, this is included.

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Food

It’s the details that change something dramatically.  For instance, the food booths are now all themed with a Christmas flavor, creating a greater sense of place.  It’s nothing major of course, but it keeps the area from looking like yet another food fair.

As far as the prices go, well, they’re not as bad as you might expect from fairground food.  In fact, some of it is downright reasonable.

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Glacier Glide

Inside the dome, both the Glacier Glide and wonderful Ice Kingdom are now included with the ticket.

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Ice Kingdom

The Ice Kingdom is a walk through exhibit of whimsical ice sculptures featuring larger than life displays of Christmas and holiday characters.  The attraction is kept at a frigid 9° F and guests are offered complimentary parkas for the tour.

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Hotel Packages

This year they have also developed some reasonable hotel packages that start at $221 and include a room and two tickets into CHILL.  There’s even a nice little entrance just for Hotel guests.

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Overall Chill has improved from what we saw last year.  A certain polish has been given to the overall look of the event along with the vignettes that dot the walkways.  There is a far more cohesive feel and sense of place that was missing before and we are happy to see it.

While not perfect, the pricing plans are far more comprehensible and much more reasonable than before.  With general admission, you get Ice Skating, unlimited visits through the Ice Kingdom exhibit, and unlimited rides on the Glacier Slide.  That, coupled with the Gingerbread House, Bounce House, and a visit with Santa make this a wonderful way to spend a night out with the family and enjoy the season.

 

Norman Gidney
Norman Gidney, also known as Fishbulb, has produced and edited many of the articles on MiceChat over the years.