DreamWork's "DreamPlace, Adventure To Santa" was a fantastic project to be part of. When I started at Parker 3D most of the creative was well under way or finished on this project so my creative input was pretty minimal. However, I was able to jump aboard and become an integral part of the logistics, production, and installation management. We rolled this project out to 8 separate interior and exterior locations in the first year. Another 4 units were installed the following year at additional locations. Each house was a huge undertaking to install and take down.

Parker 3D & DreamWorks partnered in 2013 to create “Adventure to Santa, A DreamWorks DreamPlace", an immersive Santa house experience where visitors skip the lines by reserving their time to visit with Santa and various DreamWorks Animation characters like Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, Donkey, Puss In Boots, and many more. The house makes dramatic use of LED video tiles on the exterior while the interior houses a 4D virtual sleigh ride to the North Pole, along with interactive gaming kiosks and a unique private Santa photo experience for families. This project changed the landscape of Santa Photo opp displays and redefined the retail holiday experience for a new generation of consumers. You can see the full video here:  http://www.parker3dcreative.com/newparkersite/dreamplace.html

70% of the exterior walls of this revolutionary Santa display were covered with LED video tiles that could be programmed to display animated scenes. This enabled us to change appearance of the house at will. One minute it could look like a fairy-tale country home, the next minute it could be covered with snow, the next, it could transform into a gingerbread house, and on and on. Animations of Shrek, Fiona, and other characters were created to play out funny skits around the exterior of the house. Parker 3D designers and DreamWorks animator's imaginations were the only limit to what guests might see from moment to moment.

To experience the DreamWorks Santa house, families reserved a set time through a custom website rather than wait in an hours long line outside. Wait times were dramatically reduced using this "by reservation only" system.

DreamWorks characters such as Shrek and Donkey (pictured here) appear and play out a storyline that will virtually transport guests to the North Pole to visit Santa in his study.

Staff had a scripted interaction with the DreamWorks characters to enhance the immersive experience.

Visitors found themselves ushered into a "Sleigh Design Lab" where they had the opportunity to use mounted computer tablets to design their own Santa sleigh on a custom application created by DreamWorks.

Here a young girl chooses among options like paint color, graphics, extra rocket engines and a custom license plate.

After the design lab, guests enter the "Sleigh Hanger" where they get to sit in a full size mock up of Santa's sleigh to take a 4D virtual sleigh ride to the North Pole.

The sleigh never actually moved, so to make the experience more immersive and convincing it included a 180 degree wrap-around video screen, high end sounds system complete with devices that vibrated the sleigh (during explosions and to create the illusion of motion) and even misters.

These animations, created by DreamWorks, along with all of the special effects really gave patrons a feeling of flying.

Several beloved characters from the Shrek films made appearances in the adventure, including Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss-In-Boots, Dragon, The 3 Little Pigs, Gingy (The Gingerbread) and more.

The end of the 4D experience lands guests in the "Shipping & Receiving Dock" of the North Pole where they are directed to exit the sleigh and enter the "North Pole Customs & Welcoming Center".

in the "North Pole Customs & Welcoming Center" there were more computer tablets to play games on while the families wait for their encounter with Santa. 

After a brief period families were escorted into Santa's personal study to have a private meeting and photo session with him. This was a game changing private Santa experience where guests did not have the next family standing right behind them waiting for their turn.

The level of finish and general scenic treatment in every room of the house was second to none and the detail of "Santa's Study" was a true show stopper.

Santa also had a book with him that actually had a computer tablet inside where he could read the children's names, their pet's names, what they wanted for Christmas, and more. All of this information was inputted by the parents when they made their reservations... Another ground breaking innovation!

Finally, guests exited through a retail area that was designed to look like Santa's Reindeer Stable".

Above is an indoor version of DreamPlace in a tight center court, and below is an outdoor version at Westchester's Ridge Hill, a mixed use center in Yonkers, NY.