Walk-through attractions offer compelling reasons to stay local

This holiday season, there is a host of immersive winter experiences to enjoy without leaving Long Island. These site-specific experiences are gaining in popularity, with the best of them reimaging spaces, whether indoor or outdoor, all the while aiming to enchant audiences.

These attractions help the organizations that house them bring in foot traffic. Maybe it’s at a stately garden. Maybe it’s at a county park that is largely dormant in winter. Or maybe it’s at a mall that is repurposing space in order to entice an audience that might otherwise shop online. A peak into the calendar ahead reveals that immersive experiences are not just for holidays.

But holiday time is a prime season for immersive activities.

Take Old Westbury Gardens. It’s now drawing crowds during what is usually its quiet season. This is thanks to “Shimmering Solstice,” a walk-through event filled with color, light and sound that runs through Jan. 1.

“Its purpose was to extend the season for us in the winter months,” said Maura Brush, Old Westbury Garden’s director of horticulture.  Walk through the exhibit, and it’s easy to see the appeal. The installation, Brush said, “mimics the flowers growth with lights, illuminates the beautiful lotus pond and the walled garden, the rose garden, and there’s a beautiful finale made of lights.”

At Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, LuminoCity brings light installations to life at night. Courtesy of LuminoCity

Over at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, LuminoCity brings light installations to life at night, across 17 acres.

“We’re seeing at least 5,000, 6,000 people every week – and it is getting progressively better through advertising and word of mouth as we get closer to Christmas,” and kids have off from school, said Dave Franklin, deputy commissioner for Parks, Recreation and Museums for Nassau County.

Meanwhile, Christmas House delivers its magic through an indoor, 12-room attraction complete with the twinkling lights, sounds and scents of the holidays, and even features a room that simulates the magic of snowfall. The attraction this year is located at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove.

Christmas House offers 12 rooms with twinkling lights and the sounds and scents of the holiday. Courtesy of Christmas House

Last year, Christmas House was held at Samanea New York mall in Westbury. “We were able to bring in about 40,000-plus people,” Christmas House owner Justin Schwartz said. “We’re a destination bringing in people that wouldn’t otherwise be there.  It’s great for malls, stores and restaurants nearby.”

Light installations have long been a staple in the region, from Dyker Heights to holiday-themed drive-thru presentations at Jones Beach. But the walk-thru immersive attractions have transformed these events, with roots dating back to 2008, when “Imagine Van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibition” in Les-Baux-de-Provence, France.  Interest in this level of installations ramped up after “Emily in Paris,” the 2020 Netflix hit, according to published reports, and exhibits made their way across large American cities, including New York.

Their appeal extends beyond the holiday season. In 2023, “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” using virtual reality technology, will run from Feb. 3 through April 2 at Samanea New York mall in Westbury. This exhibit, produced by Paquin Entertainment Group, has sold more than 4 million tickets globally, according to a company statement.

A Van Gogh installation can cost about $1 million, Bloomberg reported last year. But for Christmas House, Schwartz puts build-out costs alone at “the half million mark.” Then comes the other investments, he said, including “marketing, insurance and a billion other things you have to put forth.”

Meanwhile, Long Islanders are responding.

“We’re coming out of the shutdown, and everything that draws people together is a good thing,” said Frank Camarano, president of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, the umbrella organization for all the chambers in the county.  “People are grabbing the momentum and moving it forward.”

“People want to get out, and these events are giving them the excuse to do that,” he said. “Restaurants are more crowded, and people are staying local, which is what we want. It’s paying off.”

Long Islanders are also taking part inoutdoor events, including those with shop local themes, and are sponsored by chambers of commerce, he said.

“The downtowns are seeing more foot traffic,” he said. “The weather has been very good, and these events are all pretty much home runs.”

And with the immersive experiences, Camarano added, “people are getting out, walking and being together – it’s a plus.”

This year, Christmas House is upping the ante. Founded in 2020, Christmas House is now also at King of Prussia Mall, The Westchester and Paramus Park. Joining the team as president is Michael Dessart, a former HBO executive. The company has since added Hollywood and Broadway set designers for its rooms, Schwartz said. It employs more than 150 people who work Halloween through Christmas, and Schwartz said he tries to find space in the corporate side of the company, for the “people who love their job.”

And moving forward, the company, which also runs a Halloween House, is “exploring other options, including owning our own buildings,” with a dedicated space that “becomes a yearly tradition for tens of thousands of families,” sparing them the chore of having to research where the installation is opening next, Schwartz said.  Still, he said, he is in the early stages of considering options, and has received some “interesting pitches.”

When it comes to these attractions, it seems one is only limited by imagination. In April, for instance, CluedUpp Games will be in Glen Cove for its The Smurfs Great Escape, and again in May for Alice in Wonderland, for two escape-the-room style events across the city.

Meanwhile, companies are not stopping with Van Gogh, though for now Long Islanders will have to travel to New York City to see them. Currently, “Monet’s Garden: The Immersive Experience” is running at 30 Wall Street in New York. And National Geographic’s “Beyond King Tut: The Immersive Experience” is at Pier 36.

Right now, Long Island offers an abundance of immersive experiences, one differing from another.

“We do have something unique,” Brush said of Old Westbury Gardens, the former home of the Phipps family with its 200 acres of formal gardens, landscaped grounds, woodlands, ponds and lakes. The winter installation, she said, “is not a pop-up. It’s a thoughtful installation designed for our space.”

Still, she said, “the gardens were not designed for winter. The Phipps family wasn’t in residence then.”

Now in its second year, the turnout has been encouraging, as data and messages on social media reveal that visitors in summer are returning for winter. Brush hopes that momentum will carry over into downtown Westbury, Mineola and Carle Place – all areas that support the gardens, even in the tough times.

Brush put it this way: “Things are picking up steam again.”

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