Trade in your Stetson for a Santa Claus hat as you celebrate Christmas Day in Dallas. Although many of the city's numerous Christmas attractions close on December 25th, you'll still find an array of holiday-themed activities throughout Dallas and the surrounding region to enjoy on Christmas.
Highland Park is an upscale suburb 10 minutes north of Dallas. Each year, the neighborhood’s massive million-dollar mansions are decorated in elaborate Christmas light displays, characters and ornaments. The streets are also lined with enormous pecan trees strung with Christmas lights. The public is invited to take in the light show by walking or driving through the streets. You can also enjoy the displays by booking a carriage ride with Brazos Carriage. The company has six- and 12-person carriages that drive through the neighborhood while you snuggle under a blanket and listen to Christmas tunes. The most decorated areas are between Mockingbird Lane and Armstrong Parkway, and Dallas North Tollway and Preston Road.
Prairie Lights is a Christmas-themed celebration in Grand Prairie’s Lynn Creek Park, 15 minutes west of Dallas. The event area includes a 2-mile road where you can drive your car through a winter wonderland setting decorated with 4 million Christmas lights. Get out of your automobile and make your way through the Holiday Village, which is set up with food and crafts vendors and a live holiday stage show. The village also has a walk-through attraction, the Lighted Walk-Through Forest, where tens of thousands of lights adorn towering trees. Although they are all part of the same event, each attraction charges a separate admission fee.
Vitruvian Park is a 19-acre parkland and residential complex in Addison, 20 minutes north of Dallas. At Christmastime, the community hosts the Vitruvian Lights display. Make your way through the park on foot as you soak up the sight of millions of LED Christmas lights scattered throughout the green space. Take a stroll along winding paths and creeks as twinkling lights sparkle across the evening sky. The event is free and open to the public.
Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, a massive hotel 25 minutes northwest of Dallas in Grapevine, hosts an assortment of Christmas activities during the Lone Star Christmas celebration. The hotel’s enormous atrium lobby includes 2 million lights, 15,000 ornaments and more than 20 Christmas trees, as well as a nightly dancing-lights show. Kids can enjoy milk and cookies as they listen to Mrs. Claus read Christmas stories, participate in a gingerbread cookie or house decorating contest, or take a trip down two-story ice slides or one of 12 snow tube lanes. Each individual attraction requires a separate fee.
Interlochen Christmas Lights is an annual light-display show that takes place in the Arlington neighborhood of Interlochen, 25 minutes southwest of Dallas. More than 200 houses participate in the drive-through attraction by decorating their homes in colorful Christmas lights and displays. The public event is free and begins at the Randol Mill Road and Westwood Drive intersection.
Panther Island Ice, in Fort Worth, 30 minutes west of Dallas, is an outdoor ice skating rink within the Coyote Drive-In movie theater complex. Christmas music plays in the background as you take a spin around the rink. Food and beverages are available at the nearby snack shack. Skate rentals are included with the cost of admission. You don't need to purchase a movie ticket to gain access to the rink.
