Enchant Christmas Returns to Seattle to Amaze Families

When I first heard Enchant Christmas was returning to Seattle after four holiday seasons away, my curiosity was piqued. I had heard tales of the world’s largest Christmas light maze, and could not wait to see it for myself (and share it with my young daughter!).

So, on a rainy and cold November night, we bundled up and drove to T-Mobile Park for a spectacular night out.

What to expect at Enchant Christmas

Enchant is a huge holiday event, bringing 80,000 square feet of light sculptures to T-Mobile Park in Seattle. And there’s not just the light maze. This year brings a Ferris wheel, ice skating trail, live entertainment, photos with Santa Claus, story time with Mrs. Claus and more.

Before we even entered the stadium, we heard the festive songs of carolers at the entrance and noticed colorful lights overhead. Upstairs at the main concourse, we were greeted by brightly lit, oversized letters spelling “Enchant” and a stunning overhead view of the light maze and ice skating trail on the field.

While there was much to explore on the upper level (it was easy to get distracted), the twinkling lights drew us in and we headed down to explore the maze.

The Christmas light maze

Enchant’s Christmas light maze is story-driven and interactive. This year’s theme is “Santa’s Magic Timepiece.” The story goes that Santa’s head elf broke the magic timepiece needed for Christmas. The eight gears of the timepiece are scattered throughout the maze and must be found in order to save Christmas.

We entered the maze through the bright, colorful rainbow tunnel and read the different clues as we searched. We were given a scratch-off card with the eight different star gears, and scratched off each gear’s name as we found the matching light sculpture. And these are no small sculptures. From a dazzling star to a gigantic windmill, the massive decorations have incredible detail.

I was probably more excited about finding each gear than my 3-year-old, who was more interested in the royal carriage, animal sculptures and — spoiler alert — light-up dance floor. Kids can fill in their wish list for Santa on the back of the scratch-off card and give their completed card to one of the elves in the maze.

As we navigated the maze, we saw more than the missing Christmas gears. A 100-foot Christmas tree sculpture with twinkling lights stands at the center of the maze. Plus, charming animal sculptures, oversized ornaments and Instagram-worthy photo ops can be found throughout the display. We navigated through dangling string lights and were mesmerized by the surrounding sculptures. (The whale was by far my favorite.)

At this point, we had been walking around for quite a while, but my daughter still had energy for the light-up dance floor. This was a popular spot for kids and grown-ups alike. Each tile changes color as you step on it, changing to bright pink, white, green, purple or blue. It was truly magical, and nearly impossible to pull my daughter away from it. If you also have young kids with a ton of energy, this is a great place to burn some of it off, but I wish you luck in moving on to other parts of the maze.

Another huge draw for kids: the blue waterfall lights hanging down from tall towers to the right of the rainbow tunnel. These dangling string lights invite everyone to wander through, with the cascading lights changing in brightness as you go. From far away, they reminded me of jellyfish; up close it felt like being in a scene from “Inside Out 2.”

From the maze, you can watch ice skaters glide by on the ice skating trail, but there is a separate entrance outside of the maze if you want to skate. It’s also worth noting that though the maze and ice skating trail are on the field, T-Mobile Park is covered by a retractable roof (but has an open-air environment). So we didn’t get rained on, but we were still grateful we wore extra layers.

Ice skating at Enchant

The ice skating trail at Enchant is decorated with sparkling lights, and it’s unlike any other ice skating rink I have seen. Rather than a round rink, it’s a path that loops around lit Christmas trees and reindeer sculptures. It’s a short path; we got our skates on a little before the Zamboni intermission, and still made the whole loop (slowly and carefully with a toddler).

While ice skating tickets include skate rentals, there are no walkers available for beginner skaters. My daughter held my hand or the guardrail along the path to keep her footing. There was a mix of expert skaters and kids trying out skates for the first time on the ice. (I was thankful I had read these pro tips on ice skating with kids, but relieved that the scheduled Zamboni intermission gave us an excuse to cut our time on the ice short. After all, we still had more to see.)

Photos with Santa and extra things to do

New to Enchant this year is the Ferris wheel, a colorfully lit ride next to the light maze. I imagine it gives amazing bird’s-eye views of the light maze if you ride it. The line stayed long on opening night, so we chose to watch it spin instead of taking a ride.

Upstairs, there was plenty to do (and see, and eat). We walked along the Christmas Village marketplace, where we picked out festive treats and browsed vendor booths. We stopped at the kids activity tables to write (and mail!) a letter to Santa. My toddler daughter settled in on a comfortable pillow and heard the charming story of Humphrey the elf from Mrs. Claus in her reading room before heading to the Little Elves Play Place to build with cushions and make other toddler friends.

We asked Mrs. Claus where we could find Santa, and headed across the way to Santa’s Landing. My daughter waited patiently in line, even making a friend on the other side of the wall. (We chose the longer of the two lines at Santa’s Landing — it seems obvious now but if you have the choice, go for the shorter one. There are two rooms where you can meet Santa.) While my daughter had been rehearsing her Christmas wish list all week, she turned shy once we entered the room to meet Santa himself. Jolly Santa greeted her with kindness from his velvet couch, and we opted to take a photo standing behind him. (The professional photos are ready for immediate viewing and purchase at the nearby Santa photo hut. We snapped a few photos with my phone rather than splurging on professional prints.)

I genuinely appreciated the friendly staff throughout Enchant, who happily shared where to find different treats, the Enchant gift shop and more. It’s a huge space and can feel overwhelming to navigate. I recommend peeking at the Enchant map ahead of time, and taking time to orient yourself when you first arrive.

What to eat at Enchant

The smell of delicious food wafting through the upper level of Enchant was irresistible. We went around dinner time, and couldn’t resist splurging on a couple slices of pizza and some festive drinks. But there were endless food and beverage options: Booths offering dumplings, quesadillas, dim sum, garlic fries, boba, hot chocolate and more lined the marketplace path. Dessert options included edible cookie dough, cotton candy, cookies, doughnuts and taffy. Food prices ranged from $5–$30, depending on the selection.

With so many options (including vegan and gluten-free), there seemed to be something for everyone. Outside food is not permitted at Enchant, so you’ll want to make a plan for dinner beforehand if you don’t want to eat there.

Themed nights and special calendar events

There are special themed nights on the calendar, including Country Christmas night, Paws n’ Claus (a dog-friendly event), Ugly Christmas Sweater Night and Kraken Night. Check the online calendar for more details and other special events, and book your ticket for a festive night out.

What parents should know

• Enchant is an all-ages, family-friendly event. You can expect to see lots of kids and families.
• Dress for the weather. T-Mobile Park has a retractable roof, so Enchant is covered but it can still feel chilly inside. We wore layers and were comfortable keeping our jackets on throughout the night. 
• Your timed ticket has an arrival window. You can arrive during or after this time window, but not before (this worked well for us, as getting out of the house on time with a toddler has its challenges — not to mention Seattle traffic).
• Give yourself plenty of time to explore. The light maze is huge, and there are so many extra activities, many of which have lines. You’ll want to plan for a few hours to see and do it all.
• Strollers are not allowed in the light maze at the field level (with the exception of ADA adaptive strollers). There’s a stroller parking area upstairs, but it gets congested quickly on busy days. Bring a baby carrier and leave the stroller in your trunk if you can.
• Check the list of allowed and prohibited items. Note that no backpacks or selfie sticks are allowed. All bags must be clear and 12” x 12” x 6” or smaller.
• Plan for extra expenses on top of the price of admission if you want to add on ice skating, a ride on the Ferris wheel, food and drinks, or souvenirs from the marketplace. Bring your card or mobile wallet — Enchant Christmas is a cashless event.

Editor’s note: JiaYing Grygiel originally reported on Enchant for ParentMap in 2019 and contributed to this article. The article was updated in November 2024 to include all new details for the 2024 season, after ParentMap’s family fun editor, Meredith Charaba, visited with her family.