The VIP Experience at Stocking Full of Christmas
An hour in the lounge before your journey, a stocking you decorate yourself, a character meet and greet, and the front of every room.
From $95·10 VIP spots per journey·Arrive one hour early
What VIP adds to the evening
Both passes get the full journey through all five rooms with live performers. VIP adds an hour, a lounge, a stocking for every guest, a character of your own to meet, and the front of every room.
General Admission
From
$50
$65 on standard nights, before fees
- The full journey through all five rooms
- Live entertainment throughout
- Stocking stuffers along the way
- A cookie from Mrs. Claus
- Child ticket includes the stocking
- Adults can add a stocking for $20
Arrive 20–30 minutes early
VIP Package
From
$95
$110 on standard nights · Includes everything in General Admission, plus
- The VIP Lounge before your journey
- A stocking, with upgraded stocking stuffers
- Additional stocking stuffers in the VIP room
- A stocking decorating station at check-in
- A character meet and greet, VIP only
- Additional photo opportunities in the VIP room
- Special gifts from the season’s sponsors
- Priority seating, enter every room first
Only 10 VIP spots per time slot · arrive one hour early
Your VIP hour, step by step
General Admission arrives twenty minutes before the slot and waits. VIP arrives an hour before and does this instead.
- 1
The lounge opens
Check in and settle into the VIP Lounge with your group, a full hour before your journey.
- 2
Your stocking
Every VIP guest receives one, at any age, and personalizes it at the decorating station.
- 3
Upgraded stuffers
VIP stockings come with upgraded stocking stuffers, plus additional stuffers handed out in the VIP room.
- 4
Meet a character
A character meet and greet inside the VIP room, before the journey begins. VIP only.
- 5
Photo moments
Additional photo opportunities set up for VIP guests in the lounge.
- 6
Sponsor gifts
Special gifts from the 2026 stocking-stuffer sponsors.
- 7
Your journey begins
Priority seating. You enter every room ahead of the rest of your group.
A guide to the order, not a schedule. Arrival details
Meet a character, VIP only
Before the journey begins, VIP guests get a character meet and greet inside the VIP room, with time and space that the main journey does not allow. Characters vary through the season.
Enter every room first
Each journey is a group of up to forty-five moving through the five rooms together. VIP guests have priority seating in every room, which means they go in first and take the best spot before the rest of the group follows. Over five rooms and the hallways between them, that adds up to a noticeably calmer evening.
Decorate your own stocking
General Admission children receive a stocking. VIP guests of any age receive one, with upgraded stocking stuffers, and personalize it at the decorating station in the lounge. Adults on General Admission can add a stocking for $20 at checkout, but the decorating is VIP only.
Is VIP worth it?
Honestly, it depends on who is coming. General Admission is the whole experience, not a lesser version of it. VIP is about time and comfort.
Worth it for families with small children
The lounge hour turns the wait into an activity, the decorating gives kids something to hold onto, the character meet and greet is theirs alone, and going into each room first means small ones are at the front.
Worth it for a date night
An unhurried hour, your own stocking rather than a child’s, sponsor gifts, and the photo moments without a crowd in them.
General Admission is plenty if
You are happy to arrive twenty minutes early, do not need a stocking for the adults, and are fine being anywhere in a group of forty-five. Booking for more than a handful? Private groups can take a whole slot.
VIP questions
Does VIP include a stocking?
Yes. A stocking is included with VIP admission at any age, with upgraded stocking stuffers, and you decorate it in the lounge before your journey.
How early should VIP guests arrive?
About one hour before your scheduled time slot, so you have the full lounge experience. General Admission guests arrive 20 to 30 minutes early.
How many VIP spots are there?
Ten per time slot. Once they are gone for a given time, they are gone.
Is the journey itself different for VIP?
No. VIP and General Admission go through the same five rooms with the same performers. The difference is everything that happens in the lounge beforehand, and entering each room first.
What does VIP cost?
From $95 on value nights, December 10, 16 and 17. $110 on all other dates. Prices are per person, before fees.
VIP from $95, plus fee
Thirteen nights at Park Hyatt Aviara, Carlsbad. Ten VIP spots per journey.