Make Magical Memories at Independence Center

Eager children and their families can experience the joy and magic of the holiday season with a visit to the Simon® Santa Photo Experience at Independence Center. Santa’s arrival will be kicked-off with a parade, endless holiday décor, hot chocolate and a performance from Voy Spears Elementary School’s choir on Fire group. Located on the lower level of Dillard's Court, children can whisper wishes and capture photo memories with Santa starting Saturday, November 4 at 10 a.m. through Sunday, December 24 until 6 p.m., daily hours vary.

“One of the great traditions of holiday shopping at Independence Center is the annual family visit to the Simon Santa Photo Experience,” said Tricia Sanders, General Manager at Independence Center. “I know Santa can’t wait to greet children bringing him their holiday wishes.”

Independence Center also provides children with special needs and their families with an opportunity to enjoy this time-honored holiday tradition through a sensory-friendly Caring Santa event in partnership with Autism Speaks. Caring Santa will occur on Sunday, November 19 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and Sunday, December 3 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. prior to mall opening. Caring Santa provides the opportunity for families of children with special needs, to safely experience the time-honored tradition and magic of Santa. Caring Santa events have expanded from seven Simon malls in 2011 to 108 Simon malls today, reflecting the positive impact of this unique program. Guests can register in advance at simon.com/caringsanta.

Additionally, the popular Pet Photo Nights return to Independence Center Simon Santa Photo Experience this year. Many pet owners view their pet as an integral member of the family and are just as committed in caring for their pets as their “human” family members. Pet Photo Nights are hosted after regular mall closing and the set gets an extensive cleaning following the event to remove any potential risk to allergy sufferers. For local pet owners, the popular Pet Photo Nights with Santa take place on Sunday, November 12 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 10 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Save time and avoid the line with Santa by Appointment. Now you can reserve your magical moment with Santa online at http://simonsanta.com. For a complete schedule with specific daily hours, please visit http://www.simon.com/mall/independence-center/stores/where-is-santa/stream/santas-waiting-5401251

Guests to every Simon Photo Experience will have another opportunity to share Santa’s heart by making a donation via The Cherry Hill Programs to Save the Children. For nearly 100 years, this non-profit has given underserved children in the U.S. a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. Since this program began five years ago, Cherry Hill Programs has collected over $1,000,000 largely due to the generosity of Simon shoppers.

The Simon Santa Photo Experience is again sponsored by GYMBOREE GROUP. The GYMBOREE GROUP is a specialty retailer operating stores selling high-quality apparel and accessories for children under the Gymboree, Gymboree Outlet, Janie and Jack, and Crazy 8 brands.

Snow Creek, located in Weston, Missouri, 34 miles north of Kansas City is also a 2017 Simon Santa Photo Experience sponsor. Snow Creek features ski and snowboard facilities as well as a snow tube park. The ski area also has 60 snowmaking machines to ensure snow quality throughout the season with a capacity of up to 3000 gallons of water per minute, or 12 inches of machine made snow in a 24-hour period.

An additional sponsor is Universal Pictures Home Entertainment which is celebrating the highly-anticipated release of “Despicable Me 3,” available on Digital and Digital 3D November 21 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand December 5. Come visit the Simon Santa Photo Experience and receive a fun-filled Despicable Me 3 activity sheet and watch highlights from the movie.

About Independence Center

Independence Center is Kansas City’s leading shopping mall with more than 100 popular retail stores, including Macy’s, Dillard’s, Sears, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Forever 21, Sephora, PINK, Pandora, Coach, Carhartt, Victoria’s Secret and Old Navy. Shoppers enjoy its open-air lifestyle component with more stores, as well as delicious eateries like Applebee’s and Noodles and Company, and the area’s largest indoor children’s play area with a full-size carousel. Independence Center is located at 18801 E. 39th Street South in Independence, Mo. For additional information, please contact Independence Center at (816) 795-8600 or visit simon.com/independencecenter. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/IndependenceCenter/and follow us on Twitter @IndependencMall and on Instagram @IndependencMall.

About Simon

Simon is a global leader in retail real estate ownership, management and development and a S&P100 company (Simon Property Group, NYSE:SPG). Our industry-leading retail properties and investments across North America, Europe and Asia provide shopping experiences for millions of consumers every day and generate billions in annual retail sales. For more information, visit simon.com.

About Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE - www.uphe.com) is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios. Universal Studios is part of NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.