Insider's guide to Mall of America holiday shopping

With more than 500 stores, free concerts and coffee plus valet parking, Mall of America bustles all December.

Enjoy MOA's festive Christmas season 

Feature & photos by Lisa Meyers McClintick

If you’re want to brave the crowds for holiday shopping at Minnesota’s Mall of America, there are plenty of reasons to join in the festivities.

Mall of America's Disney store

Here’s what you should know to be a savvy holiday shopper at the Mall of America and to make the most of your experience.

Best bit of advice? Take a day or half-day off and make it fun. Why? Because some of the best services are Monday through Wednesday from 1 to 7 pm, which is this year’s MOA Holiday Happy Hour.

Make MOA parking easy:

If you can get your shopping done during Holiday Happy Hour,Mall of America offers free valet parking at the mall’s north entrance. Follow valet parking signs from 24^th Avenue. Valet parking also is available from 7 pm to closing Monday through Wednesday and 10 am to close Thursday through Sunday, but it costs $10.

Besides not needing to troll for a good parking spot, you can text the valet crew to get your car and have it warm and ready when you’re ready to go.

Grab free coffee

Hair salon at Mall of America's America Girl store.

Stop by one of five Caribou coffee locations in Mall of America and use the secret code (“Happy Hour”) for a free 12-ounce cup of coffee. It will give you the pick-up you need when shopping energy flags. If you’re really lucky, you might catch a surprise giveaway, free treats or gift cards given out by holiday helpers.

Sit with Santa

 Kids can visit Santa at the Sears Court from 9 or 10 am to 7 or 8 pm daily through Dec. 24 without any appointment. Avoid the 1 to 2 pm or 5 to 6 pm break times. You also can schedule a more intimate photo session with Santa through www.professorbellows.com.

Let the kids play Nintendo

 If you or your kids need a break or a distraction from the shopping hubbub, head to West Market Square for the Mall of America’s Nintendo Holiday Mall Experience. It’s a chance to try out its new 2DS, Wii U and 3DS XL, as well as sample new games.

Shop MOA, earn ride wristbands

 

If you spend $250 between late November and Dec. 24, you can earn two free wristbands good for all rides at Nickelodeon Universe. That, too, makes a great gift for grandkids. To get the Nickelodeon Universe wristbands, take receipts to the park’s north entrance. Wristbands must be used by Feb. 28, 2014.

Enjoy a new light show

 Grab a spot on the second or third floor overlooking Nickelodeon Universe to see the new Universe of Light show. The nine-minute presentation with lights, music and smoke effects runs at 7 pm and 9:30 pm Monday through Thursday, 7 and 10 pm Friday and Saturday and at 7 pm Sunday. Universe of Light is staged from Nickelodeon’s South Entrance.

Enjoy holiday songs and carols

Mall of America mirror maze

The Rotunda fills with music 10 am to 8 pm every Saturday throughout the holidays with a variety of school groups, church groups and professional musicians that make it festive to stop and take a break. You can grab seats in the Rotunda or watch from the upper levels that overlook it. Don’t miss registering to win a Goo Goo Dolls autographed Fender guitar and album or a necklace set courtesy of Chapel of Love.

Check for other MOA holiday events

There’s truly always something happening throughout December at the Mall of America, so check the events page. You can catch a booksigning by Minnesota Vikings legend Bud Grant, test out Anki DRIVE racing games, test out Canon’s PIXMA Facebook app or gather ideas for Bisquick holiday pancakes.

Read more about the Mall of America's top attractions and enjoying a memorable holiday here with children.

Minnesota's German Christmas traditions

Christmas Market at Germany's Annaberg-Buchholz in the Erzgebirge.

Longing for Light: Ore Mountain miners influence the world
Christmas traditions throughout Minnesota, the U.S. and even the world can be traced back to the woodcarving of miners in need of more income near the border of Germany and Czechoslovakia in the 1800s.

They, in particular, craved and treasured light during the cold, dark season of winter and brought more of it to their homes with wooden candle arches (Schwiboggen), carved miners and angels (who represented their wives), elaborate chandeliers, and grand windmill-topped pyramids that spin from the heat of candles and lights.

Schwiboggen

Other beloved crafts: delicately curled boughs on wooden pine trees (Spanbäume), smoking Santas and figurines that puff curling wisps of incense, and the well-known Nutcrackers, a wink-wink, nudge-nudge way of mocking the stern mining officials from the Erzgebirge (also known as the Ore Mountains).

You can read my whole feature on Christmas traditions from the Erzgebirge in the Nov. 27 Star Tribune travel section. 

Find hand-crafted German ornaments in Minnesota

While it's a dream trip to see these crafters and the area that inspires them, it's also enchanting to find these Christmas crafts closer to home.

The two best places to find "Echte Erzgebirge" or "Authentic Ore Mountains" ornaments? Käthe Wohlfahrt store in Stillwater and several shops in New Ulm.

Stillwater features most famous Christmas store
The Käthe Wohlfahrt store is one of those mandatory stops in Rothenburg, which ranks as one of Germany's most picturesque (and touristy) medieval towns. Stillwater, Minnesota, claims a rare U.S. branch of this Christmas store.

It complements an already beguiling and historic downtown with its unique blend of boutiques.

Heirloom ornament sets.

Christmas reigns in New Ulm 
In New Ulm, several stores sell one of the greatest wedding gifts I've seen: heirloom sets of holiday ornaments. What a great idea and nice twist on the usual sets of pans and home decor brides and grooms put on wish lists.

Try these stores for all things Christmas:

Lambrecht's Gifts, 119 N. Minnesota St., is an efficient one-stop shop for unique women's wear and accessories, home decor and baby gifts with two stories and multiple rooms that make it fun to explore. You'll find a Christmas village and more than one upstairs room filled year-round with German ornaments from elegant to playful.

Guten Tag Haus, 127 N. Minnesota St., has the nicest display of Erzgebirge Christmas crafts such as nutcrackers, the smoking Santas, candle arches and pyramids. They also have colorful displays of German blown-glass ornaments that glitter and catch the light, along with German and Czech cut-glass vases and bowls. If you have Norwegians and Irish in the family, too, you can find gifts for them as well--just not as many. Germans rule New Ulm.

Domeier's German Store, 1020 S. Minnesota St., sits along a residential stretch rather than downtown so you have to go looking for it. They pipe in the oom-pah-pah music and cram the store with ornaments, clocks and sweets galore. It's not the best choice if you have kids bundled in bulky winter gear, but it's fun in a folksy way. Don't miss looking up at the ceiling that's covered in postcards.