Winter Wonderland

If you need to jump-start your Christmas spirit this season, a visit to WinterWorld may be in order. On a five-acre spread in Greenwood Village, a group of “imagineers” have realized a vision of Christmas that blends the familiar and traditional with some unusual additions to create an over-the-top winter wonderland. More than a dozen seasonally themed attractions fill a 13,000-square-foot gingerbread house and the area outside.

A life-sized snow globe with people inside sits next to colossal gift boxes and enormous puppets. Visitors will explore the crystal ice caves, see black-light-illuminated snowfalls and take a trip through a giant candy-cane tunnel on the way to Santa’s workshop. Elsewhere, a model-train village, a fortress of tin soldiers and a candy forest vie for attention with a performance of The Nutcracker in which the costumes dance by themselves.

It’s a surreal synthesis of those stop-motion animated Christmas specials and Willy Wonka-like architecture and technology. And if it doesn’t get you in the spirit of the season, you just might be a descendant of Scrooge.

WinterWorld is open now through February 1 and is located at 6875 South Clinton Street in Greenwood Village. Hours are from 2 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; admission is $11.95. Call 303-792-2593 or visit www.winterworlddenver.com for information and directions.

Thursdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Starts: Nov. 23. Continues through Jan. 31, 2007