A picture with Santa gives future generations a glimpse of holidays past without the risk involved in producing homemade music videos of “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.” Capture holiday memories safely with today’s Groupon: for $17, you get family admission and a Santa photo package at Santa’s Magical Kingdom in Eureka (a $34 value). The Santa photo package includes:

• One 5”x7” print
• One 4”x6” print
• Two wallet prints
• Four mini portraits
• Seven thumbnail-size prints<p>

Filled with millions of dazzling lights, the 35-acre drive-through fantasyland at Santa’s Magical Kingdom brings the North Pole to children, along with a chance to whisper wishes into Father Christmas’s ear as cameras flash. The 4-story-tall doors to Santa’s kingdom sweep open to admit slow-moving cars or turtle-drawn racing chariots into the holiday fantasyland. Eyes widen in wonder while taking in a 300-foot waterfall flowing from the clouds, the reindeer soaring above the quaint town of Elfland, the fancy footwork of the bulbs in the Tunnel of Dancing Lights, and the giant gingerbread bulldozers of Candyland. Kids are welcome to drop off letters to Santa in his North Pole mailbox before stepping out of cars and into Kringle’s General Store.

Youthful believers outfitted in bright smiles climb onto Santa’s lap as photographers snap vivid, waterproof memories that are copyright-free and ready to be reproduced for holiday-card mailings or magazine-cover submissions. Before and after pictures, little ones and adults can let imaginations run wild through shelves brimming with unique holiday toys, gifts, and décor. Every evening, Mrs. Claus passes out steaming mugs of spiced cider, hot cocoa, and fresh coffee to complement her chocolate-chip cookies, made from a secret recipe that’s as coveted as the gold medal in the reindeer-games Olympics. Santa’s Magical Kingdom opens every night at 5:30 p.m., from November 18, 2011, to January 8, 2012.