Located opposite Westfield Fountain Gate Shopping Centre (Cnr Princes Highway and Brechin Drive, Narre Warren) and presented by nova 100 and Showtime Attractions, Frosted – A Winter Spectacular is an immersive, walk-through event celebrating Christmas in June/July.
Ideally suited for families with children 10 years and under, this year was Paw Patrol themed – the long-running animated television series created by Keith Chapman and produced by Spin Master Entertainment.
We arrived for our 6pm session and saw the long General Admission line snaked around the side fence. Having VIP tickets meant we were able to walk straight in. Other benefits included ten-minute early entry, complimentary VIP Gift Bag, VIP Fast Pass Lanyard, front of line priority at each Frosted Zones, and a food voucher for either hot dog/hot chips and cold drink OR chicken nuggets/hot chips and cold drink.
So it’s well worth the extra cost in my opinion, especially if you’re with an impatient three-year-old. Each session only runs for 2 hours so it was handy for him to skip the long lines and go on rides again and again.
Showered with fake snow before entry, we entered the heated Big Top tent and into ‘Mrs Claus Kitchen’ where you can take a seat and grab a bite to eat. On the perfectly designed winter menu is hot soup ($10), pulled pork roll and chips ($15), hotdog ($8), Little Frosties Box with nuggets, chips and juice or small water ($10), cold drinks ($4) and more.
Alternatively, inside at the Sweet Treats stand, you can also purchase coffee ($5), tea ($3), hot chocolate ($5), lollipops ($5), popcorn ($6/$10 souvenir bag), fairy floss ($6 bag/$10 bucket), slushie in a keeper cup ($10 – refills available for $5) and a four pack of hot jam donuts ($10).
Activities include creating a framed snowman artwork at the ‘Winter Craft Corner’, painting a 3D wooden reindeer stand at the ‘North Pole Post Office’ and decorating a delicious cookie at ‘Mrs Claus’ Bakery’ (okay, this one is fun – and tasty – for adults too!)
If your kids aren’t much into crafts, there are many fun and festive rides. My nephew favoured going down the inflatable slide into the ball pit, playing mini golf, riding the miniature train and jumping on one of the jumping castles. He was too scared to ride the carousel or try ice skating and was too big for the designated play area for under two-years-olds.
Other highlights were the incredible merchandise shop, photo ops (most are free), and fun carnival games. We tried our luck on the Laughing Clowns ($10 for one game or $15 for two) and Pick-A-Ball ($10 for 3 balls). We didn’t win anything big, but my nephew seemed happy with his smaller prizes, especially a whistle and bouncy ball.
He also got a huge kick out of the fun house mirror corridor!
It’s near impossible not to compare this to Showtime Attractions’ 2025 show, Melbourne’s Christmas Wonderland (you can read my review here), with one major difference being the Paw Patrol live show being a major downgrade to last year’s Carebears Christmas Spectacular.
The latter presented a Christmas story told by two elves, Santa and Mrs Claus and featured some seriously impressive juggling, clowning, aerial silk and hoop acts. Although introduced by Mrs Claus, the Paw Patrol show lacked a Christmas angle with main protagonist, Ryder (played by an enthusiastic young actor) along with pups Chase and Marshall (played by people in costume) practising for the Adventure Bay Talent Show.
It’s not a huge deal but it does feel like a missed opportunity as the Carebears live show was a highlight and one of the few activities that could be enjoyed by both adult and children alike. But with the Paw Patrol stage shoved into a small corner of the main tent with minimal seating, it’s obvious putting on an impressive live show wasn’t their priority. Still, even the appearance of Santa would have helped.
The kids seemed to enjoy it though with many up dancing.
So, although Frosted does a wonderful job at creating a winter atmosphere, it feels like it’s missing some Christmas cheer.
Maybe it was the staff not being dressed up as elves this year (doable), the lack of Santa himself (also doable) or I simply missed the awe of the massive Christmas trees covered in toys and enormous plush Carebears (also also doable with Paw Patrol toys/characters instead).
There was little for me to do after thirty minutes attending as a childless adult last year. This year we were one of the last groups to leave and seeing my nephew’s face light up was what it was all about.
4/5 STARS
More information and tickets at frostedawinterspectacular.com.au
TINSEL and TAP SHOES 