Quoting
Extra-family arithmetic, the $350 threshold and the Christmas Eve rates, applied the same way every time.
Behind the curtain
The console Santa
runs the season from.
Where a booking becomes a signed agreement, a retainer, a balance due, and a place to be on a Saturday in December.
Illustrative — the figures on this page are invented
38Bookings held+6 this week
31Agreements signed7 awaiting
$9,140Retainers collectedof $14,275 booked
3Dates left in DecemberDec 8, 18, 22
Bookings
Every booking, and where it has got to.
Inquiry → held → agreement sent → signed → retainer paid → confirmed. Santa never has to remember where a family got to.
The thing a calendar will not tell you
December 21st is
three towns and 96 miles.
Chelsea parade at 10am, Chelsea Splash Pad from noon, Majestic Caverns from 5pm. Workable, but only if nothing runs long.
A system that knows where Santa already is should refuse to sell a private visit into that gap. The current setup cannot: the public list and the bookings live in different places.
Tight turnaround · Dec 21
Chelsea Splash Pad ends 3:00pm. Majestic Caverns begins 5:00pm. 47 minutes’ drive, no allowance for changing or traffic.
Chelsea Splash Pad ends 3:00pm. Majestic Caverns begins 5:00pm. 47 minutes’ drive, no allowance for changing or traffic.
Double-booked evening · Dec 16
Majestic Caverns 5:30–9:00pm and the Hudson Foundation event in Opelika 5:30–8:30pm sit on the same evening in the published list. One of the two is wrong.
Majestic Caverns 5:30–9:00pm and the Hudson Foundation event in Opelika 5:30–8:30pm sit on the same evening in the published list. One of the two is wrong.
Balance overdue · SM-2026-4421
Visit is Dec 13. Payment in full was due Nov 13. Chase it, or release the slot.
Visit is Dec 13. Payment in full was due Nov 13. Chase it, or release the slot.
What the build takes off Santa’s plate
Work that currently happens by hand.
Agreements
Shown, ticked and signed before payment, then filed against the booking.
Chasing balances
Every booking knows its 30-day date and says so first.
Sold-out sessions
A full session closes itself. Nobody types “sold out” onto a page.
The appearance list
One record per appearance, sorted by date, out to the site and to search from the same entry.
The mailing list
One list and one signup, instead of the two rails the current site carries.