Wonderland: A Journey to the North Pole pop-up coming to Long Beach

Hop a virtual train to a North Pole village for "a winter dining experience" when Wonderland: A Journey to the North Pole pop-up opens Nov. 8 in Long Beach.

Visitors will arrive at the outdoor entrance simulating a train station, with windows displaying passengers carrying suitcases. Open the "train" front doors and playing in the vestibule will be a 30- to 40-second video showing the view from the train as it travels from Long Island to Santa territory, says organizer Max Feinberg. "The video is made to make it look like the train is moving," he says.

Walking to the main dining room, pass through a scenic North Pole Main Street that will look like a Dickens Victorian village, with a brick building toy store and candy shop storefronts and snow resting atop the rooflines, says creative artist Craig Banks. There’ll be an Offices of Naughty and Nice. "The legal department," Banks jokes. "There’ll be a high-end elf lawyer sitting there with a ledger book." Banks says he also plans to create some animatronics and motorized toy factory elements. The dining room decor will include the walls of a life-size gingerbread house.

Each reservation is a 90-minute lunch or dinner experience that includes an entrée and dessert, Feinberg says. Entrees include such choices as cheeseburgers, felafel or hot chicken sandwiches; desserts include chocolate cake or an ice cream float. Servers will wear themed attire and be called Santa’s helpers. Meals will be served Thursdays through Sundays, with Thursday nights being trivia night, Friday nights opening at 5 p.m. and weekend days opening at noon. The plan is to try to keep the Wonderland going through January and into February, Feinberg says. "We’re trying to really focus on this being a North Pole experience more than a Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanza experience," he says.

However, there will be holiday-related special events such as brunch with Santa or with characters from beloved holiday and Disney seasonal movies, Feinberg says. Trivia nights will include a competition to know the most about holiday films.

Cocktails and mocktails with such names as "Icicle" and "Snowy Nights" will be available for purchase, as well as additional side dishes. Wonderland takes over the same location -- The Ugly Duckling -- where Feinberg, who owns the venue, launched a Taylor Swift themed pop-up last December. 

By Beth Whitehouse

beth.whitehouse@newsday.comBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.