Christmas Town 2017

Visit Christmas Town Here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Townies/111/129/148

Laura Liberty's annual Christmas Town is now open.  This is one of my all time annual fav Christmas sims.  There is a fantastic immersive skate through time /Christmas movies, a underground sledding tour, skating, shopping, fantastic scenery, cute hang out places and more.  This is a must see sim that is changed up a little each year and well worth multiple visits with friends or alone even. One major tip for first timers, when you enter the ice castle, be SURE to get on the skating pose balls out front and do not walk it, as you loves the majority of the special effects.  Also accept the drop down for the sounds when you first enter.  It's very immersive and does have some super cool effects if you simply get on the skating balls and following the initial brief instructions.  This is a sim I will go back to many times each Christmas and have already been there with numerous friends several times since it opened a few days ago.   Well worth it. Be sure to shop the cute stores with great products too so Laura is motivated to bring this back every year.  She often adds new parts to the sim and I love the new forest this year.  5 stars, highly recommend!!

Winter Wonderland, Linden Lab's Winter Sim Open Now and Annual Community Snowball Fight Monday

Visit Linden Lab's Winter Wonderland open to the general public here:http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Winter%20Wonderland%205/128/128/22


See Xiola Linden's official Linden Lab blog about Winter Wonderland, the Linden Lab community snowball fight, premium half off special and premium Portal Park here:  https://community.secondlife.com/t5/Featured-News/Joy-to-the-Grid-Exclusive-Gifts-the-Magic-of-Winter-Wonderland/ba-p/3088250



I started out in the brand new LL Portal Park which was a very cool entryway into the LL premium member special areas around the grid (see pics below) then entered the annual Winter Wonderland area that is now open to the general public.  (The direct link above is to the Winter Wonderland area open to all residents)

This year's Winter Wonderland has many of the same features as last year but with added features, and includes the huge play area with tracks for skiing, snowboarding, (free loaner boards, snowmobiles, skates and supplies available for use on site)  skating, a ferris wheel, etc.  The Snowball Arena and snow track area is bisected by the quaint City of Lights that houses a gift for visitors and is a perfect segue between the two areas.  Paths lead to the snowball arena that is home to the giant ice castle and frozen magical light changing tundra where visitors can explore, enjoy fireworks at the top of each hour, free snowball shooters, and a monster that rises from the depths of the ice pond at seemingly random time frames for only just a moment before diving back to it's icy home.

When visiting the snowball arena chose your free weapon to lug around while exploring as you can nail your friends, strangers or enemies around any corner possibly briefly shooting them sky high if your aim is true.  Watch out for avalanches, fellow players, and some ground areas that seem to want to bounce a person around for no apparent reason.  This is truly and beautiful and magical area.

The big event comes this Monday, 12-19-16 at 10am SLT.  The Lindens are hosting a snowball crawl this year for residents to join them.  (Alas, I will be at work as usual during this time frame so enjoy this without me) You can read about the details here: https://community.secondlife.com/t5/Featured-News/Jolly-Holiday-Crawl-amp-Snowball-Showdown-at-10-am-SLT-Monday/ba-p/3087782  The tour will visit some of SL's finest winter sims culminating at the WW snowball arena for the annual LL community snowball fight between noon and 2pm SLT.  So if you ever wanted to hobnob with some Lindens, here is your chance.  There are also gifts and freebies around (including a Blueberry special ladies) and even more gifts for premium members so be sure to check out her blog posts for more info.
 
(Portal Park below)
 

3 Great Winter Sims to Explore, Fallen Angels, Arctic Express, and Winter Showcase and Art Show

Visit Fallen Angels riding sim here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Coral%20Gables/128/128/23

I got a tip from Milky (Selena.twig) about this beautiful sim.  The ground is absolutely beautifully landscaped winter sime and the riding roads/track winds it's way through the sky.  My pics are of the ground area.  Beautiful job sim owner, Cat (Cat666Kat666)

Here are some more associated urls:
[http://secondlife.com/destination/fallen-angels-riding-sim
https://www.facebook.com/catkat.catkat.12/posts/372315149769485
https://www.facebook.com/SelenaTwig/posts/648102852061671

The sim info. reads: "Riding sim for all,and Hangout for everybody.features a paintball dragon arena with rideable dragons, we have an amazing space time track bike shops,clothes store,winter ro
mantic area for photographs,graveyard,amazing road from top to bottom.all welcome."



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Visit the DRD (Death Row Designs) Arctic Express at Moonlight Sonata here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Moonlight%20Sonata/128/128/23

This is a gorgeous winter sim with The Arctic Express, great for skating, exploring and photography.  Be sure to get inside the train for some great detailed design that really are super cool


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Visit 2016 Winter Showcase and Art Show here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Meadow%20Gardens/128/128/22

This cool winter sim has shopping (for a good cause) art, and landscaping to explore.  If you want your Christmas pics on Santa's lap, there is a spot for you to pose.

Their info. states: "Team Diabetes of Second Life is proud to present for the second year in a row, the 2016 Winter Showcase and Art Show! This event will take place from December 8 to December 18 and will include ten days of live djs, performers, tribute concerts, 2 hunts, photos with Santa, ince skating, ice fishing, fundraising and more! The sim will open at 4 am slt on December 8! http://www.teamdiabetesofsecondlife.org/2016-winter-showcase.html"