Family-friendly ‘Stone Mountain Christmas’ hits sentimental notes

My son cast a wary eye at the cold night sky as Snow Angel, Stone Mountain Park’s embodiment of Christmas spirit, encouraged the white stuff to come wafting down.

“Let it snow,” implored the ethereal blonde in the billowing white gown as she “flew” high above us in Crossroads, the park’s rendition of a winter wonderland, during “Stone Mountain Christmas.” “Let it snow. Let it snow.”

My 12-year-old, who just a few years ago couldn’t wait to share his epic holiday wish list with Snow Angel, wasn’t buying what she was selling, even as the frozen fluff started to fall.

“Snow doesn’t taste like salt,” he objected after catching a flake or two on his tongue. “This is fake!”

Fake? Well, yeah.

Let’s review: To start with, we were standing in a make-believe 1870s town built in the shadow of an enormous granite outcropping that long ago was made a tourist attraction by the Confederate monument carved into its side.

Herschend Family Entertainment upped the theme park aspect when it took over commercial operations in 1998, opening Crossroads in 2002. That same year, it launched “A Southern Christmas,” a precursor of “Stone Mountain Christmas.”

The shows that are the annual holiday event’s big attractions — mainly Christmas song revues performed by energetic, eager-to-please young performers with Pepsodent smiles — have the creamy sweetness (minus the alcohol kick) of eggnog. They seem like something you’d expect to find at Dollywood and Silver Dollar City, theme parks, not coincidentally, run by Herschend.

Small changes this year include the addition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster, plush-costumed creatures that appear in the parade that kicks off “Stone Mountain Christmas” nightly.

So, yes, the Scrooges in the crowd — the 12-year-old varietal and older ones, too — might indeed dismiss the whole enterprise as “fake.”

But make no mistake: “Stone Mountain Christmas” clearly connects with its target audience. The event is one of the biggest draws at Georgia’s most popular tourist attraction (annual attendance: 4 million) for many reasons.

For one, there are few public places in the metro area that make it so easy for extended families to have an outing together during the holidays. And nothing stronger than hot chocolate is sold, helping ensure that family-friendly atmosphere is maintained.

The easy proximity of all the offerings means you can sample a lot of diversions in one evening. In three hours, my little Scrooge and I hit two of the slick musical revues and the gleefully ragtag comic compression of “A Christmas Carol,” rode the train around the mountain, snacked, shopped for souvenirs and caught the Snow Angel Fireworks Finale.

And with this week’s opening of Snow Mountain, families up for even more action can opt for a combination ticket, good for a two-hour snow tubing session and full access to “Stone Mountain Christmas.” (Nice touch: You can visit these adjoining attractions on the same day or separate days.)

Like Snow Mountain, “Stone Mountain Christmas” takes place outdoors (except for some of the shows and a “4D” shortening of “The Polar Express”), an aspect we enjoyed even on a raw night. The highlight for us, in fact, was the half-hour ride in the open-air Sing-Along Christmas Train.

Overhead monitors have been added throughout the cars displaying song lyrics to encourage passengers to join Andy Williams on “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year ” and Dean Martin on “Jingle Bells,” among other chestnuts.

Sorry to rat him out, but even my 12-year-old Scrooge happily crooned along with his out-of-tune dad.