If anyone is looking for a local and safe way to get themselves into the holiday spirit this season, a merry carwash could be just the thing.

All month long, Russell Fischer Xpress’ “Winter Wonder Wash” in Huntington Beach is bringing holiday cheer straight to families and their loved ones from the safety of their own car. This marks its second holiday overlay this year after its Halloween “Haunted Car Wash” this past October.

The colorful carwash offers a useful service and is a fun way to engage in typical holiday festivities while also keeping limited contact with others in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The drive-thru carwash is covered in holiday decorations like lit-up Christmas trees and candy canes that extend all around the building. The inside of the carwash is dressed in lights and fun colors but some would say that the real star of the show is the tunnel of holiday lights that one must pass through to enter the experience.

The tunnel isn’t something that’s always there during the car wash’s usual operation and was curated specifically for this experience. As every car enters, the array of lights surround it, twinkling between different colors. This spot offers an obvious photo and video opportunity to document the experience or even showcase it on social media.

As the cars arrive, a Christmas elf stops the attendees to offer a Christmas list to fill out and turn in to Mrs. Claus at the end of the carwash. Christmas elves stand throughout the tunnel spreading joy by cheerfully greeting each and every guest. As cars drive through the tunnel, elves throw what appear to be little snowballs at the windshield and windows making the experience more interactive

Upon exiting the light tunnel, cars reach the normal automatic pay terminal where one would typically select a wash and pay. For the event, however, an attendant is there to help scan the QR code from the event ticket purchased beforehand. After that, the lever rises and the cars make their way in to continue the normal carwash service with the added lights and decorative touches inside.

After the wash ends, attendees are greeted by Rudolph the reindeer and Mrs. Claus for a fun interaction to say goodbye and collect the Christmas lists for Santa. Guests are given a fun COVID-19 safe interaction, gifted candy canes and then sent on their way.

Co-owner of the car wash, Chase Russell, explained that the company was inspired to create another holiday experience after the first one it did during the Halloween season was received so well and many people enjoyed it.

“We wanted to spread some holiday cheer and be able to have a place where families could come and because of how this year has been, we wanted to continue to keep the experience safe but enjoyable for everyone,” Russell said. “We wanted them to be able to get out of the house and go try something new and different and create more of a holiday experience.”

Russell explained that the Halloween car wash sold over around 7,500 tickets and had over 25,000 customers. The event had more people show up than its capacity allowed and for many nights it was only able to accept tickets booked online beforehand.

For now, the carwash is accepting drive-ups but may eventually need to stop and only allow pre-purchased ticket holders to enter.

The carwash would love to hopefully host more events and fun interactive experiences in the near future, according to Russell.

“It’s been such a wild success and customers have loved it,” Russell said. “And you know, we’re so happy to be able to have our customers leaving with such a big smile on their face.”

The “Winter Wonder Wash” is available to experience on select dates in December for $25. Visit www.eventbrite.com for more information and to purchase tickets.