Thousands celebrate with Santa, snow at WRAL Winter Wonderland

The first 250 people to enter the event received a commemorative WRAL ornament.

"It took less than 15 minutes for the 250 ornaments to go," said WRAL Creative Services Director Heather Gray.

The event took place after the Raleigh Christmas parade and featured food trucks, WRAL News anchors and the host of American Ninja Warrior Matt Iseman.

"I love meeting the people of a new town, and Raleigh seems like such a great place," Iseman said. "I love the energy here."

While at the Winter Wonderland, Iseman interacted with fans and gave out advice on how to become a ninja warrior.

"Go to a ninja gym," he said. "If you find ninjas, they will be willing to help you. Nobody gets better alone. And the reality is the way to get better at ninja warrior is to just start."

Participants were able to practice their ninja warrior skills at the WRAL inflatable ninja warrior course and bounce in an inflatable fire truck.

Also, participants had the opportunity to go sledding on real snow provided by Snow My Yard. There was also a snow play area and snow falls at the entrance of the event and near Santa's station.

The sledding was the most popular attraction, drawing a large line of willing participants.

"I wanted to slide with my grandson," said sledding participant Sharese Ortiz.

Ortiz said she enjoyed the experience and that the weather was perfect for the Winter Wonderland.

Other participants thought of the activity as a great way to kick off the winter season.

2018 Raleigh Christmas Parade & WRAL Winter Wonderland videos

"Our daughters were on the snow slide," said Basile Yab. "It's a good way to kick off the winter with your first snow ride here in November. That's pretty exciting."

While partaking in the fun activities, participants also had the opportunity to purchase food from three food trucks.

"It's kind of nice," said Yab. "After the parade, come here and relax and have some food."

According to Gray, there are no plans yet for the Winter Wonderland to become an annual event, however, the success of Saturday's event has allowed WRAL team members to take note of how they can make the event bigger and better if it happens in the future.