In the continuing injury absence of Lewis Moody, Tindall will captain England in Saturday's Pool B game against Argentina and after having a first taste of the shiny new Otago Stadium in a light training session on Friday he said he could not wait to get started.
"It's really hard to explain but I love the day before, especially in the evening," Tindall told reporters.
"The longer I wait, the apprehension and the excitement just builds in me. I'm running around like a schoolboy toward the end of the day. I end up like Moodos (Moody), basically, the way he is every game and that works well for me.
"Even the night before, I never want to go to bed because I just like thinking about things. I'm waiting for Santa to come."
Nearly 33, Tindall is in his 12th year as an international and will run out on Saturday alongside 20-year-old Manu Tuilagi, winning his third cap.
Tindall, a fixture at outside centre from where he helped England to win the tournament in 2003, has been switched inside to accommodate the Samoa-born powerhouse but said there was not a great deal the older players could do to prepare the new boys for the World Cup experience.
"You can talk to them but until they embrace it themselves, you can't really give them what it's going to be like," he said. "You only get that experience by being here.
"Obviously, in the environment New Zealand provides, there is always a 24/7 reminder you are in a big tournament and you've just got to get used to that.
"We spoke about it before we came away. We've been quite lucky in Dunedin, it's been quite low-key so far but as soon as it starts then that the pressure is going to build. If we get off to a good start tomorrow that puts that on the back-burner straight away."
Adding further to the sense of excitement is the prospect of playing under Otago Stadium's futuristic transparent roof, which lets in light and will magnify the crowd noise.
"It's the first time I've played indoors with a clear roof but the pitch is the same size, that's all matters," said Tindall, who earlier this year captained England to their first Six Nations title since 2003.
"But it's great. The pitch is outstanding and you can see how people say it's going to be loud and noisy and the seating is very close.
"We need to go out there and make sure we enjoy ourselves, that's the big thing for us tomorrow. When we go out there, really get into the game and enjoy what we are doing, we seem to play our best rugby."
Manager Martin Johnson, Tindall's captain in the 2003 tournament, was also impressed with the 30,000-capacity ground ahead of Saturday's 20.30 local time kick off (08.30GMT).
"I think it is a fantastic stadium. It's very personal, a great size and the surface is pretty good," he said. "It's a different feel at night. With the lights on and the crowd, I think it will be a great venue.
"I think from what you hear from the previous games it will be very noisy, the sound reverberates around. We've spoken about that and communication on the field."
Johnson's upbeat analysis was quickly replaced by his more familiar knitted brow when he was asked if his team was fully prepared.
"Well, we'd better be ready," he snorted. "We trained very well last night. We asked for a pretty crisp and intense session and we got it.
"It was just taking another step up and now it's all about the guys individually mentally getting themselves in the right place so they are ready to go."