Santa's Village AZoosment Park - 2013 Season - Toddling Around Chicagoland

Santa’s Village AZoosment Park – 2013 Season

Website: Santa’s Village AZoosment Park

Location: 601 E. Dundee Avenue, East Dundee

Phone: 847-426-6751

Hours: Santa’s Village is closed on Mondays. Hours vary; a full schedule is available online.

Admission: $18.75/person, ages 3 & up; children 2 & under are free, $15.75/senior (65+). A 5% tax will be added to every admission fee. Active duty military with military ID admitted free.

Purchase tickets online to avoid the line. Additional add-ons are available.
Late Day Savers – $11 admission on weekdays after 3pm, Saturdays (before Labor Day) after 5pm, Saturdays (after Labor Day) after 4pm, Sundays & holidays after 4pm.
Season passes are $62 for an individual pass or $191 for a Family 4-pack ($48 for each additional person). Season pass holders are entitled to unlimited admissions for the 2013 season, special discounts, VIP entrance, and up to 2 additional guests per visit at a discounted admission price.
Caribou Package can be purchased online and includes admission and $10 in Caribou Cash that can be used in the park.

Parking: Parking is free in the attached lot.

Bathrooms: There are bathrooms in a few buildings throughout the park. We were in the bathrooms near the games and they were public men’s and women’s bathrooms. The bathrooms near the games also have a separate mother’s room with couches and a changing table.

Nursing: There is a designated Mother’s Room with a few couches for comfortable nursing. There are also benches and tables throughout the park.

Handicapped/Stroller accessibility: The grounds are pretty accessible, as are the bathrooms. We have visited with a single stroller, double stroller, and wagon on different occasions. There are places near the rides to park your stroller or wagon if necessary. I can’t really speak to the handicapped accessibility of the rides; I’d suggest calling first to ask about that.

Other amenities:

Santa’s Village AZoosment Park offers party packages and group outings.
Temporary tattoos and airbrushed face painting is available for additional cost.
Crafts are available at an additional cost.
Midway Game Alley has carnival games with prizes (additional cost).
Gift shop

Food: Picnic areas are available and food CAN be brought in. Small coolers without wheels can be brought in, but grills and heating devices are not allowed. There are also several different options to purchase food in the park:

Arctic Circle Ice Cream Shop
Ginger Bread Snacks & Treats
Skeemer’s Snack Shop
Reindeer Ridge Bar & Grill
Pepe’s Mexican Cantina
Jed’s Country Drive-In

Activities:

A map of the park is available online.

New rides this season – Ding’em Dodge’em Bumper Cars and Wildcat Roller Coaster (coming soon).

Rides – Parents can ride along on AZoosment’s Country Carousel, Dragon Coaster, Krinkle’s Convoy, Tilt-A-Whirl, Star Jets, Balloon Race, Jed’s Country Cruisers, SVFD Engine #3, and the Sea Dragon. The Space Invasion, Kiddie Whip Ride, Midge-O-Racers, Boat Ride, Funhouse, and Kiddie Ferris Wheel are for kids only. The Santa’s Slide is a tree house with a long slide. Some rides do have height requirements.

Animals – There are several different areas with animals: the koi pond, Scales & Tails, Deer Area, Tortoise Island, Reindeer Ridge, a petting zoo with pony rides, and the new Parakeet Paradise. There is also a Sleigh Ride for adults and children.
Games – There is an entire section of the park devoted to carnival style games.
Live shows – Educational Animal Show, Kidbucks Game Show, Balster’s Amazing Sheer Magic Show. A full schedule of live shows is available online.

We paid: We received complimentary admission.

Our experience:

My family loves to visit Santa’s Village AZoosment Park. I visited as a child; we took Cooper and Dexter when it reopened in 2011, and we visited several times last year. We love to visit on the weekends when the whole family can go so we can ride on all the rides. Having Campbell makes that a little more difficult; he can go on some rides, but on some of the ones he can’t Cooper and Dexter need to have an adult with them so John & I take turns. I have visited with the three boys by myself and it actually worked pretty well. There are plenty of rides for the kids to go on without an adult, especially Cooper. Dexter’s a little under the 42″ limit to ride alone on some rides so we steered clear of those.

This season they added a stand that sells things you might need – sunscreen, Tylenol, diapers, etc. We were lucky enough to have everything we needed, but it’s great to know this is there in case we need it.

The Dragon Coaster, Balloon Race, Jed’s Country Cruisers, the SVFD Engine #3, the Kiddie Whip Ride, and the Kiddie Ferris Wheel are always favorites for my kids. Of course, the kids also love to stop in and visit Santa, take pictures with the princess, and check out the North Pole. Even on the days when it’s 85 degrees the North Pole stays frozen and the kids think it’s fascinating.