Santa’s Village AZoosment Park

Phone: 847-426-6751

Hours:
Monday – Friday, 10am – 6pm
Saturday, Sunday, & holidays, 11am – 7pm
Park closed October 30-November 24

Admission: $16.50/person, ages 3 & up; children 2 & under are free. There is an online coupon for $2 off admission that’s valid until July 10, 2011.
Active military with valid ID are free with a paid children’s admission
Season pass – $39/person; $132/family of 4 ($30 for each additional family member)

Parking:There is a large lot with free parking.

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. There was a changing table in the women’s bathroom. When we were there, the bathrooms we used were not very clean.

Nursing: There is no designated nursing area.

Handicapped/stoller accessibility: The grounds are pretty accessible, as are the bathrooms. I think it would be easy to manage a stroller. We brought our Step 2 wagon & it worked great. We found plenty of space to park our wagon while we went on rides so it was very convenient. 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 rates.
Kids can also get airbrushed temporary tattoos or have their face painted (additional cost).

Food: Within the park, there is the Arctic Circle Ice Cream Shop, the Ginger Bread Cafe, and the Hoffbrau House/Beer Garden. There is also a picnic area and a picnic pavilion. Outside food IS allowed; coolers and small grills CAN be brought in.

Special events:
Santa – 7/22, 7/23, & 7/24; 8/13 & 8/14
Go Diego Go – 7/2, 7/3, & 7/4
Dora the Explorer – 9/3, 9/4, & 9/5
Harvest Fest – 9/24-10/29
Holiday Festival – 11/25

Activities:
A map of the park is available online. The waterpark area of Santa’s Village is still closed, but is coming soon.
– Rides –  Parents can ride along on the Convoy, Tilt-A-Whirl, Star Jets, and Balloon Race. The Hand Cars, Kiddie Whip Ride, Midge-O-Racers, Kiddie Swing Ride, and Kiddie Ferris Wheel are for kids only. The Santa’s Slide is a tree house with a long slide. The Dragon Coaster and Sea Dragon are expected to open during this season. Some rides do have height requirements(most require that riders be under a certain height).

– Animals – There are several different areas with animals: the koi pond, Scales & Tails, Deer Area, Tortoise Island, Reindeer Ridge, and a petting zoo with pony rides. The Horse Sleigh Ride was not open when we were there, but is operating now.

– Games – There is an entire section of the park devoted to carnival style games.
– Live shows – Check out the main stage for show times. When we visited there was a magic show. They also have exotic animal show. There is another stage for the Kidbucks game show, were kids are randomly chosen from the audience to play a game show and win small prizes.

We paid: We received a complimentary family pass. The normal price for admission for our family would be $49.50 ($43.50 with $2 off online coupon) for myself, John, & Cooper (Dexter is under 2 so he would be free). We did not eat in the park or play games. Cooper did get an airbrushed tattoo that cost $6.00.

Our experience:
We visited on a chilly and drizzly day. The park was pretty empty (maybe because of the weather) and we were able to ride every ride without waiting at all.
Dexter is only 20 months and very small for his age so I was concerned that he wouldn’t be allowed on some of the rides, but we didn’t have any problems at all. John and I were able to go on a lot of the rides with the kids, which was really nice. The ones we couldn’t go on Dexter was still able to go on by himself. The only ride in the whole park the kids didn’t go on was the Hand Cars, and that was just because we thought they might have trouble getting the cars going and be frustrated. (Well, Dexter didn’t do a pony ride either; he’s afraid of ponies.) We took them on the Tilt-A-Whirl, but that was a mistake. They enjoyed the first couple spins, but once the ride really got moving they started to cry. Whoops. Also, I don’t do well on spinning rides so I was pretty sick to my stomach for the rest of the day.
The kids really seemed to like the Star Jets (where the kids can pull on the lever to make the jet go up or down) and the Balloon Race.

We had a fantastic time. I highly recommend Santa’s Village for families with young children. They say that it’s geared toward kids aged 2-12, but I think 12 is really too old for Santa’s Village. I would recommend checking out the height requirements if you’re going with a school aged child; several of the rides require that riders be under a certain height (36′, 42′, 46′, and 52′ inches). We’re already planning our next visit to Santa’s Village.

I was provided a family pass for four. The opinions expressed are my own.