Santa Theme Park In California
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Santa's Village was a theme park nestled in the forests of Southern California. Not the first location you would think of for a winter-themed amusement park, it quickly became on of the most popular tourist attractions in the area. It opened in the Skyforest area of Arrowhead Lake on May 28th 1955, one month before Disneyland opened in Anaheim. And so was one of the first ever purpose built theme parks in the world. (The first ever was Santa Claus Land, in Santa Claus, Indiana, which opened in 1946.) However Santa's Village was the first ever franchised theme park, one of three built by developer Glenn Holland. The other franchises, were in Scotts Valley, California and East Dundee, Illinois.
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Santa’s Village was geared towards children offering such entertainment as a giant whirling Christmas Tree where guests rode in ornaments, Santa's Thrilling Bobsled Ride, a suspended Bee Monorail with yellow bumblebee cars, a spinning snow ball ride, a Crooked Tree House slide, a Ferris wheel, hand-cranked railroad carts, live reindeer who pulled Santa’s candy-cane adorned sleigh, a giant Jack-in the-Box, an odd Alice in Wonderland walk-through maze, a Cinderella Pumpkin Coach ride, a gas-powered tractor ride, the Antique Car Ride, Santa’s miniature Train Ride through the Enchanted Forest and shops selling baked goods, candy, and toys. Mrs. Claus had her own Spice Kitchen, and there was a Good Witch’s Bakery that baked large, yummy gingerbread cakes. Wow!
Unfortunately, by March 1, 1998 attendance to the park, once considered California’s biggest tourist attractions, declined drastically which forced the small family-owned park to close and the facilities abandoned to wind, rain and other destruction forces of nature turning it in to a holiday ghost town. However Santa’s Village has remained fairly intact over these past years since its closure in 1998. Many of the main buildings have withstood the hot summers and snow-covered winters in Skyforest. Vandals have left their mark, with graffiti sprayed on interior walls of gift shops, broken windows and debris left behind from late-night parties and trespassers on the site. Since its closure the site has been used as a storage area for a logging operation, who aren't so friendly towards inquisitive tourists turning up looking for a piece of dilapidated nostalgia. |
There Was a Kooky Cast Of Characters At Santa's Village.
Along with Santa there was a crazy and sometimes a little creepy cast of characters that lived at Santa’s Village. Obviously Santa and his wife were to be expected, but alongside them were the creepy Easter Bunny that lived in a huge egg house, and the equally creepy roaming Jack Pumkinhead. There was the Good Witch, who baked gingerbread men and cookies in her Gingerbread House, and Little Bo Peep!
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Then there were the Lollipop Lady and the Rainbow Man, whose jingle…“Come sing with the Rainbow Man!” would blare out. Along with these eclectic characters were dozens and dozens of people dressed as Santa's pixies and elves.
It has been estimated that somewhere around 5,000 local people living in the area of the San Bernardino Mountains known as The Rim of the World worked there during the 43 years that Santa's Village was in operation. |
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