Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.
Remember to take a moment to think about all the people who made it possible for you to enjoy freedom.
Anyway I spent my Memorial Day doing something I thought I would never do again. Two of my favorite childhood memories were going to Santa’s Village in East Dundee, and Kiddieland in Melrose Park. Santa closed its doors in 2006, while Kiddieland closed last year. Very sad. Being a father now, I couldn’t wait to take my children to these two placed as I loved them growing up. Well, this Memorial day, Santa’s Village reopened as an Azoosment Park, and I was ecstatic.
I will list seven things that are awesome about this and it will serve as an informational purpose to you dear reader. You can use this info and be forewarned what to expect at the classic park.
1-This park is gearing more towards little kids. Perhaps 2-12 year olds, which was perfect for Jersey and Avery. Jersey loved it! If you are looking for the bigger rides like the Galleon, Tarantula, Skyliner; don’t be disappointed when you don’t find them. . Three rides that they should seriously consider bringing back are the fire engine, the bumper cars, and the skyliner. We’ll see what happens. One of the employees says that the owner is trying to buy the Racing Rapids property and turning that into a bigger kids area.
2-For all you that want bigger rides, the Tilt a Whirl and the Balloons, two original favorites from Santa’s Village are back and in full swing. I almost tossed my cookies on the TAW because we went twice. They also are building not the Galleon, but a different pirate ship that they adults can enjoy. Plus, a small dragon roller coaster as well.
3-Old Mcdonald’s Farm is back for the most part, but it’s not called that. You can feed goats and lambs, plus ride the ponies. They also feature huge turtles outside of the farm. Plus, where the Skee Ball building was, is not an aviary with little parakeets you can feed. Jersey kept trying to pick up the birds so you will have to keep an eye on the little ones. It was pretty cool. They are also constructing a deer park when the Sleigh ride used to be, and they are working on a sleigh/carriage ride.
4-Kiddieland rides “The Whip” and “The Midge O Racers” are back, so you get a little taste of Kiddieland with this park. Jersey says the Whip is her favorite. They also have a little size Ferris wheel, as well as a mini swing ride. Plus, they have handcarts the kids can ride on in a small circle where the Snowball used to be. The Snowball if I’m correct is in Utica at Grizzly Bear’s Resort. I haven’t heard of any talk to bring it back, but you never know. I spoke to one of the employees there who said they might bring back more Kiddieland rides or similar to that.
5-Another Santa’s Village favorite, the Star Jets are back. The parents can ride on it with their kids, which is really cool. All the buildings are still there. No North Pool or Weather Rocks though which is kind of a bummer. They do not have a working arcade yet either. I am sure as the season goes on, they will try to find a way to fix these small problems.
6-When you come to the park, either plan to go outside or bring a picnic. The prices are reasonable but it took them a long time to bring food up, plus its amusement park food which usually isn’t the greatest. Speaking of price, $16.50 is not a great price to get into the park, so try to find anyway you can to save a couple bucks. For now, due to novelty reasons, it’s not a big deal. Everyone is excited about the park being opened, so we can live with the price for now. However, once they get done adding more rides, it will be well worth it, but they will most likely raise it.
7-They still have the game alley by the Polar Dome Ice Arena. It’s just a shame that pretty much all of Coney Island has been turned into a Paintball field. It looks like fun if you’re into Paintball.
All in all, it’s a good start to bringing back a staple in Chicagoland history. I was pleased by the experience and Jersey definitely loved it. I think Avery liked it too, but she couldn’t really tell me. She liked the animals, and seemed to like the Whip. While she was on the ride, she looked a little nervous, but when we tried to take her off of it, she cried.
I have seriously been contemplating doing a documentary on the park, where it is now, where it was, and breaking down the sale and what went wrong in 2006. If anyone has any film and video skills and would be interested in helping out with this, please contact me.
All in all, check it out if you get a chance. You’ll be glad you did.
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