OT: Santa's Village, Jefferson, NH

[JenLanDisney]

Does anyone have hints/tips for this park?

We plan to go Memorial Day weekend. Our DS will be 3 years old

I posted last year about Storyland and got terrific responses!

Thanks in advance.

 

[mom2meiko]

the only tip i could give (it's been years since i've been) is to make sure you and your kids definitely keep your hands inside the cars at all times. you would think everyone knows this right? wrong. my godson had his hand on the side of the flume log ride (i have no idea why!!!) and got his fingers squished between the "log" and the barrier. no permanent damage but it definitely hurt and he refuses to go back to that park because of that incident.

other than that, go and have a great time! i'm hoping to get dd there in the next year or so myself.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

We love that park and have been twice. It is really shady and you can even go on a hot day and not feel overly warm. Remember that you are allowed to bring in food. We ate lunch on a picnic table under some pine trees. It is a one day park and you will be able to do everything. I actually liked this place more than storyland for the themeing.

 

[PrincessAtta]

Great park.

They have these little elf statues around the park that make hole punches in a piece of paper that the kids hang around their neck like a lanyard. The kids have a great time trying to find all the elves (one elf per letter in the alphabet). They can show their paper at the end of the day for a give-away (pencil, plastic ring, the like). Grab the alphabet game sheet first thing otherwise the kids can get distracted trying to backtrack. Also, maybe set some groundrules about running after the elves because I find it can be nervewracking when a child spots a distant elf and takes off after it. We've lost sight of the kids for moments that way.

The rides that get long lines (ps, nothing in comparison to Disney) are the Yule Log flume, bumper cars, and the skyway sleigh ride. They're all generally in the same area, so if you're a get there early person, I'd knock those out and then you can kind of make your way around the park in a relaxed fashion. Bah Humbug (like Buzz Lightyear) and antique cars sometimes draws lines as well. These are all the slow loaders. Oh and the Ferris Wheel wait is painful. Like that balloon ride at Story Land? Stops to load every seat, then goes around for like five minutes. I don't like heights and it gives me anxiety attacks, the kids don't seem safe to me, no seatbelts, etc. I won't let the kids on it.

The skyway sleigh has a ride photo, so be prepared to pose. Another reason to ride this early, imo.

The main difference between Story Land and Santa's Village is that many of the rides are built so that the kids can go on by themselves, so you can kind of stand back and watch. Young children feel very grownup. Maybe not a 3 year old, but for anyone else who is watching the thread, although the flying swings are not built for an adult, and you could load him and then stand back.

Magical moment is that since this is Santa's summer residence, his reindeer are there as well. Literally named Dasher, etc., and you can feed them.

Have fun!

 

[JenLanDisney]

Thanks for the helpful responses.
PrincessAtta - I'll keep your ride suggestions in mind , too!

 

[katie111]

My kids LOVE this park, definitely more than Storyland and its pretty close with Disney. Its not that big, but its just so cute. Everything is so well themed and the people that work there are SO nice. Like another poster mentioned its very shady so it can often be a lot cooler there than it is even in North Conway. We drove up form North Conway last year and were in shorts and we were freezing till about noontime when it finally warmed up a little. Ita bout a 35 minute ride from North COnway. One year we stayed at a local motel nearby but there were really no nice options for lodging so now we always just stay in North Conway and drive from there. The lnes are nothing like DIsney but if you can, I would recomend trying to get there when it opens as you'll be able to walk right on a lot of the rides. By noon it will be fairly crowded. There are lots of things to do besides the rides-little play areas, little elf houses to go in, visiting Santa, feeding the reindeer etc that my kids really enjoyed when they were your child's age. Have a great time!

 

[miprender]

Awwe we love SV. We went this August (one of the few days it didnt rain that month) and then we went this past December (14 degrees outside but still fun). The drive is nice and scenic too.

They also allow coolers in the park like Story Land so you can pack a lunch.

 

[hockeymom3]

We've gone here a few times when we vacation in North Conway. The two things my kids loved about it was doing the alphabet search (you get a small prize if you find the entire alphabet and have them hole punched on your card) and the # 1 thing was to go to one of Santa's helpers (I can't remember the exact name of the booth) but the elf makes the kids a special one of a kind ring that fits them exactly! My kids still have theirs...and they lose everything!!!

 

[LittleDickensDesigns]

We live in VT and for the last three years we've visited SV with our boys. The first year it was just a day trip, but the last two years we've camped at a great campground about 10 minutes away and gone with a whole bunch of other families. It's one of the highlights of our summer!

The first year we went my boys were 1 & 4. In my mind it's a perfect park for kids under age 8 or so.

One thing that's cool is if you go after 3pm (I think they are only open until maybe 5pm or 6) you can come back the next day. We did that the second year we were there. We got to our campground, checked in and set-up camp, went for a swim, then hit SV. Stayed for 2 hours until they closed, then headed back to the campground. Three families were responsible for dinner that night so the rest of us watched their kids swim in the lake, hit the playground. Then the next day we all spent a full day at the park, but if some needed to head back home and weren't camping that night, they were able to get going at a reasonable time to drive home. We stayed a second night. Always a fun time.

Just through the reindeer barn is a big open area with a huge covered sand box. It's a great place to take a rest and let the kids play. The parents can just sit (or lie down) on the bench around it. So nice. Also, there's a building with an indoor theatre, arcade and giant shop in it. If you go upstairs (in the shop) there is a very quiet balcony area that has some toys, climbing stuff for the smaller kids. It's also a good place to take a break. There's also a kind of strange maze kind of thing up there.

The shows are kind of hokey, but the rest of the park is very fun and the people who work there are the best! I'm pretty sure the place is still family run, but obviously has tons of employees. They must be good bosses because we've seen many of the same staff there year after year and they all seem happy!

 

[dancin'girl]

We loved Santa's Village!
We have been during the summer and then in Dec., and we much preferred the summer! The crowds were insane in Dec!! We waited 2 hours to see Santa - but maybe only 20 minutes in June (I guess most kids don't care about Santa in the summer! ) It was also way too cold to be enjoyable in Dec.
My kids really enjoyed decorating gingerbread men in the cookie shop and seeing the reindeer.
Great Fun! Clean park! Nice price! We'll definitely be back!
Have a nice trip!

 

[BuzzPrincessMom]

I definately suggest going at 3pm and getting another day this season free.

I would also like to point out that the Santa's Village website also has letters from Santa and he adds in what he "saw" the child doing at SV. We have got them each year after our trip, they arrive early December and my children are amazed from the detail from Santa.