Defunctland: The Mystery of the Abandoned Santa Claus Theme Parks

my name is Kevin perjurer i investigate theme park rides that have been closed oft killed this time of year most people are thinking about decking the halls and what presents they're going to get their loved ones usually I would be too but at the moment I can't focus on neither the Holi or the Jolly I am haunted haunted by a photograph this photograph that's right jolly old st. Nick he has his own theme park or had that's just the tip of the North Pole take a look at this one that's not a different angle that's a different Park and this one a third I went down that reindeer hole quicker than you can say eggnog I have questions how many Santa themed amusement parks are there why are there so many what happened to them most importantly who or what is responsible [Music] [Applause] [Music] exhibit a Santa Claus is coming to town in 18-49 a small community was developed in rural Indiana it wouldn't be until the early 1850s that the townspeople would organize an official Township by means of a pine for a post-office they submitted the application under the name Santa Fe which the United States Postal Service rejected the more recognized Santa Fe had been taken by the US military just eight years prior along with the rest of the New Mexico Territory but the reason for the postal service rejection was actually because there already was a Santa Fe Indiana just north of Indianapolis the veto meant that the townspeople would have to rename their community the town formerly known as Santa Fe Indiana would eventually decide on the name Santa Claus Indiana the legend told throughout the town was that the debate was settled on Christmas Eve when the townspeople gathered in the church and a gust of wind blew the front doors open exposing the sound of sleigh bells in the distance the children in the church hearing the sounds all ran to the door exclaiming it's Santa Claus and the name stuck this story is apparently entirely made up and the most likely reason is that someone said it as a joke in a meeting and no one could come up with anything else the town officially became Santa Claus Indiana on May 21st 1856 almost immediately the town's post office received letters from children addressed to Santa Claus it wouldn't be until over 50 years later in 1914 that the town's new postmaster James Martin would begin responding to a few of the letters as the jolly man himself 16 years later in 1929 Robert Ripley would feature the town in his popular newspaper series Ripley's Believe It or Not after this the town's post office was flooded with letters in Santa Claus Indiana was given a national spotlight seeing a prime opportunity for some good old-fashioned Christmas commercialization an attorney named Milton Harris approached postmaster Martin about an idea to profit off of the attention the town was receiving he suggested a Christmas themed park where children could play and their parents could buy gifts this idea could be considered the world's first themed attraction Disneyland would not open for another 20 years and Knott's Berry Farm was nothing more than a restaurant until 1940 and arguably not an amusement park until the late 60s postmaster Martin now nationally recognized and referred to as simply Santa Claus would pass away in April of 1935 just months before the park opened Harris would open his creation named Santa Claus town on December 22nd 1935 the park boasted a candy castle and a toy village complete with merchandise and sponsors despite Santa Claus Indiana having a population of 67 people 7 thousand attended the opening Harris was not celebrating however as on the other side of the towns only Street a Chicago businessman named Carl Berra had erected a 22-foot granite statue of Kris Kringle not only was Barrett announcing his own santa themed amusement park to be named Santa Claus Park but he had also bought the land the Harris was leasing for Santa Claus town resulting in conflicting ownership of the land in Santa Claus a highly publicized court battle ensued with the entire country on the edge of their seat waiting to find out who will get legal authority to milk the birth of Christ in a town of less than a hundred people the battles raged on for years but the legal proceedings were not the only issue a portrait of Santa Claus in harris's candy castle came under fire for his depiction of the holiday icon holding a sword the townspeople demanded that the sword be painted out and be replaced with the trumpet which Harris did without question to better his chances of winning the court case on the other end of the street the statue that Berra had advertised as granite had almost immediately developed a crack on its exterior proving it to be merely concrete which did not help his case while the proceedings continued an auto company would attempt to purchase the town of Santa Claus for $100,000 and a soda company would attempt to purchase of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars the latter would be just under 14 million dollars today when adjusted for inflation both attempts were unsuccessful but they were proof of the small towns prominence in the late 1930s by this point the post office was receiving 60,000 letters a day during the Christmas season and the new postmaster Oscar Phillips had enlisted the help of his wife and five children to respond to as many of the children's letters as possible as if things couldn't get any more chaotic a mysterious man purchased post office box number one in the town the shipping name on the box was Santa Claus disappointingly this was not the real father Christmas come to save a town in way over their heads it was a Michigan auto worker named Jack cannon that had legally changed his name to Santa Claus in another attempt to profit off of the town's name when he arrived to Santa Claus after the long journey from Michigan he found that there was no room available in the town a hilarious circumstance that was unfortunately overshadowed by the conflicting businessmen the two continued to run their parks Harris is operating under the company Santa Claus ink and Barrett's operating under the company Santa Claus of Santa Claus Inc finally in July of 1940 the case made it all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court which overturned a previous ruling halting Barrett's development of his park this meant that Harris would not have a monopoly on the town of Santa Claus but he would get to keep the land he built Santa Claus town on which unfortunately had become a lot less lucrative over the past five years the United States involvement in World War two in 1941 would end the hopes of a larger fairy tale theme park once dreamed by both entrepreneurs but in 1946 a year after the war ended the town of Santa Claus would catch the attention of yet another businessman this man Louis J Koch had much better intentions after noticing that Santa Claus Indiana lacked a meet-and-greet with the man himself he set off to solve the problem eventually landing on a year-round theme park called Santa Claus land that opened on August 3rd in 1946 this is often credited as the first theme park in the world as coax Park was complete with a meet and greet a restaurant and attractions the park was a huge success and would remain open for years eventually rebranding to include other holidays and changing its name to holiday world the park continues to operate successfully today Harris's candy castle also remains in the town of Santa Claus scene a regular use around the holiday season and Barrett's statue still stands now outside of a Santa Claus Museum the rise of Santa Claus Indiana is a bizarre tale but as merely the groundwork for my case commercializing Christmas with a santa themed theme park was a revolutionary concept and as with any such idea it would attract imitators Exhibit B I'll be home for Christmas in 1937 another town named Santa Claus would be established this community was located in Arizona right off of the heavily trafficked route 66 it was founded by Nina and Talbott a West Coast realtor who built herself as the biggest real estate agent in California due to the fact that she weighed over 300 pounds in the 1930s Talbott had the idea to create an entire resort town themed around Kris Kringle where she would take on the role of mrs. Claus the idea was a success it was the perfect roadside attraction that one would expect to find alongside route 66 during those days parents and children could come to meet Santa any day of the year and the town's post office was the perfect spot for parents to send their children's letters to Santa the town was also famous for the Santa Claus n which was later renamed to the Christmas tree in the eatery served dishes such as chicken ala North Pole and rum pie a la Kris Kringle incredibly the restaurant received high praise from the famous food critic Duncan Hines after a 12-year run Talbot realized her dreams of a full blown resort town were falling short as the only people who stayed in the town were the employees who worked there she sold the town in 1949 as it was currently functioning as nothing more than a cute theme to roadside attraction that also had a restaurant for a few years after that the town of Santa Claus retained relevancy in American pop culture the Christmas tree and drew celebrity visitors when actress Jane Russell threw a dinner party there in 1954 however it seemed Christmas couldn't last forever once the popularity of route 66 died down so too did the popularity of the town called Santa Claus eventually leading to its fate as a roadside ghost town today the town of Santa Claus has officially been removed from Arizona maps but those that drive past will see the remains of what was once the highest jolliest town in the West Exhibit C do you believe in Santa Claus the first santa themed theme park not to be located in a town named Santa Claus would open and Wilmington New York in the summer of 1949 created by local businessman Julian Rice Santa's workshop allowed children to visit the North Pole with various buildings being constructed each with unique activity inside the park was an immediate success seen fifty thousand visitors in the first two months of operation Walt Disney himself was rumored to have visited the park before the opening of Disneyland to consult with rice on the design of Santa's workshop the humble park is still open today but its popularity has declined significantly and the management is having trouble making meet as the parks current owner Doug Waterbury described it the problem seems to be that in the 1950s quote a 13 year old might still believe in Santa Claus it's unusual today that a kid over 7 or 8 still believes there's an urgency to get families to bring their kids here before they grow away the park is still open but its future is uncertain Exhibit D baby it's cold outside born in 1918 Glen Hollen grew up in Arcadia California and spent his childhood years surviving the Great Depression by the time he turned 18 both his parents had passed away leaving him the sole caretaker of his younger sister Holland's drive to build a theme park came from his desire to give kids like his sister a place where they could escape reality according to his daughter Pamela Holland Reese quote he wanted Christmas to be just magical he always thought that children should have adventures and great happiness in their lives he wanted to make that come true home was supposedly inspired by Santa's workshop in Wilmington in the early 50s Holland began sketching out his own version of the Christmas theme park he wanted his Park filled to the brim with holiday magic larger-than-life festive attractions that would immerse visitors in the Christmas spirit he took this concept and began selling it to investors Holland leased land in Lake Arrowhead California just north of San bernandino and it was there that his Christmas fantasy Santa's Village would come to life in the spring of 1955 just six weeks before Disneyland would open on that opening weekend the partial contractor recalled that the traffic was quote backed up all the way down the mountain thanks to Holland Christmas had come to California early and it was a smash hit but he wasn't done yet Holland went on to open two more Santa's Village theme parks the first would be located in Scotts Valley California and would open in 1958 this marked the first time a theme park had ever been franchised in the United States the Santa's Village parks were filled with petting zoos live reindeer that would pull a sleigh train rides something called a whirling Christmas tree ride and holiday themed playground areas for children to explore part of Holland's success was his commitment to theming he even went so far as to develop a passport ticket the families could use instead of paying cash families would get their ticket punched for every purchase they made throughout the park and then the parents would cash out their ticket at the end of the day with an employee Holland believed that this would preserve the magic for the children the third and final Santa's Village would open in 1959 in East Dundee a suburb of Chicago Illinois tragically this park would be considered the downfall of the Santa's theme parks it seemed that moving East would be a smart business decision considering the immense popularity of the first two parks in California however chicago's climate is slightly different than that of Southern California notably the existence of a winter season the decision to develop an East Dundee was a huge misstep for the franchise as the park couldn't even be open on or around Christmas and for a park themed entirely around that concept this is not exactly bode well for business when investors began to panic and pull out in 1965 a broken-hearted holland sold the business and officially left the company he lived out the rest of his life as a real estate developer and passed away in 2002 the park in Scotts Valley would closed in 1979 the one in Lake Arrowhead would eventually closed in 1998 and the park in East Dundee would surprisingly last until 2006 the parks would sit abandoned for years eventually the parks in Lake Arrowhead an East Dundee would reopen in 2016 and 2011 respectively under new management they now operate a sky park at Santa's Village and Santa's Village a zoomit park the Aizu sment park has that terrible pun implies is now more of a zoo and sky park at Santa's Village is oddly enough part BMX course though these parks had evolved drastically from their original forms they both remember their roots and pay homage to their original creator glen holland came from hardship to build something magical and full of whimsy a place for people to forget about life for a little while and celebrate a popular holiday year-round according to his daughter quote he knew he had touched people with those parks he was the most special thing he felt he had ever done Exhibit E where are you Christmas Park Alba Nolan Brazil was meant to be the largest theme park in the entire country and is going to be comprised of multiple themed lands including an Old West town a water park a concert hall and more spanning over 38 million square meters for comparison that's about a third of the size of the entire Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando the parks crater was politician Antonio Bono rise who had a knack for dressing up a Saint Nick during the holidays his love of Christmas culminated in the idea for the park but he was tragically struck and killed by a car just outside of the parks entrance during construction in 2004 without his fearless leader at the helm the plans for Park al Bernal were abandoned today there are a plethora of truly eerie photographs that can be found massive candy canes and galloping reindeer stand rushing amongst a jungle backdrop in Santa heads with gaping mouths frozen and permanent ho ho ho's will surely replace those sugar plums dancing in your head at night exhibit F Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer in the mid 1950s radio pioneer Jack papel put up a hundred and twenty five thousand dollars for the creation of yet another santa theme park in Vermont the product was a small Christmas town with such attractions as a post office and a ding dong school it would also feature a petting zoo where children could get up close and personal with reindeer the animals attracted not only families but also one lazy hunter that purposefully shot two of the captive animals Santa's land and Putney Vermont opened on August 10 to 1957 papel would add more attractions to the park most notably a humpty dumpty roller coaster in 1960 he would own the park for another decade before selling it in 1972 a local family who would own it for the next thirty years the park would be passed to yet another owner in the early 2000s but this is when luck for Santa's land would run out the new owner was struggling to turn a profit off of the over 50 year old park and in 2011 the park announced that it would not reopen for the 2012 season an auction of the parks remaining assets were planned for 2012 but the event was canceled when the park had mysteriously been purchased by an anonymous buyer speculation of the buyers identity ranged from Vermont governor Peter Shumlin to WWE superstar Mick Foley it turned out that the new owner was Vermont local William Bell wicks and her family she announced her excitement in acquiring the park and for the upcoming 2013 season although concerns were raised about the parks condition as men the attractions and facilities had not been updated for decades these concerns were not misplaced Santa's land underperformed in its first season under new ownership and the park closed its doors with no plans for a 2014 season things would only get worse from there in March 2014 when a County Sheriff visited the park to return a lost license plate that belonged to the parks animal handler bryan dice ler he felt that something wasn't right in Santa's land an investigation of the property was launched by the County Sheriff's Department investigators found 18 animal carcasses 16 deer a pheasant and a pot-bellied pig the petting zoo animals that were still alive were extremely malnourished and on the brink of starvation or dehydration bollocks and eyesore were both arranged with a misdemeanor and forced to follow strict guidelines to save the animals another sweep of the property in September of that year revealed that the guidelines were not being met resulting the confiscation of many of the petting zoos animals only 17 deer would remain in the parks hands with the goats donkeys ponies emus and llamas being put up for adoption bail wicks would file for bankruptcy around this time and the park would remain closed falling into disrepair the park quickly became worn by weather vandals and thieves appear as if it had been abandoned for decades in just a few months it would remained abandoned for years until in 2017 when a man named David Hoffer sat would reopen the park he did his best to repair the tattered buildings and attractions as well as adding some new offerings unfortunately a statue of Humpty Dumpty was completely destroyed and no one could put it back together again haversack did not reopen the parks petting zoo for obvious reasons although he left the Pens standing in case he ever changed his mind have reset did an incredible job saving the historic park he would even receive the Preservation Trust of Vermont award for his effort in restoring Santa's land exhibit G 12 days of Christmas opened in 1953 Santa's Village in Jefferson New Hampshire is one of the most successful themed amusement parks in the world the management's dedication to adding new rides has resulted in a modern park despite the antiquated theming the park is still thriving today in 1955 another Santa's Village opened outside of Bracebridge Ontario it is a similar setup to all of the other Santa theme parks but one unique feature is this awesome looking reindeer roller coaster or at least I thought it was unique until I found that two other Santa theme parks had the exact same ones the park is still operating today and is expanded to include ziplining and ropes courses Santa's workshop is another currently operating santa themed amusement park located in cascade Colorado the family-run park opened in 1956 and it is still owned and operated by its founders in 1966 another Santa's land would open in Cherokee North Carolina with a similar concept and execution as the others it is also still operating today opening in Miami in the 1980s Santa's Enchanted Forest claims that it is the largest holiday theme park in the world with over 100 festive activities to choose from Santa Claus village opened its doors in Finland in 1985 and remains a booming tourist destination to this day the park is located inside the Arctic Circle an ideal backdrop for the official hometown of Santa Claus you can meet Santa year-round and the park has a special event on Christmas Eve where visitors can count down and watch their beloved Santa Claus ride off into the sunset on a sleigh pulled by actual reindeer on December 8th in 1984 Santa world and Morris Sweden opened its doors the park is a recreation of the North Pole and families continue to come to meet Santa Anas elves tour his workshop meet his reindeer and encounter whatever this thing is conclusions my findings revealed three abandoned three abandoned then reopened and 9 operating santa themed theme parks this is enough to fill my stockings but when you look at each individual case together a strange pattern emerges notice the aid of these theme parks opened within 10 years between 1949 and 1959 only one of them opened in the 1960s and then none in the 1970s all of a sudden three more pop up in the 1980's the only Santa park to be constructed in the 2000s was Park abinell and since then no major santa themed amusement parks had been developed my focus is on these two peaks in the 40s and 50s and again in the 80s the peak in the 40s and 50s actually has a simple explanation before World War Two Germany was a major manufacturer of the Christmas products at the United States and other countries imported for the season this included decorations and toys after World War two with Germany's manufacturing industry destroyed and the United States stronger than ever the US was able to produce the necessary Christmas products and then some who was in this area that Christmas made a large impact on popular culture most recognizable movies songs and also theme parks came from the 1940s and 50s the slump in Christmas culture in the late 60s and 70s and rebound in the 80s is where my theories come in my first theory is that the typical cycle of media resulted in the short hiatus pop culture comes in waves sometimes naturally by Hollywood's inability to sustain quality production and sometimes purposefully by companies attempting to avoid consumer fatigue this is evident just by looking at the Christmas films produced in the 70s versus those produced in the 80s this could be the reason that the santa themed amusement park trend came back for a short time in the 80s in the US and European countries the second theory is that the slump in the 60s and 70s was a result of the lack of Christmas celebration during World War two children growing up in the 30s and 40s would be raising children of their own in the 60s and 70s and if they grew up with a lack of Christmas commercialization during the Depression and second world war they would presumably be less likely to give their children the same holiday experience that those growing up in the 50s enjoyed likewise those children growing up in the 50s would be raising their own children in the late 70s and 80s that demographic would be more likely to give their children the commercial Christmas experience similar to the one they had in the years after the war this theory seems to be corroborated by a study from the Pew Research Center revealing the children that were raised in the 1940s 50s 80s and 9 News reported the Santa visited them on Christmas Eve more often than those that were raised in the 60s and 70s as with most cases the moment you publish your findings the more evidence comes out did I miss any parks could I brushed over any events in my research these are the kind of things that keep me up at night but this time of year I don't mind it seeing the snow float to the ground blurred by the frigid air clinging on to the windowpane beautiful lights wrapped around houses and trees and in the distance sleigh bells could it be Santa Claus [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Defunctland

Views: 1,495,822

Keywords: defunctland, kevin perjurer, theme park, extinct, abandoned, defunct, history, disney, disneyland, disney world, previous, attractions, on ride, lights on, santa's village, santa's town, santa theme parks, abandoned theme parks, closed theme parks, abandoned places, abandoned santa parks, history of abandoned places, santa town, santa arizona, santa indiana, history of theme parks, theme park history, christmas theme parks, santa towns, north pole theme parks, santa claus

Id: g5l6q00Y5gw

Length: 21min 36sec (1296 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 23 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/rivercountrybears]

Made my day when I got the notification for this. Thanks for the early Christmas present, Kevin!

[u/bluenowait]

I grew up in Maine, so I've heard about the Santa's Village in Jefferson but never been to it. I had presumed it was just a kiddy park for those tots who thought StoryLand was too hardcore, good to know it has such a great reputation as a theme park.

[u/snowwhite54321]

I had no idea Santa Claus Indiana had so much history behind it! In Indianapolis, there's two types of people- Holiday World people and King's Island people. I come from a family of KI people and have only been to Holiday World once, but a lot of people I know swear that it's the better park.

[u/[deleted]]

I’m so excited to watch this!

[u/panda367]

Cross-posting my comment from Facebook: I went to the one in New York as a kid- I want to say around 1998 or so. I wish I was home for Christmas this year so I could show the group some pictures, but alas. The park is way up in the Adirondacks, near Plattsburgh, so very rural/foresty but gorgeous in the summer. We go to the Adirondacks every year in the summer but stay farther from Santa's Workshop- I remember the year we went it was a long drive to get there. There are a lot of other small parks around there that are thriving- Enchanted Forest/Water Safari in Old Forge was the one we always went to as kids. I remember meeting the reindeer in the park and the costumed mascots- one was "Miranda the Mouse" and I LOVED that we had the same name.

[u/scaram0uche]

There is still a highway exit in Scott's Valley on highway 17 called Santa's Village Road!

[u/APimpNamed-Slickback]

So...legit, Santa's Village in Illinois was my home park for years because there was some promo or another where tickets were super cheap, and I was a big swimmer, so the water park next door was everything I wanted in a theme park due to my fear of heights.

I LOVED it, until I started finally getting to go to the local Six Flags and finally graduated to roller coasters in spite of my fear of heights. Can't wait to watch this!

[u/nlpnt]

• North Pole, NY had its' own post office and is a census-designated place. For decades it was the city of license of WPTZ-TV (now branded NBC 5) who thus were required to identify on-air as "WPTZ Plattsburgh - North Pole - Burlington".

  • Yes, that means that if you grew up in Burlington, Vermont (like me) there are/were three Santa-themed theme parks within a two-hour drive. I'm most familiar with the NY one because my aunt worked for the Lake Champlain ferries and had a standing free pass for her car and anyone in it. Thanks, Aunt Betty!

• The theories for the '50s and '80s blips are solid but ignore an elephant in the room that is the birth rate. There are simply fewer Gen-Xers (again, like me) than there are Boomers and Millennials. In fact, the birth rate bottomed out in the early/mid '70s - I was born in '74 and every classroom from 1st grade to college had excess physical capacity - and hit its' latest peak in the early '90s.

[u/starrmagnolia]

Yet again, Defunctland covers a subject with a lot of meaning for me. My family attended Santa’s Village in Lake Arrowhead, CA every year around Christmas; if anyone is interested in photos I’ll dig them out!