If you are from the Midwest, you may have heard of a little place called Santa Claus, Indiana. And believe it or not, it is a real town with real attractions for the whole family making it a destination must-do for your summer. Not only is it a real place, it’s home to one of the coolest theme parks around, Holiday World. If you’ve never visited Holiday World, consider planning a trip. It’s a little off the beaten path, but it’s one of the cleanest, friendliest theme parks I’ve ever been to.
Ultimate Guide to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana
A few weeks ago, the Bahorich clan was invited to the small town of Santa Claus, Indiana to experience their main attraction, Holiday World. While the parks covered a majority of our expenses on our trip to the parks, I plan on sharing my honest opinions with you about our time there.
History of Holiday World
Back in the 1940s, Holiday World was known as Santa Claus Land. It consisted of a toy shop, toy displays, a restaurant, themed children’s rides, and, of course, meet and greets with Santa. Yet in the 1980s, it began to expand and include other holidays, like Halloween and the 4th of July, and changed its name to Holiday World.
In 1993, the parks built the addition of Splashin Safari water park, and the Thanksgiving area was added to Holiday World in 2006. In 2016, Holiday World celebrated its 70th birthday. Today, it encompasses four themed areas, two full theme parks, and over 125 acres of land.
How to Get to Holiday World
It is true that Holiday World is a bit off the beaten path. It is in complete country town which for us, is what we are use to from growing up in the hillside of Southern Illinois. Yet, if you are traveling from St. Louis, Chicago, or even Nashville, you will definitely feel like you have entered into the middle of nowhere for a bit. It's a good old fashioned road trip, which driving is also your best bet for getting to Santa Claus, Indiana. It’s not near any major airport, so you’ll need to factor in some driving time at some point.
In addition, we opted to stay near the theme parks one evening. We rose early on our park day and made the drive the morning of, and then we opted to crash at a nearby hotel that evening. With older kids, you could be able to make the round trip if you were truly up for it! There are some really quaint and cute options within Santa Claus, and more chain hotel options within a 15 minute drive.
Fun for Toddlers in Holiday World
The kids truly enjoyed Holiday World. We started the day out in the Christmas section. Rides in the Christmas area have a maximum height of 54″, which meant the kids loved being tall enough to ride without mom and dad! It really kicked off the day with some fun for them!
After that, we ventured over to Thanksgiving and rode the Turkey Twirl together and found ourselves in the 4th of July area right before lunchtime. There is a small splash pad, playground, kiddie coaster, and other rides for small children. Lillie and Ollie probably rode the kiddie coaster four times!
Tip: Even if you are not planning on heading over to the water park, Splashin' Safari, I would highly recommend taking a second set of clothes for your little ones and/or some swim gear. The splash pad was perfect for a hot July day and because the splash pad and the playground are within the same area, our kids ended up wet from the dry slides due to the other kids. They had a blast!
Fun for All in Holiday World
Older kids and adults can also have a blast in Holiday World. Holiday World has five major roller coasters. Dusty hopped on The Legend while I was lathering the kids up with the free sunscreen the park offers and taking a pitstop for snacks. He said it was one of the coolest roller coasters that he had ever been on. He talked about it for days and continued to mention how long the coaster was.
Holiday World contains three wooden roller coasters: The Raven, The Legend, and The Voyage, as well as Thunderbird (a Bolliger & Mabillardlaunched Wing Coaster) and The Howler. I remember some of these from my teenage years as well, and boy were they fun! The Raven and The Voyage have won multiple awards for several years in a row for being some of the best coasters in the US!
Heading over to Splashin’ Safari
Splashin' Safari was a personal favorite of mine, and honestly, I wish we would have had more time over in this area before the kids had melted down for the day.
Your admission to Holiday World includes admission to Splashin’ Safari. So there is no extra ticket, no extra fee, and no additional entry point. You can easily move from the water park back to the theme park with little work (beyond changing your clothes).
Splashin' Safari is huge! It has so many activities for families to do as well. The park has great options for little kids as well as big kids. Dusty and I talked for over a week about sneaking away for a day just for us so we could tackle some of the larger water slides.
We rode rides, swam in the wave pool, climbed the play areas, and relaxed in the lazy river. Ultimately, the summer weather blew up a storm in our area and the kids were hours past their nap times. It had been a long day already and Lillie was exhausted. We opted to head back to the hotel around dinner time, but we could have spent hours upon hours in just this section of the park.
Tip: My biggest tip for this area is to rent a locker for the day. Lockers are $15 for all day rentals and can be opened and closed them as many times as needed. This was super helpful so we did not have to carry our Puddle Jumpers, wet/dry bags, etc. throughout the parks all day long!
Food at Holiday World
As somebody who is used to lunch boxing all of our family's food for a day at a theme park, I was super shocked to discover that Holiday World does not allow outside food and drinks. With a few exceptions for special needs and infants, all coolers and outside food is prohibited. With that in mind, we did find the food options to be just fine, and our drinks are free all day long!
All soft drinks, including lemonade and Gatorade products, are free with paid admission. This was a huge perk for us. Any time the kids needed a refill or something, we were able to grab this easily as the drink stations are spaced out all over the parks.
We opted for lunch in the Christmas area as it had the largest indoor seating option. It was a hot, humid day for our visit and we needed the indoor break. We were surprised to find a full array of menu options in a food court-like style. You could choose from burgers to pizza or salads and more. It was the perfect place to go!
Overall Value
To sum it up, Holiday World was a great experience for us. The park was clean and the staff was friendly. It is rated one of the cleanliness parks in America, and I can attest to that! With high expectations, Holiday World met everything on our list and more, and we cannot wait to head back next year. We are already planning on it!
Tip: Purchase your tickets online ahead of time. You’ll save your family $20 before you even hit the road! In addition, Holiday World offers free parking and free Wifi in their parks.
I would highly recommend Holiday World as a long weekend trip for your family.
