The park operated as Santa's Village from 1959 until 2006, when it closed. After extensive rehabilitation, it re-opened in 2011 under new ownership. Renamed Santa's Village Azoosment Park because of the shared focus on both rides and animals, the Azoosment Park has nearly twenty rides and attractions, and hundreds of exotic and farm animals in an interactive environment. For a short time in 1972 the park was named Worlds of Fun.
Thanks for making me bawl my eyes out. I can't help it but I cry everytime I think about it. I'm 33 and I'm glad that I got to take my daughter, who is 6, twice. I wanted to go there on that auction but I couldn't handle. Great video!
I went here as a six year old during summer camp from Chicago, its so sad how this park has gone, now kiddieland is gone:/ its so sad how the next generation of Chicagoan children will not have these beautiful places in their lives. I wish i had ridden that roller coaster.
I would beg my parents to take me there. We lived in Park Forest , a suburb to the south of Chicago. It was in the sixties. Anyway I thought it was going to be so great but it was just sad.
I went there as a little kid the first year it opened- and happy to say, I took my kid there when he was a toddler. Now, like Riverview, Adventureland, and Old Chicago...just a memory.
Hey, anyone in the East Dundee area or around Santa's Village, go to the haunted hike there! It's real cool to see the old theme park we all loved! This is the last weekend for it! I'm not sure the times but go drive around, they put signs everywhere! And no this is not spam, I loved the park...that dragon ride was my favorite..lol
thumbs up if you remember the ice pole and wondering "how did they do that in the middle of summer? I remember racing the bumper cars and they would call out who was in the lead like a real car race, i must have passed everyone looking for number 11 who ended up "winning" the race, i stepped out of my car only to look back and see my cars number......11, GREAT MEMORIES INDEED. they also had pony rides too, you went in a circle but i loved it.
I used to live near this Santa's Village. I saw it in it's glory days, and watched it deteriorate. It's so sad to think that for all those years after it closed, I was driving by remembering how it used to be. In reality, it looked like this just inside those gates.
I remember passing by when the park was abandoned. They did reopened in 20111 by new ownership. I’m glad they revived the park even thought never been there
It is back for fun during summer days, only a weekend and a half left of this seson. They are currently running Harvest Fest during the day and Nightmare from North St haunted hike/house at night..The park has had an amzing face lift. The rides,petting zoo,exotic amimals and fun are all back too. I had my grandson b-day party there, and its big enough to let them go and have fun . Small enough to find them.I love this place and hope its remains open for another 50+ years. Go see for youself soon
Like many of you, this place is my childhood. The changes that have been made since 2011 have been phenomenal!! Not much has changed since the old park, yes..it's a bit smaller, but they have top notch animal exhibits compared to all other zoo's. They also have exceptional food compared to all the other "hot spots" in summer, and the staff is nothing but professional. We came here for my daughters B-day party last year, and they can't wait to come back and ride the baloons!!
Like the comment before me- "sad to see my childhood laying in ruins". I didn't see the polar dome, the train, or the hand-powered 'trains'. The little carts on rail. I'll never forget those things. Nice vid.
-Sniff sniff- thats one of my childhood landmarks, I'm 13 and I met the majority of my Family when we went the first i went when i was 7. Greatest Experience of my Life. its so eerie to see all of the stuff That was there the table's we ate off of the water we dived into and the slides we slid down. Damn i'm making my self all teary eyed T_T
Oh no! I went here when I was a child! :'( I remember all the rides. I have pictures of me and my brothers sliding down the slide at the end. When I saw the slide, a chill went through my spine.
i went there as a very young child, about 5 or 6. i am 10 now, and, like houn2dogood said, it IS so sad to see OUR childhood laying in ruins. they host flea markets there now, i have only been to 1. *sigh* there was no other better amusement park in the world to me, than santa's village. WE PEOPLE WILL NEVER FORGET SANTA'S VILLAGE!!!
Santas Village/Racing Rapids was the best value for your money back in the late 80's. Granted I was 6 or 7 the last time I was there, but I think I had more fun then I ever did at 6 flags.
Santa's Village is up and running again and doing well, I hear. My girlfriend told me that one of her co-workers just went there with his niece. Racing Rapids is a different story. Racing Rapids was built in 1983 and was abandoned in 2006 and has never been re-opened. They might be tearing it down. It was hit hard due to a ride failure called the Typhoon, I heard. Plus, less people were coming because Magic Waters and Six Flags' Hurricane Harbor were getting all the customers. I went to Racing Rapids at least once when I was a kid and had a lot of fun.
I like the new changes santas village has made with the current rides and how they kept the snowball the treehouse slide petting zoo and the balloon ride, but I miss some of the old rides like the ferris wheel, the himalaya, some of the kiddie rides, the parachute drop the dragon wagon and the typhoon
@bart123levo The unsuccessful launch of the "Typhoon" roller coaster, decreased attention to the aesthetics of the park and a decline of patrons eventually prompted the corporation to sell. The sale did not proceed as smoothly as hoped and with many setbacks and unmet deadlines the park had to shut its doors.In August 2006, the park announced its permanent closure. Most of the rides and fixtures were auctioned in October 2006.
Thanks for posting this -- brought back many memories. Interestingly, we moved out of the area many years ago, and a similar-type theme parked closed around here as well... and remains abandoned also. Guess it is a trend.
So very sad to see.. To have childhood memories destroyed like that.. You can never take anything for granted and assume it will always be there for you.
Yeah, we've gotten permission to open Santa's Village from October 23rd through Nov 1 to have a haunted hike. A team has been working to clear the path and set up props for a few weeks now. You should definitely come out. It should be pretty scary.
When I saw the snow man ride I literally got extremely sad! How weird is that! I remember coming here every summer and me and my siblings had to come on summer with my grandmother and I couldn't do ANYTHING (because I was the youngest)....except get on this ride.....lol oh the memories.....I'm glad to hear it reopened tho I don't know if it'll be the same -___-
I remember going there and having so much fun and Adventure Land too! Seems like just yesterday I was there eating cotton candy and riding the rides! So sad to see it like this.
well, I think when I was a kid and went there all the time it seemed the size of the north pole...but as we grew up we realized it was a smaller amusement park...endless memories though...geez. Nice music choice too...kinda like lost dreams somehow...
So sad. I'm 21 now but this was one of my first amusement park experiences! I remember my Dad took me on all the rides.. and I was sad cause I wasn't tall enough for the roller coaster yet.
Just to clarify, these pictures were taken before the auction of October 2006. Today the private property has 24 hour security and the buildings are all empty. And the property has not been abndoned. No official plans have been made for the use of the property. No one is allowed in the park without permission and the people that have tried have been prosecuted. Phillip L. Wenz
@Princessgurl1088 Awesome! Thanks for the info. I watched this video again. It's so fascinating! I wish it was still there. I wanna go in there sooo bad and take pictures myself.
I remember going there for my dad's company picnics as a kid. I remember something happened with the water park? And because of it they slowly went bankrupt. But still, it's sad seeing it like that.
+DuckyOfAwsome - No.. the water park is on higgins still there and the paint ball park is still next door to Santas Village - The Paint ball park is the other half of what santas village used to be ..
ill add in a word here, Santa Village is reopened under a new company new rides, but is a bit smaller now, half the property is being rented by Paintball Explosion, PBE uses a good chuck of old buildings, giving it the abandon feeling, but both places areup and running and you can visit Santa Village for $16.50 and PBE for around $50 per person maybe a little more
I remember that place when I was a kid. There was some mouse roller coaster I was so afraid to go on. I went on it once and had the time of my life :-) I wish I could see it again to know what it looked like, because I can hardly remember anymore. Ironic, I live not even a half mile from it today. (9 / 17 / 09) Still very torn down, and some building fixtures that resemble what it use to be...
Good news to those who don't know yet. Santa's Village Azoosement Park will be re-opening officially this saturday, 5/27/11 with several rides salvaged from the original park and Kiddieland in Melrose Park!
wow I remember going here every Summer with my grandfather. Is sad, I have looked up all 3 of the small parks he took me to as a kid and they are ALL dead now :( I will never forget how exciting it was to see the Christmas figures on the approach to the parking lot.
i remember going there as a kid and it closing shortly after i turned 21 and, i regret never going there to have a drink.. as it was the only santa's village to allow and serve alcohol. im pretty sure a lot of the rides got auctioned off or sold to a few other santas villages but if it reopened im sure it would make more than a few people really happy.. .. maybe someone should start a bring back our santas village charity or something..
this is the most deppressing thing ive seen in a while. it was still a pretty thriving park when we did our haunted house there in 1997. wonder what the heck happened. thanks for the upload. i cant believe their opening another one. one question is the poler dome still in operation?
It was a very complicated legal battle between the people who owned the park and the person who owned the land. Apparently, the renters of the land could no longer afford the rent and had to close the park, which was in terrible disrepair anyway, as the whole grounds were kept up by a single maintenance man who was there for 35 years and could only work part time. Most of the rides were auctioned off when it closed.
thanks for sharing i remeber this place well is all that stuff still really there.that would be a cool place just to play in n now. do you remeber the waterslide i was just thier exploring this past summer when i went to chicago for vac. i grew up around thier live in ga now
man if only i knew the last i went was really gonna be the last day ever. i would have soaked in so much. im so tempted to sneak in there just to check it out for the last time even if its only buildings
This is so sad to look at this. If the present owners will let Tom Pool run this, I am very confident that he would get this place to what it used to be.
omg, i miss the place, it was very fun and enjoyable, just yesterday i passed the sign and i was really sad they closed it... my most memorable day at santa's village was when i knocked out a goat(i was like 5)
How sad. I'd asked someone who was a friend of the family what had happened. The father had passed away, the children argued constantly about Santa's Village, letting it eventually go to ruin, as you can see. One of my son's school friend's has the little elephant that you see in one of the scenes. Most of it did go to auction. It's a very deserted, ugly eye sore now. Though it was for some time leading up to its eventual complete closure. Welcome to Zombieland is right :(
wow! i just watched the commercial for this place and it is so amazing to see it before and after and when did it open and close? and why did it close?
I love amusment parks and go to them all the time (especially six flags great adventure) so its relly weird seeing old abandoned ones..... i hate it :(
The park operated as Santa's Village from 1959 until 2006, when it closed. After extensive rehabilitation, it re-opened in 2011 under new ownership. Renamed Santa's Village Azoosment Park because of the shared focus on both rides and animals, the Azoosment Park has nearly twenty rides and attractions, and hundreds of exotic and farm animals in an interactive environment. For a short time in 1972 the park was named Worlds of Fun.
Now reborn as Santa's Village Azoosment Park!
Thanks for making me bawl my eyes out. I can't help it but I cry everytime I think about it. I'm 33 and I'm glad that I got to take my daughter, who is 6, twice. I wanted to go there on that auction but I couldn't handle. Great video!
It’s still around. 🎉 reopened.
Drove past it a few weeks ago...it is set to open for the 2012 season! Santa's village LIVES!!!!
I went here as a six year old during summer camp from Chicago, its so sad how this park has gone, now kiddieland is gone:/ its so sad how the next generation of Chicagoan children will not have these beautiful places in their lives. I wish i had ridden that roller coaster.
I wish I ridden the coaster too. I would always chicken out when I went there as a kid 😂
I went here every year as a kid. I loved it! Its so sad to see it in this condition. Great memories!
Finally a tribute that didn't use heavy metal that really takes away from the tribute! Well done!
ha ha, i was here once. this is 1 of the best videos ive found on you tube...love the music too. very well done. thank you for the clip!
What appropriate and quirky music. Well-shot video.
I can't believe Santa's village is gone! I only went there once as a kid. It was such a great place.
I would beg my parents to take me there. We lived in Park Forest , a suburb to the south of Chicago. It was in the sixties. Anyway I thought it was going to be so great but it was just sad.
I went there as a little kid the first year it opened- and happy to say, I took my kid there when he was a toddler. Now, like Riverview, Adventureland, and Old Chicago...just a memory.
Hey, anyone in the East Dundee area or around Santa's Village, go to the haunted hike there! It's real cool to see the old theme park we all loved! This is the last weekend for it! I'm not sure the times but go drive around, they put signs everywhere! And no this is not spam, I loved the park...that dragon ride was my favorite..lol
Aww this is seriously so sad :( Now kiddie land too :(
cool vid. Abandoned amusement parks are THE best. Thanks for getting some cool pics. Doesn't look like this was too long after the place shut down.
I won a trip there through my church when I was younger. I remember the ski lift that took you above the whole park.
totally amazing location thumbs up and subbed love this song to found myself singing along
thumbs up if you remember the ice pole and wondering "how did they do that in the middle of summer? I remember racing the bumper cars and they would call out who was in the lead like a real car race, i must have passed everyone looking for number 11 who ended up "winning" the race, i stepped out of my car only to look back and see my cars number......11, GREAT MEMORIES INDEED. they also had pony rides too, you went in a circle but i loved it.
I used to live near this Santa's Village. I saw it in it's glory days, and watched it deteriorate. It's so sad to think that for all those years after it closed, I was driving by remembering how it used to be. In reality, it looked like this just inside those gates.
I remember passing by when the park was abandoned.
They did reopened in 20111 by new ownership. I’m glad they revived the park even thought never been there
It is back for fun during summer days, only a weekend and a half left of this seson. They are currently running Harvest Fest during the day and Nightmare from North St haunted hike/house at night..The park has had an amzing face lift. The rides,petting zoo,exotic amimals and fun are all back too. I had my grandson b-day party there, and its big enough to let them go and have fun . Small enough to find them.I love this place and hope its remains open for another 50+ years. Go see for youself soon
Like many of you, this place is my childhood. The changes that have been made since 2011 have been phenomenal!! Not much has changed since the old park, yes..it's a bit smaller, but they have top notch animal exhibits compared to all other zoo's. They also have exceptional food compared to all the other "hot spots" in summer, and the staff is nothing but professional. We came here for my daughters B-day party last year, and they can't wait to come back and ride the baloons!!
Like the comment before me- "sad to see my childhood laying in ruins".
I didn't see the polar dome, the train, or the hand-powered 'trains'. The little carts on rail.
I'll never forget those things. Nice vid.
I find this so sad, and the song was perfect by the way. Great video.
-Sniff sniff- thats one of my childhood landmarks, I'm 13 and I met the majority of my Family when we went the first i went when i was 7. Greatest Experience of my Life. its so eerie to see all of the stuff That was there the table's we ate off of the water we dived into and the slides we slid down. Damn i'm making my self all teary eyed T_T
Oh no! I went here when I was a child! :'( I remember all the rides. I have pictures of me and my brothers sliding down the slide at the end. When I saw the slide, a chill went through my spine.
i went there as a very young child, about 5 or 6. i am 10 now, and, like houn2dogood said, it IS so sad to see OUR childhood laying in ruins. they host flea markets there now, i have only been to 1. *sigh* there was no other better amusement park in the world to me, than santa's village.
WE PEOPLE WILL NEVER FORGET SANTA'S VILLAGE!!!
I would seriously consider buying this place.
Santas Village/Racing Rapids was the best value for your money back in the late 80's. Granted I was 6 or 7 the last time I was there, but I think I had more fun then I ever did at 6 flags.
So sad all of our childhood memories are almost gone !
It’s back!
Santa's Village is up and running again and doing well, I hear. My girlfriend told me that one of her co-workers just went there with his niece. Racing Rapids is a different story. Racing Rapids was built in 1983 and was abandoned in 2006 and has never been re-opened. They might be tearing it down. It was hit hard due to a ride failure called the Typhoon, I heard. Plus, less people were coming because Magic Waters and Six Flags' Hurricane Harbor were getting all the customers. I went to Racing Rapids at least once when I was a kid and had a lot of fun.
I like the new changes santas village has made with the current rides and how they kept the snowball the treehouse slide petting zoo and the balloon ride, but I miss some of the old rides like the ferris wheel, the himalaya, some of the kiddie rides, the parachute drop the dragon wagon and the typhoon
@bart123levo The unsuccessful launch of the "Typhoon" roller coaster, decreased attention to the aesthetics of the park and a decline of patrons eventually prompted the corporation to sell. The sale did not proceed as smoothly as hoped and with many setbacks and unmet deadlines the park had to shut its doors.In August 2006, the park announced its permanent closure. Most of the rides and fixtures were auctioned in October 2006.
it open again :D and new rides
2020: hold my COVID
@@emeraldfoxxo if u would have look all these comments were made from years ago......
Well idk where rainier rush/ typhoon's next park is gonna be
@@emeraldfoxxo going tomorrow. No mask. 🤓
Its sad to see places like this being abandon. They all have such great artistic creativity to them. And the way the themes are.
i remember a santa's village in CA, think its gone now too. Sad how these happy places are now crumbling and forgotten.
R.I.P SANTAS VILLAGE...may your lovely rides still be in my mind...santas village has now been turned into santans village
Thanks for posting this -- brought back many memories. Interestingly, we moved out of the area many years ago, and a similar-type theme parked closed around here as well... and remains abandoned also. Guess it is a trend.
Went there a few times. I left chicago in 1968. Before many of the rides shown here. I was 13 when we moved to Arizona.
So very sad to see.. To have childhood memories destroyed like that.. You can never take anything for granted and assume it will always be there for you.
Nicely done. Pictures taken prior to the auction of October 2006.
Phillip L. Wenz
hey steve- great song choice! i have never heard it before!
Awesome vid. Thx. Practially grew up here..(from elgin). What memories.
thats one nasty pool X_X
to anyone who ever sees this or cares, it’s alive and well now! my mom works there, actually. definitely would recommend
I'm surprised that this place actually reopened.. Lots of childhood memories..
Wow--so many memories in this video! Hadn't thought of this place in years and years! Apparently not too many people have.
Yeah, we've gotten permission to open Santa's Village from October 23rd through Nov 1 to have a haunted hike. A team has been working to clear the path and set up props for a few weeks now. You should definitely come out. It should be pretty scary.
When I saw the snow man ride I literally got extremely sad! How weird is that! I remember coming here every summer and me and my siblings had to come on summer with my grandmother and I couldn't do ANYTHING (because I was the youngest)....except get on this ride.....lol oh the memories.....I'm glad to hear it reopened tho I don't know if it'll be the same -___-
I remember going there and having so much fun and Adventure Land too! Seems like just yesterday I was there eating cotton candy and riding the rides! So sad to see it like this.
well, I think when I was a kid and went there all the time it seemed the size of the north pole...but as we grew up we realized it was a smaller amusement park...endless memories though...geez.
Nice music choice too...kinda like lost dreams somehow...
Santa would be pissed.
When I first heard that it shut down, I said, "It's a damn shame." I used to go there when I was a little boy.
How sad to see my childhood laying in ruins.
So sad. I'm 21 now but this was one of my first amusement park experiences! I remember my Dad took me on all the rides.. and I was sad cause I wasn't tall enough for the roller coaster yet.
I think abandoned amusement parks are on the top of the list of my favorite things!
Just to clarify, these pictures were taken before the auction of October 2006. Today the private property has 24 hour security and the buildings are all empty. And the property has not been abndoned. No official plans have been made for the use of the property. No one is allowed in the park without permission and the people that have tried have been prosecuted.
Phillip L. Wenz
Great music! Went well with the vid.
@Princessgurl1088 Awesome! Thanks for the info. I watched this video again. It's so fascinating! I wish it was still there. I wanna go in there sooo bad and take pictures myself.
looks really cool in a creapy way love it
I remember going there for my dad's company picnics as a kid.
I remember something happened with the water park? And because of it they slowly went bankrupt. But still, it's sad seeing it like that.
They turned it into a paintball arena and opened up some new rides :)
+GoONx19xRTz Did you know the paintball arena was a waterpark like what you just saw!
I wish they didnt take it out when that second company came ;(
+DuckyOfAwsome - No.. the water park is on higgins still there and the paint ball park is still next door to Santas Village - The Paint ball park is the other half of what santas village used to be ..
+jason s there's a building and that's were u get on the slides it's rlly sad :c
+DuckyOfAwsome I know all about it - Been there plenty of times
+jason s my ant worked there and she had to leave because the park was going to be shut down for good. She's now the Manger of a storage.
ill add in a word here, Santa Village is reopened under a new company new rides, but is a bit smaller now, half the property is being rented by Paintball Explosion, PBE uses a good chuck of old buildings, giving it the abandon feeling, but both places areup and running and you can visit Santa Village for $16.50 and PBE for around $50 per person maybe a little more
I remember that place when I was a kid. There was some mouse roller coaster I was so afraid to go on. I went on it once and had the time of my life :-) I wish I could see it again to know what it looked like, because I can hardly remember anymore. Ironic, I live not even a half mile from it today.
(9 / 17 / 09)
Still very torn down, and some building fixtures that resemble what it use to be...
They reopened it this year... Crazy
so cool that its not all vandalized...
Good news to those who don't know yet. Santa's Village Azoosement Park will be re-opening officially this saturday, 5/27/11 with several rides salvaged from the original park and Kiddieland in Melrose Park!
I remember when the bumper car race track WASNT enclosed, that was many moons ago for sure
wow I remember going here every Summer with my grandfather. Is sad, I have looked up all 3 of the small parks he took me to as a kid and they are ALL dead now :(
I will never forget how exciting it was to see the Christmas figures on the approach to the parking lot.
i remember going there as a kid and it closing shortly after i turned 21 and, i regret never going there to have a drink.. as it was the only santa's village to allow and serve alcohol. im pretty sure a lot of the rides got auctioned off or sold to a few other santas villages but if it reopened im sure it would make more than a few people really happy.. .. maybe someone should start a bring back our santas village charity or something..
thats sad how such a good place that has been abandon for 3 years can look like this :( so sad
That orange office chair tho! 1:57
this is the most deppressing thing ive seen in a while. it was still a pretty thriving park when we did our haunted house there in 1997. wonder what the heck happened. thanks for the upload. i cant believe their opening another one. one question is the poler dome still in operation?
It was a very complicated legal battle between the people who owned the park and the person who owned the land. Apparently, the renters of the land could no longer afford the rent and had to close the park, which was in terrible disrepair anyway, as the whole grounds were kept up by a single maintenance man who was there for 35 years and could only work part time. Most of the rides were auctioned off when it closed.
thanks for sharing i remeber this place well is all that stuff still really there.that would be a cool place just to play in n now. do you remeber the waterslide i was just thier exploring this past summer when i went to chicago for vac. i grew up around thier live in ga now
Brilliant! Very David Lynch.
@SVAPdundee Is the snowman ride still there?
If you mean the Snowball Ride, then yes. It reopened in 2016. It's located right next to the Sea Dragon.
it is back. see there website..there are a few santa's village..make sure you are looking at Dundee. Amazing what they have done in a short time!
I remember going there and adventure Island too! such a waste, and so many great times.
this looks amazing. i wish i could go there now, i would have a blast(:
that rollar coster still looked good!
i live like a minute away from there...it used to rock!
man if only i knew the last i went was really gonna be the last day ever. i would have soaked in so much. im so tempted to sneak in there just to check it out for the last time even if its only buildings
This video was WAAAY cooler when mad world was the song. Put it back!!!!
thank you. so much
awsome video! :)
i loooooooove this version of mad world it sounds alot better
When were these pictures taken? I remember this place so well!!
I just went there today
This is so sad to look at this. If the present owners will let Tom Pool run this, I am very confident that he would get this place to what it used to be.
cool video
Yeah I miss this place too.
i went to this theme park once when i was little, i remember barely anything
omg, i miss the place, it was very fun and enjoyable, just yesterday i passed the sign and i was really sad they closed it... my most memorable day at santa's village was when i knocked out a goat(i was like 5)
Do you know the status of this park now? Are all those rides still there? Great video. Thanks for posting!
How sad. I'd asked someone who was a friend of the family what had happened. The father had passed away, the children argued constantly about Santa's Village, letting it eventually go to ruin, as you can see. One of my son's school friend's has the little elephant that you see in one of the scenes. Most of it did go to auction. It's a very deserted, ugly eye sore now. Though it was for some time leading up to its eventual complete closure. Welcome to Zombieland is right :(
wow! i just watched the commercial for this place and it is so amazing to see it before and after and when did it open and close? and why did it close?
I've been on that tiny dragon-roller coaster a lot when I was a kid, not that very ride, the same model. Sad indeed.
I love amusment parks and go to them all the time (especially six flags great adventure) so its relly weird seeing old abandoned ones..... i hate it :(
And yes...btw, awsome shotz!!