Holiday World, where fun and family meet
Looking for a place with family values to take the kids and enjoy a theme park? Look no further than Holiday World. Located in Santa Claus, Indiana the theme park is just part of what makes this town that is all about Christmas special. Holiday World was the first themed park in the US and was created by Louis J. Koch, a retired businessman from Evanston, Indiana.
Koch created Holiday World because he worried about children coming to Santa Claus, Indiana and not finding Santa. To remedy this, he created Santa Land in August of 1946. While the park began with a toy shop, toy displays, themed children’s rides, a restaurant, and, of course, Santa, today it has expanded into Holiday World and includes a wide array of entertainment.
Over the years, the Koch family expanded the park to include a Halloween and 4th of July section. Then, they changed their name to Holiday World.
Recently traveling to Holiday World with my daughter and grand children I was impressed by the cleanliness of the park and the fact that a manger scene is part of the Christmas story. The park is for children of all ages with rides geared from toddlers to teens. My personal favorite was a car ride that was like riding in a model T car.
The grand kids were all about the water and the Splashin’ Safari Water Park offers water fun. My grand kids loved the wave pool and there was a nice shallow section perfect for my two year old grandson. The water park offers two wave pools, two action rivers, family raft rides, numerous water slides, plus several interactive family-waterplay complexes.
One fun aspect of the park that is unique is they offer of free soda, sunscreen and inner tubes. Water and punch options are also available for those trying to stay away from carbonated beverages.
For those braver than I am, there are also the amazing wooden roller coasters the Raven, and the Legend. Holiday World is located in the lovely southern, Indiana hills and has great fall fun as well as summertime events.
For more information on Holiday World, check out their website at http://www.holidayworld.com.
