Santa's Village AZoosment Park
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Entrance sign of Santa's Village
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| Location | East Dundee, Illinois, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 42°05′27″N 88°15′35″W / 42.0907°N 88.2598°WCoordinates: 42°05′27″N 88°15′35″W / 42.0907°N 88.2598°W |
| Owner | A Zoo To You (2011–present) |
| Opened | 27 May 2011 |
| Previous names | Santa's Village (1959–2006) Worlds of Fun (1972) AZoosment Park (2011–present) |
| Operating season | May – October |
| Rides | |
| Total | 22 |
| Roller coasters | 3 |
| Water rides | 0 |
| Website | Santa's Village AZoosment Park |
Santa's Village AZoosment Park (formerly known as Santa's Village) is a theme park in East Dundee, Illinois. It was originally built by Glenn Holland, who also built two other Santa's Villages, in California; one located in San Bernardino County and the other in Santa Cruz County.The Illinois park, the third to be built, was projected to be the hub of a chain of Santa's Villages across the country. However, parks planned for Richmond, Virginia and Cherry Hill, New Jersey, were never built, and the park in East Dundee became the last of its kind.
The park operated as Santa's Village from 1959 until 2006, when it closed. After extensive rehabilitation, it reopened 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. Because of confusion with other parks with similar names, the name was changed again to Three Worlds of Santa's Village.
The buildings were modeled on what an average child might imagine Santa's Village would look like. When it opened, it was a very prominent theme park. Over the park's history more than 20 million people passed through the front gates.
One addition to the park, opened in 1963, was the "Polar Dome" which provided an ice skating and hockey venue under a forced-air supported dome. On November 28, 1966, a strong wind caused the "Polar Dome" to collapse. The dome was then replaced by a flat cedar roof, although the name of the venue was not changed.
During the 1960s, the park featured short Amphicar rides, which simply drove the riders about 100 feet (30 m) to the edge of a small lake, then out about another 100 feet, circling a pier, and returning to land.
In 1983 the park owners added Racing Rapids Action Park to the north end of Santa's Village.
Although the parks were connected, there were separate admission gates to either one. A combination ticket was available at either park that would permit visitors to enter both parks that day. Both parks had separate parking lots.
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Wikipedia