Santa's Village - The Lost Parks of Northern California 

Thanks for taking me back to my favorite childhood haunts: Frontier Village and Santa's Village...

It's so sad when historical places like this just disappear. Thank you for keeping the memories alive!

Thanks so much for this. I smiled all the way through it. I used to go to Santa's Village every year for my December birthday when I was a child. Loved It. and now I live in Scott's Valley. It is a magic place.

I remember, when I was a little kid, climbing on the mushrooms. There was also a North Pole. A frozen column of ice. I thought that was amazing.

That was cute. I grew up with Santa's Village in Dundee and I love parks like this.

Wow, that was a blast from the past. We went to this park every year on Christmas Eve while I was growing up. Very fond memories of this place!

when i was a kid the place was gone but the freeway signs are still there, kind of like holy city.

This was my happiest place on earth . God, bless you all for preserving those memories . Brings 😎 to my weary mind .❤️🕊

This is an awesome video we should reopen santa village

Thank you for the flash back to 1966, :)

Thanks so much for your wonderful video!!!

wow so many memories from my childhood about this wonderful place.one i'll always remember .it was summer of 1975 .it was so hot they brought snow to Santa's village about 25 times in large dump trucks .and i never knew you could get so cold in the summer time.they just reopened Santa's village

Santa's Village. gone, but not forgotten

Great video! I remember going there as a kid in the mid-late 60's through the early 70's. I loved Santa's Village and was so sad when it closed. I'd wanted my kids to experience it, too. Too bad they won't rebuild and reopen it. Does anyone else remember the 'Petrified Forest?' It had a bunch of dinosaurs and weirdly shaped trees. I'm thinking it was just on some farmer's property. I distinctly remember a pterodactyl in a tree. There were no rides, and it was fairly close to Santa's Village. I loved that place, too.

Mid 70's. San Jose was still a (415) area code. Mom stopped to take us on our way to the beach boardwalk... "Christmas in July!", she'd say as she pulled off the winding highway to show her three heathens a romp. Good times.

WOW, I've such incredible memories as a child going to our wondrous Santa's Village and it's current condition breaks my heart. But, I do still have all those incredible memories and boy do I treasure them. In the summer of 1953 my dad built our family summer cabin in a private community called Forest Lakes. It was just off hwy 9 near Henry Cowell State Park in Felton CA (Santa Cruz Cnty). I was born a year later, Sept. of 1954 and today that same summer cabin has become my year round residence. Each summer I used to beg my parents unmercifully to go to Santa's Village, it was so much fun and lucky for me they usually gave in. I remember the parks closing in 1979 I would have been 24 then, how sad I was for all the future young children that would miss experiencing it's magic and wonder. Sadly, I guess I've finally stopped looking for it off hwy 17. 😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪 However, how incredibly lucky was I to spend my summer's in my beloved Santa Cruz as it had such fabulous adventures to enjoy and experience. Such as Santa's Village, the world famous Mystery Spot, Felton's Roaring Camp Railroad and covered bridge, the Boardwalk, concerts on the beach, all our state parks and so much more. There was also magic to be found in my little Forest Lake's community, each summer they dammed a creek to turn it into our own private lake. They brought in sand to play and sun in, there were diving boards, a center raft, a baby pool and lots of kids and great fun. On Friday nights the community gathered for bingo for the adults, dancing for the teens and a huge bonfire to sing around and for the kids to roast hotdogs and marshmallows. For me, the best part was I was able to share and enjoy all this with my BFF, Kathy, we met in San Francisco when I was 4 and she 5. We became fast friends and did just about everything together and of course shared years of fun together in Santa Cruz. We're still BFF's today and love reminiscing over all those great memories. I loved my summers in Santa Cruz and know how truly blessed I was to have such wonderful parents to provide such adventures, magic and most importantly love. Thanks mom and dad for the incredible gift you gave us, what a way to growup. 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 FYI, All those Santa Crus adventure sites, except Santa Village, are still open and thriving..... Come and make your own magic in Santa Cruz!!!

Theirir Santa got to know me when I was a child, as I was there ALL THE TIME! One of my most favorite places ever...Many cherished memories...For years, I've been trying to track down the original Ginger Bread Men recipe! Thank you for this Kris!

kids today will never know. RIP SV

like the jazzy music on this one ..loved that park

Sure miss this place. I remember my green peaked elf hat and the two foot long licorice rope. It was such a forested area back then (1965). Even on the outside of the park there was magical feel to place, especially when it began to get dark. Totally amazing place.

I just found out about your series from the Micechat podcast today. Being a Santa Cruz local, I grew up with both Santa's Village and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk since the 1960s. When I was too old for Santa's Village, we still took younger relatives to experience the Christmas wonderland until it closed in the late 1970s. Lots of great memories in there. I loved seeing the footage of the "King's Chariot" ride, as I remember being mesmerized by the way it took the corners of the track. When I worked at Seagate, I used to have lunch at MacDorsa Park once in a while and always appreciated seeing bit of Santa's Village still around. And I absolutely loved the commercial song at the end. I remember hearing that on the radio from time to time back in the 1970s. That and the Frontier Village song were magic. Did you know that the Snowball Ride was purchased by the Seaside Co. in the early 80's, re-themed, renamed and used at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for a short while. It was called "Spin-Out" and was located in the middle of the old Autorama layout where the "Cyclone" and "Tornado" rides sit about now. I've gone to many of the Northern California amusement parks from Playland at the Beach and Frontier Village to the opening month of Marriott's Great America in March 1976. I'll definitely stay tuned for more. Thanks.

20:53 Finally footage of that pole that had a sheen of water running down it! That for some reason was my strongest memory of Santa's Village

Great video

Boy, those sure we're better days. You could actually go trick or treating all over and fill up a pillow case. I walk around now and wonder where all these people came from. And when they're going home.

I went once in the 1960's, Went on most of the rides, they had animals (chickens that danced on a tambourine) encased in the a glass case. I believed you had to pay for the rides on the way out. It was a fantastic place.

I was four when I went there in 1964, so I don't recall TOO much detail. I do remember the ice-cold "North Pole" that you could touch (apparently refrigerated hardware within), an antique car ride, the smallish bobsled coaster, TALL elves walking around (tall to a little kid anyway) and not too much else except for one thing. I remember a bratty but unknowing kid (me) throwing a tantrum to go on the snowballs ride thinking it was a slow one despite warnings given, then being scared to death as it picked up speed. I climbed down in the middle of the ball-like car and screamed out so loud that the operator actually had to stop the ride and let my mother haul me off. Seems silly now.............. I noticed no cars in the video, so perhaps it was the track for the "horse" drawn sleds I saw. I don't recall the sleds themselves, so maybe that ride was down that day. ( Let's not forget the "Lost World" dinosaur park maybe 1/4 mile down and just on the other side of the freeway ;-) )

Youve hit a good niche , great job

what about lost world across the highway in scotts valley . anyone remember that place ?

Dare is one more santa's village in Jefferson nh. It's still open

the sled coaster woud have been fun

it close in 2006 and re open in 2010

here is a blog done Dec 19, 2011 showing much of the place still there I don't know if he visited then or an earlier time but if he visited at the time that's so sad to think something could have been done to save some of the structures PS thanks for doing these reports and keep up the good work meettheworldinprogressland.blogspot.com/2011/12/santas-village-part-1-main-entrance.html

I need a time machine

U should come back and do fairytale town.

I just heard about this place by watching an old adamthewoo video.....weird

The fun police always come and take it away.