When I originally began planning this extensive trip from Michigan to Minnesota, with many stops in between, Santa’s Village was not on my radar. I can thank the Roller Coaster Database (RCDB) for shining some light on this awesome small park. If you’re planning a trip, be sure to head over to RCDB and click on the “Parks Nearby” link on whatever park you’re looking to visit. That’s how I found this little gem and numerous others during my journeys.
My only regret from this stop was not having more time to spend here. With everything else on our agenda, we couldn’t stay until close, but we did manage to stick around longer than we anticipated based on how much we were enjoying ourselves.
Came for the Credits, Stayed for the Atmosphere
Santa’s Village features three coasters. For all the enthusiasts who only want to ride the biggest, fastest, blah blah blah coasters, you’ll probably overlook this park. But not me. I didn’t want to stop just for the credits, although they are nice. This park legit looked fun and unique.
I’m a sucker for small parks and have been trying to visit as many of them as I can. I’ve seen a few of them close, or totally change how they operate in recent years. Mostly, for the worse as is the case with both Lakemont and Conneaut Lake Parks. This is why it is so important for me to go to places like Storybook Land and Camden Park in recent years. It’s also why I have stops planned at Little Amerricka and Bay Beach during this same trip. There’s just something unique about small parks for me. It’s a feel that’s hard to describe, but one that lets me relax and just enjoy the atmosphere. Although it’s not exactly small, I also feel the same way visiting Knoebels. I don’t have a care in the world at these parks.
Farmer's Fling
Guess what? SBF Visa Spinner credit! Oh yeah!
Called Farmer’s Fling, what better theming do you need than trains themed to cows and pigs? Seriously, these trains look great and might be my favorite ones I’ve seen on any SBF Visa to date.
No need to go into exacts on this ride. I’ve talked about so many of these in my quest to have over 100 of them among my credit count. This one was cute, but I was eager to see what else this park had in store for us.
Super Cyclone
The park’s biggest coaster is Super Cyclone, an Interpark Zyklon/Galaxi model. With its bright orange paint and purple trains, this one grabs your attention and looks great sitting in its little alcove in front of some trees. It is also rather photogenic for this ride type.
Jen and I rode this separately just so I could get some photos of the trains cycling. I am also not too keen on leaving my expensive camera sitting on a ride platform either. So she was going to have to hold it when I got on for my rides.
I will say, this ride tracks very well. It was much smoother than I expected it to be. Sometimes coasters of this style can be hit or miss, but this one was quite enjoyable.
North Pole Expedition
While the park does have a Wacky Worm, I wanted to talk about a different ride for the third spot here. It’s a dark ride called North Pole Expedition. I say dark ride, but half of this ride takes place outdoors before moving inside. So I guess it’s not entire a dark ride, per se. The Dark Ride Database (DRD) does list it as a semi-dark ride, so we’ll go with that.
And speaking of DRD, the site mentions that this ride uses the ride system from a former ride at Dinosaur Beach (now Morey’s Piers) in Wildwood New Jersey. It was called Escape From Dinosaur Beach. As much as I went to Wildwood as a kid, this is a ride I don’t think I had experienced. Still, it was neat getting to ride something from a place I used to frequent. I’m glad it still lives on here at Santa’s Village.
I have included my POV of this ride above for all of you to check out. It’s definitely strange, but I love that about dark rides. Sometimes there’s some personality, charm, quirks, and oddities that make them memorable. This one is no exception.
Final Ride Counts
Farmer’s Fling (1)
North Pole Expedition (1)
Super Cyclone (1)
Tri-Nado (2: Jen)
Wacky Worm (1)
I've Always Been a Sucker for Small Parks
Since we enjoyed this park so much, we wanted to spend a little more time here. We could have just ran in, grabbed our credits, and been on our way. Instead we decided to grab a bite to eat, take lots of photos (see the huge gallery below) and grab some merch. I was shocked to find some pins, including one for the Wacky Worm. You know I had to grab those.
Since we spent the extra time here, there was no way we were going to make it to Little Amerricka with them closing at 5 p.m. As we ate our food I looked at our options and decided we’d make the long drive up to Bay Beach, which was open until 8 p.m. Zippin’ Pippin was calling our name. It also meant that we’d get to spend the Fourth of July at Little Amerricka. That seemed fitting.
Although Santa’s Village and Safari Land earlier don’t feature rides anything like the Michigan’s Adventure and Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) from the start of this trip and neither would Bay Beach or Little Amerricka, I was loving this portion of our trip. I’m serious when I say, get out to these small parks and just enjoy their atmosphere and support them. It’s such a welcome change of pace and Santa’s Village is worth your time and money.
Santa's Village Photo Gallery - July 3, 2025
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): Farmer's Fling, Wacky Worm, Super Cyclone
Jen
Captain
New Credit(s): Farmer's Fling, Wacky Worm, Super Cyclone