Santa's Land: Where It's Christmas All Year 'Round!

North Carolina Tourism has an ad campaign that extols everyone that lives here to "visit the state you're in." That's certainly one of the advantages of living in Western North Carolina -- there's just so much to do and see here, and much of it within just a few hours' drive.

Couple that with our love of cheesy destinations and theme parks, and you get the awesomeness that is Santa's Land in Cherokee, NC (another great place to visit for entirely different reasons).

First, some back story. Marsha first went to Santa's Land as a kid, probably back in the 60s when it first opened. It was one of those experiences that she would always remember fondly, so about ten or twelve years ago (best I can remember), we decided take Madison. Not quite Disney World, but she sure loved it. As you can imagine, it's really geared towards small children. And Marsha sure loved the trip down memory lane.

Recently, Madison has wanted to go back, so that's just what we did. Only this time it was a fun trip down memory lane for all of us.

The park is divided into three main areas: Christmas Village, where you can visit Santa in his house any day of the year; Zoo Land, which has several animal displays; and Fun Land, which has most of the (kiddie) rides. The park is one long rectangular area, so the three sections run end to end. In addition, there are a few spots that also highlight the mountain locale, and a little train that circles the entire park.

When you first enter the park, you go right into Christmas Village, which is actually kind of impressive in its own quaint little way. There's Santa's House, of course, but also a few other Santa-style buildings, plus a giant snowman, rabbit, and kangaroo (not sure I get that one). And pretty good landscaping.

One building is a little theater with a magic show featuring the Amazing Gene (seriously), who we saw twelve odd years ago and is still there. Some of his tricks were easy enough to figure out, but more than a couple left me scratching my head. And he did a great job (just as before) bringing kids up on stage to help out.

Behind Santa's House is a quaint, "regular" village with a firehouse, church, train depot (one of two), and a life-size Nativity. Parts of the park just needed some more TLC, but were certainly eye-catching.

On the other side of Christmas Village and heading into the rest of the park, is an outdoor stage connected to a BBQ (beef) restaurant, a blacksmith shop (where they specialize in rings made from flat nails) and a tiny magic shop (run by the Amazing Gene).

Last time we saw a local bluegrass group perform (still have their CD somewhere) and ate lunch, but there didn't appear to be a show this trip.

From there you cross into Zoo Land, which we didn't quite remember from before. There were a bunch of Elf houses containing "minima-tronic" displays (more on those in a minute), which seem to have been converted into front structures for the zoo cages. There are (little) bears, goats, donkeys, a camel, and more, all of which you can feed (from a safe distance).

The craziest part was the paddle boat ride (which really needed a good cleaning) around a pond filled with Japanese Koi and containing two islands with monkey cages. The fish have learned that boats mean food, so as soon as you set out, you can see a whole giant swarm of them swimming towards you like little sharks coming in for the kill. Then they thrash all around the boat with their mouths open waiting for food. It was seriously freaky. 

Still inside many of the Elf Houses are Christmas display windows dating back to the early 60s by David Hamberger Designs of New York (though his last name is misspelled on the window tributes). Despite their age and wear and tear, most of these are still pretty impressive and the characters still move back and forth.

Especially impressive is the Christmas Carol window with moving Scrooge and Marley figures. The only downside of these displays (thank goodness they're still there) is that a few of them have wide open doors where the sunlight reflected off the windows, which made them hard to see.

In the center of Zoo Land is an old grist mill that sells unique jarred items like pumpkin butter and stuff. The pumpkin butter really intrigued us, but the shop part wasn't open and, sadly, that was the one flavor we couldn't find in the gift shop later.

Finally, there is Fun Land, which has a bigger train station, a non-themed eatery, a carousel, and lots of kiddie rides. I love how the employees wear little Elf hats (Madison got one of her own on her first trip). But it also has two things that stand out: a replica moonshine still (oh yes!) and the world-famous Rudi Coaster!

The still is part of an old fashioned farm exhibit. The only thing better would have been a racing ride where you get to outrun the "revenuers."  After all, that's how NASCAR got started in not too far away Wilkes County. I mean, what more do you want in a theme park for kids? 

And finally, there is the Rudi Coaster, their signature attraction. It's a kiddie coaster not much bigger than one you'd see at the State Fair, but it's got a giant Rudolph head on the front and they let you go around twice. You can't beat that for a fun day at the park.