Santa's Village in East Dundee: Closing and Comeback
Santa's Village opened in East Dundee in 1959, closed in 2006, and came back in 2011. The history of the Fox Valley's Christmas-themed park, from the Snowball to the Polar Dome.
For generations of Fox Valley kids, summer meant a trip to see Santa in July. Santa's Village, on Route 25 in East Dundee, was a Christmas-themed amusement park with candy-cane colors, a petting zoo and small rides sized for little kids. It closed in 2006, sat empty for years, and then did something most beloved old parks never do: it came back.
How it started
Santa's Village opened on May 30, 1959. It was the idea of Glenn Holland, who had already built Santa's Village parks in California, one in the San Bernardino Mountains and one near Santa Cruz. The Illinois park was the third. More were planned in other states but never built.
The idea was simple: a place where it's always Christmas. Santa was there all summer, the buildings looked like a storybook North Pole, and the rides were made for families with young kids.
The Snowball and the Polar Dome
Two names come up whenever people remember the park:
- The Snowball, a spinning ride added in 1962, like a teacup ride shaped as snowballs.
- The Polar Dome, opened in 1963. It was an ice rink under a big dome, and for years it was where a lot of Fox Valley kids learned to skate and played hockey.
The closing
By the 2000s the park was struggling. A new roller coaster, the Typhoon, didn't work out, the park looked tired, and crowds were down. The Polar Dome rink closed in 2005, and Santa's Village closed in August 2006. For years, people drove past the empty park on Route 25 and wondered what would happen to it.
The comeback
New owners reopened the park on May 27, 2011, as Santa's Village AZoosment Park, with the zoo animals as a big part of the draw. In 2021 it was renamed Santa's Village Amusement & Water Park, and it now has a water park along with the rides.
Then, in January 2025, the Polar Dome reopened as an ice rink for the first time in about 20 years, with public skating, hockey and lessons. For a lot of people who skated there as kids, it was a chance to bring their own kids.
Going today
The rides and water park run in the summer, and the Polar Dome is open for skating in the colder months. Hours and dates change every year, so check the park's website before you go. And if you grew up on the Fox Valley side, it's a short drive from the Elgin National Watch Company story and the old Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee.
For another Chicagoland kids' park that didn't get a second act, see Kiddieland in Melrose Park.
Photo: Santa's Village AZoosment Park entrance gate by Wacky Windjammer, CC BY-SA 4.0.