Santa's Village Discussion Thread

@CannonballLover , That is not longer the entrance. You now enter from a ticket booth and gate to the left of the building. the building is what is has always majorly been a gift shop. it now has 2 exit doors instead of one.

I don't get your statement of looking corporate? Name any corporate park that has a building that looks like that.

I agree the new setup is very different and nostalgically the building has always been very simple. but that simple building was not all that welcoming. This is a much more cheerful and welcoming building. The old building was also looking far more dated after the addition of the main street. This update puts this building on par with those inside.

I'm aware that's the exit, was just there last week.

The corporate came from placing the mascots of the park in the front and their new slogan that they plaster on everything "Pure Joy..." maybe it's just me.

I thought the original building had a unique charm to it, but I understand it now fits better in with Main Street.

I'll be honest I too like the original better but the new one i nice too.
Wish the carolers stayed.

Is there somethign I'm not seeing.? Mascots. I see the Tree topper looking Santa, Snowman, and Penguin. Is this what your talking about?

Yes, it's supposed to me Normand, Santa, and that new penguin guy. And the entrance next to it says "Pure Joy".

I think he's using "corporate" in the same way as when people refer to Green Day as punk rock or say that Lorde (or whatever tf is in Apple commercials these days) is indie rock. You can almost see where people are coming from; but in that kind of way where the original literal meaning of the word is completely lost.

It's a nice looking building, but it has a "focus grouped" quality to it just the same. And no, I don't think there was a real focus group influencing decisions. But then again you can get a solid amount of focus and attention from those groups. And, if you payout less than a ticket price for those groups, then incorporate suggestions, many people will come back to see "their" good work.

But now I'm four tangents off topic.

Good point. for me it's hard to see an issue with a building enhancement. To compare the area Canobie has done little to nothing with the park. Story land has removed major icons of the park like the cannon in front of whats now the loopy laps dome. for a few games. Clark's Trading post removed on of there few attractions and most unique attraction for a shooting gallery.

So after seeing so much removed or siting idle why put dose an addition which kept the original building and simple added windows. They could have just as easily torn it completely out and build something completely different.

We were at SV for the event today. They hosted us very well. The grandson of the park founder spoke to the group about the park history and vision. He was very passionate. We had ERT on Rudy and Poogee prior to a breakfast. We walked the park after and fed the Reindeer. It is quite a park for kids and was immaculate. Crowds were held down today by a forecast of poor weather that didn't materialize. We left the park and did the Mt Wash Auto Road for the first time ever on the way to Story Land. Story Land was incredibly generous with the group giving every attendee a free snack, a free digital coaster picture, a free game play, free fudge and a t-shirt. Dinner at SL was way above the normal event dinner followed by ERT on Roar. It was a long drive for these two parks today but well worth the trip.

Glad to hear your day went so well. What did you think of the coasters. any stand out rides for you outside of the coasters?

The coasters are meant for kids and they fill that well. Rudy's holds a ton of riders and is certainly a line eater. Poogee is a SBV spinner and we have done a bunch of them. Nothing special but it fits into this park well. We didn't ride anything else but we did walk the park and it reminded us that they have a good collection of flats for kids. I would recommend the park to any family with kids under 10.

So you only did the morning part. If you ever go back I think you will be surprised. While the rides are family scaled many are more impressive then you think. the swings for example have great movement and the flume is larger then Story Lands, LC's, TGE's and what SFNE used to have.

Those swings definitely surprised me last year. Because of how small the ride was, I was shocked they even let adults on. But the movement as you said makes up for it.

Ya, it dose look like it should be a kids only ride but the seats are the same as the big ones and the movement fantastic. I have found that is the case with all of the flats. They run them to their potential.

Also at the event - I looked thru the rest of this thread and didn't see it posted & I don't recall seeing it at the last event in 2014, they talked about the new "Elfabet" game, which has 26 elves stationed at different areas around the park, each representing a letter of the alphabet. To play the game, you go to the Elf University near the entrance and get a card, when you find each one you put your card in the slot and push the lever down and it punches a hole in the card for the one you found. When you punch all 26 letters, bring the card back to the university for a prize, great game for the kiddos, the elves are placed so that if you find all 26 of them, you've seen the whole park. Tina & I stayed for a while after breakfast and played the Elfabet game, although we had to pause for a passing rain shower with a single flash of lightning and rumble of thunder, we left shortly after completing the game...

^ That games been a staple in that park for years, I even grew up playing it.