Barns Brews & Back Roads

Welcome to Santa Claus, Indiana – home of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari (452 E. Christmas Blvd., Santa Claus, IN 47579) the #1 Water Park in nation voted by USA Today. This was a 2-Day adventure with the whole family and there is so much to cover! Since it’s Holiday World and since it’s in Santa Claus, all the headings for this blog will be Christmas Vacation quotes – because that is probably my favorite Christmas movie.

“Hey Kids Look A Deer!” – Clark Griswold

My favorite part about going to Holiday World is that it’s in a small town – population 2,609. And as you are approaching the town and park you see this:

The picture doesn’t really do it justice – there’s a lot of open fields and then these massive roller coaster tops on the horizon as you pass a deer crossing sign. And yes, if you read my personal blog Pinkbook Diary, this is the same picture from last years family trip to Holiday World.

Our journey begins on a Wednesday morning and about a 2 1/2 hour trip south from central Indiana. NOTE: Holiday World is located in one of the 12 counties in Indiana that are on Central Time. Central Time is my nemesis when travelling. One hour should not mess with my head as much as it does. My family likes going on a Wednesday/Thursday in June because it’s less crowded. Tickets vary in price from $61.99 (pick a day), $71.99 (any day), $86.99 (two day consecutive) and $99.99 (three day consecutive). If you want to do both the water park and the amusement park I’d pick the two day ticket for sure. You can buy tickets online and they offer discounts for Military, First Responders and Nurses. You can also get a free Pre-K kids pass for kids born between 2019-2021, but you have to get that at guest services when you arrive. They also have a Foster Family Program – children in foster care are eligible for free admission for one visit a year, and family members get discounted tickets.

Other add ons you can buy include a digital photo pass for $29.99 – I’d recommend it, my nephew bought one last year and then again this year and it is fun to have unlimited ride photos to share. My co-worker with three small children (under age 10) recommends renting a Cabana in the Splashin’ Safari water park. The cabanas have a ceiling fan, lockable cabinet, chairs/table for 8 people and a mini fridge stocked with water bottles. Cabana’s range in price from $299-$439 depending on the day of the week/location. We didn’t reserve one – and if you don’t reserve them ahead of time you likely won’t be able to get one when you arrive at the park. We arrived about 45 minutes after opening and all the cabanas were sold out. There are also discounts if you stay at one of the Holiday World Lodging partners.

FREE.99 (it’s a really bad joke we use at work) – FREE parking, FREE sunscreen and FREE unlimited soft drinks – nope not kidding you can caffeinate yourself all day with FREE Pepsi products throughout the park.

Holiday World originally was known as Santa Claus Land and was the worlds first theme park when it opened in 1946. Santa Claus Land focused mainly on kiddie attractions themed around Santa and Christmas because of it’s location in a small town with a unique name. In 1984 the named changed to Holiday World as they expanded and added Thanksgiving, Halloween and 4th of July themed areas with bigger rides and some of the worlds best wooden roller coaters.

All of this information is on the website: https://holidayworld.com/tickets-passes/

“And why is the carpet wet, Toooddd?” – Margo Chester

We made the decision to go to the Splashin’ Safari water park on Wednesday because it was sunny and hot and that’s the best time to go to any water park. We stopped first and got the kids Phone Find Bands, and had them measured so they got colored wristbands that let ride operators know what they are tall enough for. This year, they all tall enough for ALL the rides!

We rented a locker ($20/day) and changed into our swimmies and headed for Safari Sam’s Splashland which is one of 4 splash pad/kiddie slide areas. Some of the “big kids” rode the waterslides and my 5 year old grand niece braved the Jungle Racer. As everyone was heading to the big slides I was happy to stay with my grand nephew in the Muziki Bay which is home to Santa’s Pool Party. This is a zero-entry pool with a total depth of maybe 1 1/2 – 2ft. Parents can relax in poolside lounge chairs while DJ Sprinkle and DJ Jingle put on a show with music and games. Highlights for my nephew included them playing red light/green light in the water and freeze dance to “Shake It Off” – it’s his favorite song!

After the swim party, the “big kids” were headed to the Wildebeest – the #1 Water Coaster (Amusement Today) for 10 years until it was surpassed by Mammoth in 2023 which is conveniently located right next to it. The less adventurous of the group stayed at the Bahari Wave Pool (one of two wave pools). Unfortunately the Wildebeest was experiencing some technical difficulties so they headed to the Cheetah Chase – the parks third water coaster.

Best thing about the water park: it’s fun for all ages and sizes. There are multiple kiddie areas, moderate water slides and wave pools and a lazy river for less adrenaline charged family members and the worlds best (and longest) water coasters for the thrill seekers.

I glossed over lunch, mostly because I think all I had for lunch was a strawberry/pineapple Dole whip 🤭. Oh wait, I had breadsticks too. The breadsticks and pizza (Dave got pizza but I grabbed a bite) smelled amazing while we were at Santa’s Pool Party and we’re really yummy. Everybody in my family also agrees that the loaded fries are the best food in the park, they are only available in Splashin’ Safari and in Thanksgiving.

PS that’s Sam’s Strawberry/Dole Whip in a cup…

Ice Cream should always be in a sugar cone🍦

“Where do you think you’re going? Nobody’s leaving. Nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas.” Clark Griswold

We’re going to the Louisville Muhammad Ali airport to pick up T so they can join us on Day 2 of the Family adventure. If you’re flying to Indiana specifically to go to Holiday World, there are two small regional airports close by, Evansville Regional Airport and Owensboro/Daviess County Regional Airport (in Kentucky). Those are each 40-45 minutes away, and do offer direct flights to/from Tampa, FL. Once again getting to/from Ft. Myers, FL was a bit challenging but we made it happen. Louisville Muhammad Ali airport is about a 1 hour 15 minute drive from Santa Claus – but you cross the cursed time zone line. T coming was supposed to be a surprise for the family, but most had figured it out when T turned off their Life 360 location sharing app.

One caution of going to Holiday World, it’s built in a small hollow (or dip, or basin, or depression – depending on your level of topographic and geologic education). Where you enter the park the elevation is 155 meters and at the very northern end of the park it’s as high as 163 meters, in between it those two points it dips down to about 133 meters at the lowest spot. The point of all that craziness is to explain that from the water park (at the very lowest part) back to the entrance/exit you have to climb a very large hill. If you are pushing a stroller/wagon – you will get a workout. If you’re waiting to find out if your kid whose original flight was delayed 2 hours and weren’t sure they would make the connecting flight before you leave the park to pick them up at the airport – and now you have 1 hour to make an hour and 15 minute trip and you have to speed walk up that hill – you will get a workout. And an asthma attack. And shin splints. This would be a good time to let you know you can also rent strollers, wagons, wheelchairs and electric scooters.

We made it to the airport though without much traffic along I-64. We got to go across the Sherman Minton bridge, which is a double decker twin arch bridge – that’s fun (and not mildly terrifying for someone who doesn’t like single deck bridges). I can’t comment much on the airport because we didn’t even park we just snagged T at the Arrivals part of the terminal and drove back to Indiana.

“Would it be indecent to ask the grandparents to stay at a hotel?” Audrey Griswold

Where do you stay if you want to enjoy the 2-Day or 3-Day park pass? There are a lot of options. First, if you want to stay in Santa Claus, know that there are no chain hotel options there. There is Santa’s Lodge (91 W. Christmas Blvd) that offers rooms and suites, Sun Outdoors on Rudolph Lake (78 N. Holiday Blvd) that offers RV and Tent camping as well as cabin/cottage rentals, Santa’s Cottages (1405 W Christmas Blvd.) which offers lakefront cottage rentals and Lincoln Pines Lakefront Resort (3862 E SR 162, Lincoln City) which offers 1-2 bedroom lakefront cabins. And of course I have to highlight another one of my favorite state parks: Lincoln State Park, (County Rd 300E/Ind 162) which is about a 10 minute drive from Holiday World and offers camp sites, cabins and boat ramps for Lake Lincoln.

But if you feel more comfortable staying in a chain hotel because you like certain creature comforts like the automatic pancake maker at breakfast, or knowing they have Dove soap, there are several hotels in nearby towns. We have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express (310 Orchard Hill Drive, Tell City, Indiana) for the last two trips. Other options include a Motel 6 and Baymont by Wyndham in Dale, IN and a Quality Inn and a Comfort Inn in Ferdinand, IN. One note, I’ve stayed at the Comfort Inn and it sits on the time zone line. Literally half the hotel is in CDT and the other half is EDT depending on your phones location settings. Just as a forewarning. Tell City is about a 30 minute drive from Santa Claus, and it’s a quaint little river town. Also about a 30 minute drive is Jasper, Indiana which is one of the largest towns in the region and has several hotel options.

Once we met up with the rest of the family at the hotel, we decided on various options for dinner, including door dashing Wendy’s (who doesn’t need a frosty?!?) and ordering a mix of Papa Johns and Pizza Hut – both super close to the hotel.

Stay tuned for Day 2 – we tried a lot more food on Day 2 including inside and outside of the park!