I have fond memories of my childhood trips to the local amusement park (Whalom Park, now abandoned- man do I feel old!). While I enjoy creating the same fun memories for our kids, I don't enjoy being at a park in sweltering summer heat. For the past few years we've been bringing our kids up to North Conway, NH to visit Story Land and enjoy some outdoor activities, and we've found that September is a perfect time to go. Beautiful, usually dry and sunny days, warm enough to enjoy some water fun but cool in the shade and at night. This year, ready to explore somewhere new, we decided to try Santa's Village in Jefferson, NH.
We drove up on a Friday night after work, about 3 hours north of Boston. After the sun set and we were well into the mountainous region, we found the Rte. 93 gets increasingly narrow, hilly, and curvy as it winds its way through Franconia Notch State Park. No time to be snoozing at the wheel!
We stayed for two nights at Josselyn's Getaway Log Cabins, where we had a cozy (and definitely kitschy!) two-bedroom log cabin with a porch swing, picnic table, grill and campfire pit. Though we couldn't see it when we arrived in the dark, in the morning we awoke to a view over the porch and down a dewy, sloping lawn leading to a cute playground. After coffee (and while their dad, who's not a morning person, slept in), I took the kids out to explore the mowed nature trail that started under an apple tree heavy with fruit, crossed with a log bridge over a bubbling brook and continued through a field of wildflowers, where we found a surprise snowman totem.
Santa's Village doesn't open until 9:30 a.m., which is practically midday for our early riser kiddos, so we opted to have a "second breakfast" at the nearby Waterwheel Breakfast & Gift House, where the decor is cozy, the food was generous and yummy (and cheap for us city folk!), and the service was friendly but slooooooooow (you've been warned. If you have kids, ask for your bill as soon as your food arrives).
Fueled up (we knew we'd need it!), we finally arrived at Santa's Village. It's seemingly in the middle of nowhere- in a tiny little town with barely any other commercial activity, and only a few small hotels nearby. I was surprised at the relatively small size of the parking lot. No line to get our tickets, which were surprisingly affordable ($99 for our family of 4).
And the rest of our day was similarly low key; hardly any lines to get on rides (the most was maybe 5 minutes), not too crowded, we moved at a pleasant, unhurried pace (well, as much as that's possible with excited 3 and 6 year olds!). The place is just so adorable and enjoyable with little kids. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and maintained. Fresh paint and flowering plants everywhere, inviting lawn areas, plenty of shade, an abundance of benches and nooks to stop and rest. Fun little hidden play areas for the littlest kids to wait while their bigger siblings try the more adventurous rides; reindeer swings, little slides, gingerbread figures to poke your face through. The Christmas theme is consistent, and yes there was Christmas music playing ("We know this song, Mommy! yelled my 3-year old) , but it wasn't overbearing. Plenty of clean restrooms, several quiet nursery/ nursing areas with AC.
My favorite ride was the Skyway Sleigh, a monorail that winds above the park. My kids always enjoy a good mini train (this one was called Santa's Express) and the carousel (this one had reindeer); we rode both twice. We couldn't convince our kids to try the Yule Log Flume, but the Red Hot Racers (tubes racing down a waterway) were a fun lower key alternative (which we did about a dozen times- barely any line!). The real live reindeer were fun to see, especially since they were so friendly and eager to sniff us for snacks.
By far the coolest attraction (pun intended) was the Ho Ho H2O water park and Joy Ride Slides. There's a small splash pad for the littles, but the huge water fortress could have kept my kids busy all day if not for the abundance of other tempting options. Sprays, pools, slides, a tower to climb and explore, a big bucket of water that periodically dumped. I was super impressed with the change rooms, which looked brand new and were spotlessly clean.
We bought our lunch in the park, although you are allowed to bring in your own picnic. There are tons of food options scattered conveniently throughout the park. There was of course the standard pizza/ hot dogs/ hamburgers/ nuggets. But I was impressed with the kiosk featuring fresh fruits and veggies with dip, and with the kids meals that came served on a frisbee with applesauce and milk. In the afternoon, we let the kids choose between getting a treat at the candy store or ice cream, and I was glad they chose the yummy homemade hard ice cream.
Of course we visited Santa in his house too. My 3-year-old hid behind my legs, too shy to speak to Santa, while her big brother talked Santa's ear off with a long list of wishes (Bey Blades and a remote control transformer, for the record).
We knew the kids would be too tired to behave at a restaurant for dinner (and honestly, there weren't many to choose from nearby anyways), so we opted to grill some chicken and veggies at our cabin, and to top the day off with s'mores over the campfire. After that, we ALL slept well!
We drove up on a Friday night after work, about 3 hours north of Boston. After the sun set and we were well into the mountainous region, we found the Rte. 93 gets increasingly narrow, hilly, and curvy as it winds its way through Franconia Notch State Park. No time to be snoozing at the wheel!
We stayed for two nights at Josselyn's Getaway Log Cabins, where we had a cozy (and definitely kitschy!) two-bedroom log cabin with a porch swing, picnic table, grill and campfire pit. Though we couldn't see it when we arrived in the dark, in the morning we awoke to a view over the porch and down a dewy, sloping lawn leading to a cute playground. After coffee (and while their dad, who's not a morning person, slept in), I took the kids out to explore the mowed nature trail that started under an apple tree heavy with fruit, crossed with a log bridge over a bubbling brook and continued through a field of wildflowers, where we found a surprise snowman totem.
Santa's Village doesn't open until 9:30 a.m., which is practically midday for our early riser kiddos, so we opted to have a "second breakfast" at the nearby Waterwheel Breakfast & Gift House, where the decor is cozy, the food was generous and yummy (and cheap for us city folk!), and the service was friendly but slooooooooow (you've been warned. If you have kids, ask for your bill as soon as your food arrives).
Fueled up (we knew we'd need it!), we finally arrived at Santa's Village. It's seemingly in the middle of nowhere- in a tiny little town with barely any other commercial activity, and only a few small hotels nearby. I was surprised at the relatively small size of the parking lot. No line to get our tickets, which were surprisingly affordable ($99 for our family of 4).
And the rest of our day was similarly low key; hardly any lines to get on rides (the most was maybe 5 minutes), not too crowded, we moved at a pleasant, unhurried pace (well, as much as that's possible with excited 3 and 6 year olds!). The place is just so adorable and enjoyable with little kids. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and maintained. Fresh paint and flowering plants everywhere, inviting lawn areas, plenty of shade, an abundance of benches and nooks to stop and rest. Fun little hidden play areas for the littlest kids to wait while their bigger siblings try the more adventurous rides; reindeer swings, little slides, gingerbread figures to poke your face through. The Christmas theme is consistent, and yes there was Christmas music playing ("We know this song, Mommy! yelled my 3-year old) , but it wasn't overbearing. Plenty of clean restrooms, several quiet nursery/ nursing areas with AC.
My favorite ride was the Skyway Sleigh, a monorail that winds above the park. My kids always enjoy a good mini train (this one was called Santa's Express) and the carousel (this one had reindeer); we rode both twice. We couldn't convince our kids to try the Yule Log Flume, but the Red Hot Racers (tubes racing down a waterway) were a fun lower key alternative (which we did about a dozen times- barely any line!). The real live reindeer were fun to see, especially since they were so friendly and eager to sniff us for snacks.
We bought our lunch in the park, although you are allowed to bring in your own picnic. There are tons of food options scattered conveniently throughout the park. There was of course the standard pizza/ hot dogs/ hamburgers/ nuggets. But I was impressed with the kiosk featuring fresh fruits and veggies with dip, and with the kids meals that came served on a frisbee with applesauce and milk. In the afternoon, we let the kids choose between getting a treat at the candy store or ice cream, and I was glad they chose the yummy homemade hard ice cream.
Of course we visited Santa in his house too. My 3-year-old hid behind my legs, too shy to speak to Santa, while her big brother talked Santa's ear off with a long list of wishes (Bey Blades and a remote control transformer, for the record).
We knew the kids would be too tired to behave at a restaurant for dinner (and honestly, there weren't many to choose from nearby anyways), so we opted to grill some chicken and veggies at our cabin, and to top the day off with s'mores over the campfire. After that, we ALL slept well!
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