Visiting Santa Claus, Indiana

In July of 2025, my sons and I undertook a week-long roadtrip to visit family in Tennessee. As we would be up in the area and only have a few more hours drive to Santa Claus, Indiana, I decided it was time to visit the town which has drawn millions of people since the first amusement park in the USA opened there.

I have my own reasons for going. Even though Holiday World seemed like a fun idea, I had been to Disney World, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios in Floriday almost 20 years ago. The wait times with two young children didn't seem appealing. At least this roadtrip would allow us a day and a half to enjoy many of the free activities and locations which have sprung up due to the town's name.

It was a long drive, and we chased a thunderstorm after making our way through an hour of heavy rain (we left on a Sunday evening). The sunset was gorgeous. Around 2am, with a bright moon, I could see a looming cloud head of us in the distant sky. I could see flashing going on inside. It was an awesome moment, realizing just how small the car and road were compared to this massive natural wonder.

We stopped by a gas station to have breakfast, and got a visit from the police as they'd gotten a call about two young boys potentially being kidnapped who had stopped to use the bathroom. Though they were the boys from the phone call, they overshared about my life and proved they were indeed my children (and had no filter). They even showed the police chief the cool sounds the car makes when you press the sound effect buttons we'd installed a few days earlier!

Once we arrived in Santa Claus, Indiana, we had a lot of time to kill until check-in time at the hotel in a nearby town. We were all a bit irritable, as our sleep hadn't been the best. But we decided to do what we could with the time. We visited many shops and museums, finding out where the toilets open to the public are. The town isn't that big, and most things seemed to open for business around 10am. We took a few photos at the many statues and the city's welcome sign, and did our best not to be too grumpy (all looking foward to sleeping in a bed, not the car).

We visited the Santa Claus Museum after driving by Holiday World. The museum is free and features a few buildings. The museum had portions dedicated to how the town got its name, Santa Claus Jim Yellig, and many other lovely things. The boys enjoyed the train room and creating a Christmas tree out of giant legos. I got a lot of photos, and learned a lot of history.

We were given stationery to write Santa a letter and headed up to the Post Office building. There were desks and decorations. I even wrote one myself. I helped my youngest and then we waited for my eldest, who is 7 years old, to finish up. I noticed he was crying.

My eldest pouts when he doesn't get his way, and has cried when he's overwhelmed. I wasn't sure what had brought this on. He firmly told me he didn't want to write a letter to Santa; that he wanted NOTHING for Christmas. I spoke to him and, perhaps with a little bit of self-pity, he admitted there were children who were worse off than him. Even though he wanted toys very very much, he knew there were others who needed things more than him. It still made him upset that he had a letter to write yet if he asked for toys others may still be less fortunate than him. He explained all this to me in a lot of words. I suggested we write Santa a letter asking him to bring things for the other children AND some for him. Though he was still upset, he had me finish the letter.

We stopped by the chapel before heading up the hill for a photo by the Santa Claus statue. It's an old building with a large wood-burning stove inside near a nativity. As I was taking photos, I had to call my youngest back who crossed the barrier and wanted to go see baby Jesus. We sat on a bench and felt the Holy Spirit echoing the testimonies of many who had attended services in the building. It was a different place.

At the wishing well, I gave each of my boys a coin and they made a wish. My eldest, with even more tears, held the coin in his hand and placed it over his heart, focusing hard on his wish (I assume to help the other kids, but he told me he wouldn't tell). He wouldn't look up for a photo in front of the Santa Claus statue at the top of the hill, I would have loved a nice family photo there, but the one we have will captures much of what we've been through. There's nothing wrong with having heart-ache for those who need charity, and I wasn't going to reprimand my eldest just so I could have a smile for a photo. Sometimes the heart needs time, especially little heart.

We had been driving for a long time and were very anxious to check into the hotel about 20 miles south of town which had a better rate than anywhere in town (and it had a pool we were looking forward too!).

I bought us some shirts from Santa's Candy Castle and the boys got some sweets. As we drove by Holiday World again, the crowd and parking lot looked like the next day may be a good one to visit. I decided, since we were there, we might as well make the most of the next day.

We played at a park in the heat until it was 3pm and we were allowed to check in. After settling, we went swimming in the pool and had a blast! Tired, we dried off and went to Kentucky (15 minute drive) to the nearest Little Ceasar's Pizza to get dinner. The boys ate in the hotel room while finishing up one of the movies we'd brought with us "Black Beauty."

We had breakfast at the hotel (at no additional cost), all wearing our matching red "Santa's Candy Castle" shirts, before we headed out. We arrived so early, we were the second car in the car park (the park didn't open till, I think, 9 or 10am). We stretched our legs by the picnic area and danced in the sprinkling weather as my eldest sang "I'm siiiiiiiiiining, in the raaiinn!" holding his umbrella.

Soon the clouds disappeared, and though it sprinkled a bit more later on, the weather was quite favourable. The first half of the day was spent going on rides, enjoying the unlimited drinks, and deciding where to go next on the map. The second half of the day we spent in the water-park section (which was amazing, and having a waterproof phone case and watch are very much a necessity as I hadn't either but instead secured all our belongings in a locker). On our way out, we did ride some smaller rides the boys were just small enough for.

Before we left the park, we stopped by the wishing well/fountain they have in the park. I'm not sure what my eldest wished for, but I have a feeling it was for the children of the world who are less fortunate than us. He gripped the coin in his hand, closing his eyes and pouring out the desires of his heart, hoping that his added concentration would make the wish more potent. I know at least two people the casting of that wish affected, perhaps my re-telling it here will help you to be affected too!

There is nothing so sweet as the heart of a child. May we all have charity towards our brothers and sisters who we share this world with, for in that act Christmas can be found.

Yours as always,

Santa Stuart