Tag Archives: santa’s village

Big Bear Lake, Interesting Places

Santa’s Village set to reopen August 1st, 2015

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Jim Steinberg has posted over at the San Bernardino Sun about the much anticipated re-opening of Santa’s Village.  Some of you young folks may not know what Santa’s Village is, as it closed back in 1998. from Wikipedia:

Santa’s Village was a winter-themed amusement park in the Skyforest section of Lake Arrowhead, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first franchised amusement park, one of three built by developer Glenn Holland. The others, also defunct, were in Scotts Valley, California and East Dundee, Illinois.

Opening more than a month before Disneyland, the 220-acre park was one of Southern California’s biggest tourist attractions. It boasted kiddie rides, including a bobsled, monorail, and Ferris wheel; a petting zoo; live reindeer; and shops that included a bakery, candy kitchen, and toy shop. Continue reading →

Interesting Places

Santa’s Village to reopen

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

One of my most cherished childhood memories was when my Dad piled us all into the ol’ 1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88 and we took off before sunrise from Dana Point, heading up to the San Bernardino Mountains.  This is back in the day when freeways were six lanes, Crown Valley Parkway was four lanes, and seat belts were those things stuck under the seat cushions.

I’d sit up front on the folded down armrest so I could see out the windshield and we’d drive for what seemed like hours until we finally reached the base of the mountain.

Up the road we went, clawing ever higher around the curves, Dad turning the steering wheel, me sliding between his shoulder and my Mom’s.  Up, up, and up into the clouds we drove until we finally emerged through a break in those rolling mists to see the bright Technicolor red rooftops of Santa’s Village.

Continue reading →