Go West Giveaway: Four Family Passes to Santa's Village AZoosment Park in East Dundee
Tara Burghart Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 3:30PM I didn’t grow up in the Chicago area, but I’ve heard plenty of references over the years to now-closed, treasured spots like Kiddieland Amusement Park and Santa’s Village.
Photo courtesy of Santa's Village AZoosment Park.Well, if those were a big part of your childhood, I have good news: Santa’s Village is re-opening this year in East Dundee and it will feature a couple of rides from Kiddieland.
Now I have even better news. Go West Young Mom has four passes to give away, and each pass is good for admission for a family of four! I’ll tell you how you can enter the giveaway in a moment, but first, a bit more about Santa’s Village.
It’s actually been re-named Santa’s Village AZoosment Park, and its grand opening is scheduled for this Friday. This will be its first summer season since closing in 2005.
The owners are Jason and Amy Sierpien, who own a Marengo-based entertainment company called A Zoo to You. The renovated park will combine features of an amusement park and a zoo and is aimed at families with children ages 2 to 12.
“We have mixed the nostalgia of both the original Santa’s Village and Kiddieland with a variety of animal activities to re-open Santa’s Village AZoosment Park,” says Jason Sierpien.
The rides from the original Santa’s Village include the balloon race, the convoy, the sleigh ride and the starjet; the Kiddieland rides include “Midge ‘o Racer” and "Kiddie Whip," and the new rides include a dragon coaster, kiddie ferris wheel, kiddie hand trains; swings and a tilt-a-whirl.
Photo courtesy of Santa's Village AZoosment Park.Zoo features will include an exotic animal show, a petting zoo, pony rides and a walk-in aviary. There will also be food for sale, magic shows and an arcade.
Pricing is $16.50 per person, with children 2 and under free. The admission price includes all shows, rides and attractions. Parking is free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m on weekends. You can “like” Santa’s Village’s Facebook page by clicking here to stay up to date on special offers and new features.
OK. So now for details on the giveaway. It begins now and will end Tuesday, May 31 at 11 a.m. Central time.
You can enter the giveaway in any or all of the ways below. Please remember to post one comment per entry so you can have more chances to win. Also remember to leave your email so we can contact you if you win; we’ll use random.org to pick four winners – each winner will receive a pass good for admission for a family of four. (The passes expire July 1, 2011.)
Here are the ways to enter:
- What was your favorite amusement park ride or carnival ride when you were a child or teenager? Answer in the comment section below.
- Put a link to this giveaway on your Facebook page and add a comment below that you facebooked it.
- Tell GWYM something that you’d like to see us write about or review this summer. Leave the idea in the comment section.
Remember, you MUST leave your email (in the "optional" email field) and at least your first name. We’ll use random.org to pick four random numbers and the comments coinciding with those numbers will be the winners.
Good luck! I’ll meet you on the dragon coaster ...
Tara Burghart
Wow! What a fun and popular giveaway. I want to thank Santa's Village AZoosment Park for providing us with the four family passes to pass along to four lucky readers. I also sincerely want to thank all the readers who shared a memory of their favorite amusement park ride, or shared news of this giveaway on their Facebok page, or suggested some new features they'd like to see GWYM add or write about. I loved all the ideas, and I'll be tackling all of them over the next few months.
And now, without further ado, here are the winners. Each will receive one pass good for admission for a family of four:
* Terri, who said her favorite amusement park/carnival ride was anything "horse related. Merry-Go-Round, pony rides, etc.!"
* Lisa K. who said she grew up in Kansas City and had Worlds of Fun amusement park, where she loved the roller coaster called zambizi-zinger.
* Jean, who posted on her Facebook page.
* Autumn, whose favorite ride as a kid was the octopus at Kiddieland.
If you are a winner, I'll be emailing you now to get a mailing address to send the pass to. If you don't hear from me today, email me at editor@gowestyoungmom.com in case anything got lost in transit.
Thanks again to everyone who participated. Look for more great Go West giveaways soon! - Tara
Reader Comments (90)
From the time that I was tall enough to ride it, "The Demon" at Great America has always been my favorite. Now that my 6 yr old daughter is tall enough to ride it with me, it is even better!
I LOVED the scrambler and the giant slide. It was so fun!!
Note: Editor took her 3 comments in one post and broke into three separate comments on 5/31.
Looks like a fun place, will have to check it out. Thanks for all your information, its great!
Fave amusement park / carnival ride as a child was anything "horse-related"!! Merry-Go-Round, pony rides, etc!! Thank you!
My favorite ride was at Dispensas Kiddie Kingdom in Oakbrook Terrace. It was the Storybook ride. Something I will always remember and we used to go there all the time! There is now a large building where Kiddie Kingdom used to be.
I loved rollercoasters! Now I get too dizzy for them.
I loved the Demon at Great America!
Shared the link on facebook.
I loved the carnival ride called the "zipper". It looked and felt dangerous so as a teenager, this was right up my alley:)
Small world? Does that count? After having babies I get motion sick just backing the car out of the driveway. I used to like the Demon as a teen.
How about a post about kids concerts? Or fun pools to visit?
I loved the wooden roller coasters at Great America!!!
Note: Editor's took original with two comments and broke into two separate comments on 5/31.
I used to love the Tidal Wave at Great America. And, anything that spun me in circles. ;)
i loved the tilt-a-whirl as a kid and would make my mother sick just watching me!
posting to fb right now :)
and i would love to see a list of sensory/autism spectrum friendly experiences...as a mom of 2 girls on the spectrum we have our favorites, but would be thrilled to find more :)
I loved anything that would spin, though can't handle it now. I also loved any roller coaster!
The link is on my FB page!
Review of festivals in the area for summer/fall (especially any that are special ed/sensory friendly, like you did last year).
posted on my facebook fan page.
I would love to read about local farmer's markets.
My favorite ride was always the tilt o wheel. We'd try so hard to get it to spin multiple times!
I would love to see write-ups of FREE things to do (especially when museums or whatever have free days).
Loved the tilt a whirl! Don't think I could manage it anymore...but I may have to give it a try this summer at Swedish Days!