Santa's Land USA

"Santa's Land in Putney, Vermont, definitely had its share of Christmas spirit, with festive displays scattered throughout the park. We enjoyed the classic carousel and the exciting slide, but the real highlight for the kids was the quirky lawnmower train! The fun house, however, could use some updating – it felt a bit dated and some of the features weren't working properly. While the park had a certain charm, some of the decorations seemed a bit faded. It was also a very cold day (around 15 degrees!), and the brisk wind made it feel even colder. Thankfully, there were plenty of places to warm up throughout the park, which was a lifesaver! Despite the chilly weather, the parking lot was packed. We were surprised to find it completely full, even though we arrived relatively early. It seems like Santa's Land is a popular spot! Speaking of Santa, he was freely roaming the park, which was a nice touch. The kids loved being able to chat with him whenever they wanted. The cost to enter the park was reasonable, especially considering that kids under 2 are free. Also, be sure to bring cash! The food venue didn't accept cards, which was a bit inconvenient. When we were there, there were also some craftsmen set up around the food area, which was interesting. Overall, Santa's Land has potential, but it could use some TLC. If you're in the area and looking for a quick dose of Christmas cheer, it might be worth a visit, especially if you have young children. Just be prepared for the possibility of crowds, cold weather, and be sure to bring cash for food. "

Oh my gosh it was an absolute blast with the children and my father for his birthday! The staff was personable, and great conversation was had by all! The children loved all of the shops and rides they right now offer. We are so excites for the renovations to come with next season!!! Thank you all for bringing back so.many memories for myself as well as having the chance to make new memories to last for years to come!!!

Great for the kids but EXTREMELY disappointing. $80 for a family of four and you have the options of a small merry-go-round, 2 slides and a tiny train that broke down after 4 laps. You can see the potential that may have been there at one point but the magic just isn’t there. I amped the kids up for a week straight we’d be going somewhere super special. An actual quote from my child after we left… ”When are we going to that special place?” ..oh my heart. Haha.

My parents had taken us here back in the early 70s, and I took my kids when they were young. I just had the pleasure of taking my three grandchildren recently and was so pleased to see that the owners had updated the original buildings rather than replacing. It was so nostalgic, bringing back years of childhood memories. The kids had a great time and we look forward to returning next year.

My 3 year old and I enjoyed the magic at this gem of a park today. As a parent, I loved seeing my daughter’s excitement over giant Rudolphs, friendly Santas and a gorgeous carousel that we went on multiple times. The park was clean and filled with gems from the past. Food was reasonably priced and delicious. We will definitely return next year. This is a small park- probably a two hour visit- and worth it for kids 8 and under.

Santa's land USA is a historical blast of nostalgia, warm and welcoming from the moment, you enter the gift shop, greeted by Santa Claus and or a staff member your transported to Christmas Eve by the slight smell of balsam wood, and a glowing fire burning warmly in the large fireplace. Greeted by the glow of Christmas lights over head as soon as the little ones enter the store their excitement of the enchanting world they are entering is already bubbling over. We strolled thought the hall of blue lights to the ohs and awe's of our children watching the Christmas magic turn constantly bickering siblings into well behaved excited children well the air was crips this bothered no one as we head to Santa's bridge where mistletoe was hung with care by Santa's elves giving the perfect opportunity for a cute Christmas photo for lovers of all ages, a cross the bridge the first house will be to your left a sweet little scene of elves at work with Santa close by, toys and books filling the shelves getting ready for Christmas Eve and the long journey to all the boys and girls, slightly up the hill like a noble guardian of the little village a head proudly stands Rudolph as he has always stood since the opening of the park, a old friend I remember from my own childhood;past Rudolph the village proper starts with a school house where my little ones wrote letters to Santa (with help of course) and placed them in Santa's mail box's for his helper to pick up that night. Past the school house to the left was the restroom just in time for the younger of the two, the next house on the tour housed a beautiful display of penguins and polar bear, we spent some time roaming the small village looking at ever little thing we could find stopping at the candy cane cupboard for a little snack of fresh warm popcorn and a glass of hot chocolate before moving on to the first ride of the day a fantastic carousel that I learned was originally from Coney Island and that the new owner had gotten for the park the kids loved running around it and picking the best horse sure that theirs was going to be the fastest as they raced around the stage up and down with high screeches and load laughter of pure joy that only the truly innocent possess, quick ride on the little cars and small train the excited anticipation of the big red slide radiating off of them like a glowing light as we stepped in to the old train station to warm our freezing hands near the old cast iron stove well a miniature train set buzzed a round a peaceful snow covered ground. Then off to the red slide, jumping down on burlap sacks they raced down at what seemed like lighting speed and racing up the large hill with such speed this mother could only hope it would mean and early night for them. With a few more heart racing ride of flying down the hill on brown magic bags sailing over a bumpy sea of red we finally persuaded them to move on and see the other buildings and fun things before the end of the day past the slide is a little read building with a winter village and farther past that a fun house if I had thought getting them off the slide was roughy I was in for a surprise as they ran in and out of the fun house about a million time getting to the spinning drum laying on it and sliding and trying to run all the fun things I remember doing my self when I was young and my husband is still obviously young at heart if not in age because he also did the fun house a dozen times him self , near the end of the day we played a quick round of Mimi golf. It was a pleasure watching the kids have so much fun

We went to Santa's Land yesterday. First time I've been here since the new owner David bought it. I was about 7 years old the last time I was here. The igloo pancake house is no longer open, he's added a fabulous carousel (brought from Coney Island), the train is currently being repaired in St Louis and is scheduled to be back July 2023. Unfortunately someone purposely vandalized and destroyed Humpty Dumpty, but there's plans to replace him. A few other attractions were missing also, the live reindeer for one, but all in all there's plenty for the kids to do, lots of rides that are included in your entrance fee to the park, very family friendly/orientated and David is doing a remarkable job restoring this fun packed fantasy attraction. I'm looking forward to returning to see it restored to its former glory. Thank you David and was very nice meeting you. (Found him working in the snack shack 😉)

Cute place to spend an hour or two with little kids. A few basic rides, a slide, and a lot of moving holiday themed diaramas. I want this place to make it! There is a market and a lot of potential. Employees were nice, and it was clean and tidy. For little kids it could keep them busy for a couple of hours. My suggestion to make it work without a huge cash infusion? Check out the farm adventures which are popular where I live in Maryland, such as Gaver Farm or Summers Farm Adventure, and see the awesome activities and attractions they have made with basic farm and garden stuff, these places attract thousands of people per day, and Santa Land could easily emulate what they are doing with a Santa theme. Good luck!

My grandkids love Santa Land. The rides are appropriate for their ages. They had a great time. Santa played Christmas carols with his harmonica. He did an excellent job. We plan on returningfor a third year/

Ever since we discovered North Carolina's best kept secret, Santa's Land in Cherokee back in the '90s, we've been chasing kitschy, nostalgic theme parks. The more bizarre and surreal the better ... Dinosaur Land (White Post, VA, Professor Cline's Haunted Monsters Museum (Natural Bridge, VA), and Storybook Land (Egg Harbor Township, NJ) just to name a few. It's hard to say no to these wonderful time capsules. One that's been on our list for years is the original Santa's Land (no affiliation) in Putney, Vermont, which celebrates its 65th anniversary in 2022. After years of neglect and abandonment, I must admit we were a little apprehensive about the park taking on a more contemporary look. But thankfully that wasn't the case. We found the park to be quite enchanting complete with gingerbread men, life size elves from the 1950's and even an original carousel from Coney Island. Their larger-than-life slide will quickly remind you just how much fun can be had with a burlap sack. We had the pleasure of speaking with the new owner (of six and a half years). He recalled how he used to visit the park as a young child, and always told his parents that he wanted to one day own all of this. He not only made his dream come true, but he also saved the park from oblivion. The friendly staff seem to have a real passion for keeping this park alive and it shows! Thank you, THANK YOU, for a wonderful day. Santa's Land USA is a perfect balance of old and new for all to enjoy!

Visiting family in the area and was excited to see the park in Vermont open. However, the cost is unjustified. I think this is a situation where the park would be best to think about what they offer instead of trying to make the most money they can in a short window. The park is for children yet there is no discount for the children. Their pricing is $17.95 plus $2.00 (not sure what for) per person age 2 and up. So for a family of 5 you are looking at close to $100. just to enter the park and then food is added to that. So what you get is a day out, a large slide and a carousel - and of course there is a Santa.

I don't understand the amazing reviews. We spent maybe 30 min there and were terrified. Every building smells like mold and dust, and was on the verge of collapsing. Train - the biggest attraction of the park - is out of service for entire season!!! But they didn't mention it at the entrance when we paid $17 per person admission. Basically for $55 entrance for 3, our toddler rode an old horse carrousel for about 2,5 minutes and went down the big slide once. We saw Santa, but he was always busy taking to other employees, and we didn't want to bother him for a picture. There were no elf's let's go in the house Popeyes open the door knock knock Papa went to get the key as advertised on the website. We walked around trying to admire beautiful grounds, and pine trees, looked at weird old dusty stuffed animals and kept thinking how there isn't even a simple swing to keep children occupied. I sat down with my baby at picnic table across from employee who suddenly decided to tell me the story of 20 real animals dying in the park due to neglect, and this is when I decided it was better to leave because I felt weird being there. In sum, I think park has a potential. But for the price of admission for entire family we expected more that musty dusty cabins filled with old toys.

We had a great visit here with kids aged 4-9!! Spent about 2 hours enjoying the park. I love the nostalgia and appreciate that it's a little kooky. Would love to return next time we're in the area!!

Wonderful wonderus wonderland of wonders. Glad it exists. This post is too short so i am writing more...

Santa's land brings me back. Back to basics. Back to a time where the world was small and things were simple and happy. Santa's Land is a safe, friendly park especially designed for family fun. Located in Southern Vermont off I-91, Santa's Land has been a popular New England travel destination for nearly 50 years!! The park offers a petting zoo, a new stream antique train, store, and all kinds of classic exhibits such as Humpy Dumpty. Hump Hump. Its magical for the kids, and fun for the biggies too as it brings you back. The petting zoo poop stinks.

Happy to report that Santa's Land reopened in 2017 and is open for 2018! Check them out on FB!

Yes, there really is a Santa, but sadly, he will longer be in Putney. Sniff, sniff, sniff...... just read on Boston.com that tomorrow is Santa's Land very last day after 50+ years. I remember coming here as a kid and sitting with Santa for a photo, then riding on the rides, having lots of food that I wouldn't normally eat, and having an all-around blast. So sad, but I guess people just want to go to sketchy Six Flags (or wherever) and Santa is NOT there anyhow..... This place is a classic!! :(

GRAND RE-OPENING OF SANTA'S LAND NOV 25, 2017 With new attractions including a Carousel from Coney Island and displays with moving animatronic figures.

**** DO NOT WASTE YOUR FAMILY'S TIME****NOT EVEN A SANTA CLAUSE! Extremely unmaintained, dirty and pathetic. I took my family to visit Santa's Land. I had been there as a kid and had fond memories. What a MISTAKE! We were not even informed there would be not Santa at Santa land after paying the admission! Made us feel really good telling our daughter that once we got there. Empty cages everywhere that used to house animals, now overgrown with weeds. There are no functioning rides. These people are not even trying to work with what they have. There are NO EXCUSES for taking people's money for this "attraction". The fake snow is brown from years of dirt and neglect. The bathrooms are dirty. The food is terrible. There are spider webs covering almost everything. Nothing in the funhouse moves because it is all rusted and seized. The staff doesn't even have a dress code, not even a nametag. Don't feel bad when this place inevitably closes. These owners brought it on themselves.

This place is looking to make a rebound. It's still run down - but all the kids we brought last weekend didn't see that.. they thought it was "AWESOME". (direct quote) It will be open weekends through Christmas this year! Volunteers are running the park and have refurbished the elf house. If you once loved this place, please go support it now. It's a reasonable $10.

I'm a bit late for this review but I had to add it. The owners at Santa Land are the very best people you could possibly ever have the privilege of meeting. Let me explain. My family and I stopped in this year on the last day of the season. We had made the trip up from Easthampton MA. On a day in which the weather was not all that great and it was forecast to get worse. When arriving we noticed that we were the only car there!? Thinking that they had already closed for the year and that we had missed the last day we were all very disappointed to say the least, three kids under seven don't have much understand of thing after being stuck in the car for over an hour. So thinking that maybe just maybe we were very early and my wife and kids having to go to the bathroom, we checked the door to see if we could us the bathroom. The man inside told us that they were closing or had made the call to close because of the approaching weather but we could go ahead and use the restrooms. While walking up to the restrooms we ran into the owner, which we did not know at the time and were telling her about what we were doing and we're going to get going. Seeing the disappoint in out kids faces, she looked me straight in the eyes and said " I'm the owner of this place and your kids will get a private tour with Santa himself"! All I have to say is Wow! So Santa came down and gave all of us a private tour, we rode all the rides and had what was going to be a horrible day turn out to be one of the best times we have all had. My wife and I will all ways hold a special place in our hearts for them and how they made our kids feel on top of the world. Thank you Santa Land for give us a memory we will have forever, you guys are the best!

My parents used to take us there as kids, so when visiting my parents in Ct. from Florida we decided to take my children. We checked the website for their hours. The website was lacking any real info, just exclaiming SANTAS LAND IS OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK!! So we loaded the kids in the van and away we went!! 2 1/2 hours later after driving from Ct we pull into SANTAS LAND, AND IT WAS EFFIN CLOSED!!!! NO UPDATED INFO ON THE WEBSITE!! If I could give this a lower rating I would!! BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!!

I was at Santa Land in 1997, and it had a few rides, a petting zoo, and gift shops selling Christmas decorations. When I was passing by, only its sign is standing, and the Igloo Pancake House is gone. The cottages that were across the road are also gone.

Still love it today. Went here as a kid and I now bring my kids there. Disney Land or Great Adventure it is not, but what else can you get for $10 a person? Its a quiet, uncrowded place that kids love and parents can appreciate. It's like going back in time when things were simple. At nealry 40, I get sad every time we leave. Its a bit dated, a bit old, and I'm certain the owner makes no money on this place, but I love it.

I went as a child, I took my sons there and I even got to take my granddaughters there. How sad that it is closed.