Holiday World was originally inspired by the whimsically named town it is located in, Santa Claus. A bit of history mixed with a dash of tradition is in order: The city’s founders wanted to call the southern Indiana village “Santa Fe,” but postal authorities determined that the name was already in use. On Christmas Eve 1852, citizens met to choose a name for their community. Legend has it that the door to the meeting room was flung open and a certain gentleman in a red suit appeared.
Once word got out about the city with the magical name, visitors began the pilgrimage in December, but were disappointed to find little more than a general store, a post office, and a handful of homes. Third-generation Holiday World president Will Koch said his grandfather had “this kind of crazy idea to build Santa’s Land” in the 1940s.
Opened in 1946, Koch says that Santa Claus Land was the “world’s first theme park.” It certainly predates Disneyland (which opened in 1955), but one could argue that other “theme parks” dating back to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition or even Denmark’s Tivoli Gardens, built in 1843, preceded Santa Claus Land. And other parks, including Disneyland’s neighbor, Knott’s Berry Farm, also claim the world’s first theme park title.
Initially, the park was open year-round and recorded its highest attendance during the Christmas season. Santa’s toy store, a Bavarian town, and personal audiences with the legend of the triple-ho were among the original highlights. The Freedom Train, one of the first attractions, remained in operation until 2013. For its 70th birthday in 2016, the park brought the train back as a nostalgic display.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Kochs added more traditional attractions to amusement parks. In 1984, the family changed the park’s name to “Holiday World” and introduced themed sections for July 4th and Halloween. Beginning in 1995, with the debut of Raven, the park began building world-class roller coasters that raised its profile. The Legend followed in 2000, and their third wooden coaster, The Voyage, opened to great success in 2006 alongside a new vacation land, Thanksgiving. In 2015, Holiday World dubbed its first major steel coaster, Thunderbird, also located in the Thanksgiving section of the park.
Its Splashin ‘Safari water park, one of the largest and most acclaimed in the country, is included with admission to Holiday World.
Ironically, the park discontinued year-round operation in the early 1970s and has been closed for the Christmas season ever since. Koch says the proliferation of Santas shopping malls and malls made the Christmas visit to Holiday World less special and attendance after the summer dropped significantly. (However, it is open at the end of September and October for “Happy Halloween Weekends”). For tourists visiting Santa Claus Town at Christmas, it’s like déjà vu all over again. “Unfortunately, there is not much they can do,” acknowledges Koch.
Sadly, Will Koch passed away at a young age in 2010. His daughters, Lauren Crosby and Leah Koch, are the fourth generation to own and operate the park.
