I just got the opportunity to visit Santa Claus, Indiana which is only a 3 hour drive from St. Louis. It is such a cute, little town with such a great name! There are so many family friendly fun activities to keep you busy the entire visit.
Lake Rudolph Campground and R.V. Resort
We stayed at Lake Rudolph Campground and R.V. Resort. We will defiantly be going back. Lake Rudolph was named a ‘Best Family Campground’ by TravelChannel.com, which I can see why. Lake Rudolph provides so many activities and accommodations for families.
We stayed in the Holiday Cottages. They just built 20 new Holiday Cottages which sleep 5 to 7 people. We LOVED our cottage! It included two bedrooms, flat screen TVs with cable (the kids were able to watch their shows), kitchen (it is always nice to cook a meal on vacation and not feel like you have to eat out all the time), full bath, screened porch and much more!
I got the opportunity to tour the Rudolph’s Christmas Cabins, which they were equally as nice as the Cottages. The cabins sleep up to 8 people and feature a master bedroom with a King bed, large loft with a queen mattress and 4 twin-size mattresses, 3 flat screen TVs, electric fireplace, gas grill, fire ring, and a very large covered deck.
Some other options for staying include a tent site, rent a RV or if you have your own RV rent a RV site.
We had the chance to go swimming at the Blitzen Bay pool, Baby Blitzen kiddie pool and Dasher Splasher splash pad. It was included in our stay.
In the evening after swimming, we went to hang-out by the camp store and the playground. It was nice to see a bunch of kids getting together to play a game of basketball on the basketball courts. The Blitzen Kitchen serves soft serve ice cream, shakes and pizza. They will even deliver the pizza to your site at no extra charge.
They had so many more activities included but we ran out of time to explore all of them. Some of the activities included Santa’s SplashDown WaterPark (you pay a small fee to get in), mini golf, fishing lake, paddle boats and kayaks, rental golf carts, free WiFi, game room, laundromats, gem mining sluice, horseshoe pits, air-conditioned boat houses, and planned activities (some had a small fee and some were free).
Santa doing story time was one of the planned activities for the day.
The FREE Holiday World shuttle was very nice because we did not have to worry about parking and walking far. The shuttle would pick us about at designated locations and drop us off right in front of Holiday World.
I am amazed at all of the new and constant improvements the resort keeps up with. They made $4 million in improvements and additions within the past two years. It is a very nice place to stay.
Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari
This great amusement park and water park is celebrating 70 years! See the website for what is “new” this season.
It is so reasonable and affordable for families. It is two great parks for the price of one. The best part is you get FREE Sunscreen, FREE Parking, FREE Inner Tubes and FREE Wi-Fi.
We loved the FREE soda. It was a great way to cool off from the hot day!
We had an absolute blast! The park is divided into themes. We spent a lot of our time in the 4th of July area. They had a large area for our kids. They could splash in the splash pad, climb on the playground ride a train and ride other kid rides. We loved the dog!
“Tippecanoes” and “Dasher’s Seahorses” were their favorite rides.
The food was delicious as well. It was easy to grab a bite to eat because you had so many choices all around you. The best part was the ice cream! Everywhere I looked it seemed that a place was selling ice cream.
We had Santa come say hi as we were about to order our lunch.
It was nice to have so many options for my three and two year old. They stayed busy both days and still they did not even experience all of it.
Splahin’ Safari had so many great areas for little kids. We could not take part in any of the big slides, but next time I visit I will be going on them!
I LOVED this area! The slides were perfect for the little ones. They went so slow that you could catch them before they hit the water. You could even slide down with them!
This area is perfect for kids. My kids were a little timid at first. Once they got used to it, they had a blast.
Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari is one of the cleanest and friendliest parks I have ever been to. Even though I did not get to ride any big roller coasters or water slides, it will be even more of a reason to come back and check it out.
This is a nice place to find about the town and its history. They have an indoor exhibit where you can walk around, look at artifacts, watch a video and read about the town’s history.
This is the 1880 Santa Claus Church. They even have some of the original furnishings.
The kids favorite! The Original Santa Claus Post Office. The kids wrote letters to Santa. The best thing is around Christmas time the kids will receive a letter back from Santa and Santa’s Elves, a group of volunteers.
The historic 1935 Santa Statue is a perfect photo opportunity!
Another cute and fun place to visit. The inside is just as cute as the outside.
The Pez dispenser wall was my son’s favorite. They had all of the popular characters from Disney plus many others. Of course my son picked out a Minion and a Minnie Mouse for his sister.
You could talk to an elf by logging onto an interactive computer in the computer lab.
You could also grab some stocking stuffers.
I didn’t get the chance to try it. We heard from some of the local people to try the Frozen Hot Chocolate. We were told you won’t regret. It will be on my list of things to do when I visit the next time.
The Santa Claus Christmas Store
I was in awe of this store. I collect Santas so it was right up my alley. They have more than just Santas. It is a very large store all filled with Christmas items. From angels to ornaments to collectibles plus much more. It was a great place to pick up a souvenir and a personalized ornament.
We loved the photo opportunities with the huge Santas everywhere.
Staying at Lake Rudolph Campground and visiting Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari is the perfect destination for a vacation this summer, especially if you’re living in the Midwest! Coming from St. Louis, it was less than a 3 hour drive which is perfect for a weekend getaway!
Make sure to check out all of the official websites to start planning your trip!
Pin it for later!
Disclosure: I received a complimentary stay and tickets but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Looks like a fun place to go! 🙂
I have never heard of Santa Claus, Indiana before. This looks like an amazing place. I wish we had something like this close to us. My family would love this!
I’ve never heard of this before! This would be fun to take my grandsons! So much to do there!
Oh my goodness! Where have I been. I’ve never heard of this place. I think my niece would have a ball here. Thanks for sharing.
Such a fun place!
ooh I’m in love. First I adore the little cottages so perfect, the post office, activities, and “critters” all around. So fun, I’d love to do this!
I have heard about holiday world before, I wish I lived close enough to visit it because it sounds awesome.