We finally made it to Santa's Village...and back

After we had to postpone our vacation to Santa's Village, my son had an idea. "Let's go there for my birthday," he said. Surely the rain would be over by July 8th. So, I requested the time off at work and we made motel reservations for three days. The middle day was my son's birthday. They were saying that the long string of rainy days was coming to an end. The days we were planning for our vacation were going to be clear. Every day we'd wake up and check the weather forecast first thing. Three days of good weather. The day before we left, they changed the weather forecast. Should they be allowed to do that? All of a sudden, it looked like rain. But it looked like only chances of rain. Well, I guess there is always a chance of rain. The day we left, it was just overcast and looked like it might clear. Of course, that was about 200 miles south of our destination. When we got there, it was raining, Hard. And they were saying, on the local news now, that the rain would continue into the next day. Evan's birthday. Should we stay or go and come back another time? The park has a policy that if you arrive after 3 PM (as we had), you get in the next day free. We decided to go in. On that cue, the skies opened up and nearly washed us out of the park. In between heavy rainfall, there were periods of light rainfall where we could run from one ride to the next. We were only able to do indoor rides (except for a couple of turns of the Log Flume where you get wet anyway). We weren't able to get in much fun but we kept looking forward to the next day which was supposed to be better. We got to our motel that night completely exhausted from the five hour car ride and from dashing around the park during lulls in the rain.

The next morning, we checked the weather report: rain all day! The day of clearing had been changed again by the forecasters to the next day. We decided that we'd probably get a rain check at the park and use that to wait until the clear day. We planned to see a movie and visit other attractions in the area after we went to the park and got our rain check. Well, we found out that the nice "Arrive after 3 PM - get the next day free" policy was only valid for the next day. You couldn't move it and you couldn't get a rain check fro that day. We were stuck. We either had to go in or waste the money we'd spent for that day in the park. We went in. We figured we could ride the outdoor rides during breaks in the rain and see the shows (two live song and dance shows and a 3-D movie) during the rainy periods.

Well, it turned out to be one of the better days we'd ever spent at the park. There was hardly anyone there (because of the weather) and Evan had many nice surprises during the day because it was his birthday. Many of the ride operators wished him a happy birthday. He got a nice ornament at Santa's house (where we had our Christmas card picture taken) and during one of the live shows, he was called up on stage after the show and the cast led everyone in singing Happy Birthday to him. It was funny, too, that there were so many people in the audience because we saw hardly anyone around the park that day. It seemed like everyone at the park had all gathered for that one show because of the rain keeping them from the other rides. We were all excited that the next day, with its better weather, was going to be even better.

The next day had perfect weather. It was cool and dry (for July) and we got there early. But there was a line waiting to get in. It had rained so long that people had held off going to the park until the weather was good. It wasn't too bad in the morning but as the day went on, the lines for rides grew longer and longer. We were spending more time in lines than on the rides. We ended up leaving early that day. It was an interesting lesson to learn. As the old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for. You may get it." The rainy day was the better day. Next year, we look for a rainy stretch of weather to visit Santa's Village.

By the way, you may wonder how we reconcile the fact that we are Christians but we go to a place built around the commercialism of Santa Claus. For one thing, our kids know that the commercial version of Santa Claus is make believe. They know their gifts come from Mom, Dad and their relatives and friends. Secondly, they know the story of the real Saint Nicolas who lived in what is now Turkey around the year 300 AD. And finally, Santa's Village acknowledges the true meaning of Christmas. There is a manger scene, a large cross and a small St. Nicholas Chapel right in the middle of all the rides and attractions.