5 ghosts of DC’s Xmases past: “Awful” Christmas attraction closes after ONE DAY / Santa Claus’s House / 25 defunct Xmas themed parks and attractions / DC’s animated Xmas tree lot / You are sort of there: Lapland New Forest

“Awful” Christmas attraction closes after ONE DAY

 

It promised a ‘fully immersive’ Christmas experience, with reindeer, a festive market and, of course, Santa’s grotto. But visitors to Yorkshire’s Magical Winterland found it to be far from magical and barely wintry. Children were left in tears as they entered a desolate warehouse with cardboard boxes and random material strewn all over the ground. Magical Winterland only opened its doors on Wednesday, but was forced to pack up just 24 hours later due to its “appalling” quality.

 

 

‘The Yorkshire Magical Winterland, set up at the Great Yorkshire Showground, advertised the event as having “fantastic features” and offered visitors the chance to “focus on losing yourself in our Magical Winterland”. But the grim reality of the Christmas-themed event was that of rubbish-strewn hallways, poorly-constructed exhibitions and sombre-looking reindeer surrounded by a sprinkling of straw.

 

 

‘Hundreds of messages were posted on the Magical Winterland’s Facebook page after it opened. All complained about the price of admission – the top price for a child is £22.50 – and accused the management of misleading the public. Matt Freeman wrote: “I could have cobbled something together better than this in my own back garden for half the cost.”

‘”Something didn’t feel right,” wrote Beryl Mansfield. “Perhaps it was the thick white paint that rubbed off the festive polar bear fountain and all over our clothes. Or the rictus-like grins of the shivering elves in their cheap velour outfits. It was a spectacular disaster of smoking elves, sweary Santas, smelly mud, piles of rubbish and sacks of fake snow dumped on wooden pallets by the main entrance.”

Families were left stumped by many of the exhibitions in the winter walk, saying it was unclear what the scenes were supposed to represent.

 

 

‘Kat Manson, from Skipton, West Yorks, who booked to take her niece Evie to the event, said: “We’ve had a family ticket booked for a long time for this special event. The journey there was full of excitement and wonder, Evie was going meet Santa! We checked the website this morning to see what we were going to be doing but there was no mention of any closure. We were all excited. We arrived at a near empty car park and a lonely car park attendant ushered us into a car parking space without saying a word. We were met at the desk by two female staff who said sorry we are closed. They explained that our tickets were valid for the other days but so many people had complained that it was a waste of money that they were closed. How were we supposed to explain to a four year old girl that she couldn’t see Santa after all. She was devastated. She thinks Santa didn’t want to see her.”

Parents complained about the creepy-looked mannequins and statues of an ice queen and one which looked like an attempt at the Grinch.

 

 

‘Mother-of-one Suzie Smith, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, who brought her daughter Heidi, two, to the attraction, said: “I had a vision in my head of a really magical place for kids to come before Christmas but to be honest it’s just a bit depressing. The area is too big and they haven’t been able to fill it. It’s been advertised as a magical place to come and it just isn’t.”

‘There were multiple reports that the attraction’s multiple Father Christmases (five were spotted by some confused children) were alternately too gruff, too skinny or smelt of booze. One elf reportedly told a guest to ‘have a s*** Christmas’. The presents they gave out were cheap, plastic and unwrapped. And then there was the “snow”.

‘”Mummy, this isn’t snow. It’s strange,” said one child within earshot of this reporter. He was pointing at what looked like dirty papier-mache spread greyly across the mud outside the front entrance. “It looks like paper. I think it’s litter. It looks like litter. It’s stuck to my boot. Mummy, get it off!”

There was a three-hour wait to visit Santa, who was guarded by another pair of elves who were reportedly Incapable of answering basic questions about the event.

 

 

‘Mother-of-one Laura Bamforth, who is also 30-weeks pregnant, from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, said: “We spent a total of 20 minutes in the building and we were totally appalled with the entire event. The event itself was nothing more than a fairground. The rides was overpriced and the so-called Christmas market was a total of four stalls. When leaving the event feeling very let down we told the staff on reception who also was very rude and never tried to apologise. I would like a refund for all the money I have spent.”

‘One family from Solihull spent £85 on tickets for three adults and two toddlers. “It was even worse than I had read in the newspaper,” said the mother of the family Karen Brosius, 32. “The elves’ smiles were so fixed it was scary. It was as if they had never seen a child before — they didn’t have a clue.”

The festive nine hole golf course promised ‘twinkling Christmas lights, fantastic gifts to overcome and even Santa Claus himself’.

 

 

‘After nearly three hours — a good half of it spent waiting about and looking vainly in the stalls for something decent to buy — this reporter had had enough. As had a young boy near me. “Can we go home now?” he asked his father. “I thought there was going to be snow. But there isn’t — it’s just that strange grey stuff.” And when his father asked him what had been his favorite part of the Magical Winterland, perhaps Father Christmas, or the merry-go-round or the Fairy Queen, or even the two live reindeer? “Splashing in puddles in the car park,” he said.’ — collaged

It is with great regret that we have decided to close Yorkshire’s Magical Winterland at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate permanently from tonight. We worked very hard to create a family event and have received some positive feedback but also some adverse publicity. We plan to refund anyone who bought tickets in advance and can be contacted at [email protected]

 

*

 

 

Santa Claus’s House

 

Generally

‘In 1821, the book A New-year’s present, to the little ones from five to twelve was published in New York. It contained “Old Santeclaus”, an anonymous poem describing an old man on a reindeer sleigh, bringing presents to children.

‘Many of Santa Claus’s modern attributes are established in the 1823 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (better known today as “The Night Before Christmas”), such as riding in a sleigh that lands on the roof, entering through the chimney, and having a bag full of toys. St. Nick is described as being “chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf” with “a little round belly”, that “shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly”, in spite of which the “miniature sleigh” and “tiny reindeer” still indicate that he is physically diminutive.

‘As the years passed, Santa Claus evolved in popular culture into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus’s modern image was American cartoonist Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist who immortalized Santa Claus with an 1863 illustration for Harper’s Weekly in which Santa is shown dressed in an American flag, and has a puppet with the name “Jeff” written on it.

The story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been a Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper’s December, 1866 issue included the caption “Santa Claussville, N.P.” In 1869, a poem appeared in Harper’s titled “Santa Claus and His Works” by George P. Webster, which stated that Santa Claus’s home was “near the North Pole, in the ice and snow”. The tale had become well known by the 1870s.

‘The popular conception of Santa Claus’s home traditionally includes a residence and a workshop where he creates — often with the aid of elves or other supernatural beings — the gifts he delivers to good children at Christmas. Some stories and legends include a village, inhabited by his helpers, surrounding his home and shop.

‘By the end of the 20th century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa’s residence—now often portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives and/or managers.’ — collaged

 

 

Architecturally

‘There’s an old riddle that challenges children to draw a diagram of a house without lifting their pencil or repeating a line. The basic shape is composed of a square with diagonals running from corner to corner, topped with a triangular roof. In Germany, kids are taught to speak one syllable of the phrase, ‘Das ist das Haus des Nikolaus,’ for each line they draw. The game is known as ‘The House of Santa Claus.’ This simple line drawing represents some of the architectural imagery that forms the setting of the Santa Claus myth. His home, village and workshop, have transformed through the centuries in step with the evolution of the man himself.

‘Scandinavian influence on the St. Nicholas myth formed the basis of the Santa Claus story and would be the first point of reference for his architectural traditions. Now living at the North Pole, his house was believed to be a traditional earth hut of northern Lapland. These circular homes were constructed of curving pine rafters that formed a dome shape, supported with sod and covered with reindeer skins. A hearth was placed at the centre of the room, vented through a smoke hole at the top of the structure. Village shaman would traditionally enter through these holes, thought to be the origin of Santa’s ritual chimney descent. Children in Denmark and Greenland today believe that Santa Claus lives in one of these huts on the island of Uummannaq in western Greenland.

‘As the legend of St. Nicholas continued to evolve, his home became associated with traditional Scandinavian log structures that combined the artistic skill and woodworking techniques of Viking ship building. Known as stave construction, unpainted vertical pine logs were set within a post and beam frame that supported a high pitch, wood shingle, pagoda style roof. Gables, doorways and structural supports were decorated with ornate wood carvings similar to the prow of a Viking ship. This timber frame, alpine image has prevailed through the centuries as a common representation of Santa’s home in popular culture.

‘Popular associations with the architecture that surrounded Santa changed in the late 1800s into the traditional half-timber buildings common in northern Europe. This construction style uses large oak timbers to create a structural frame that is filled with light coloured brick and plaster. The contrasting dark wood columns and angled bracing form a distinctive pattern that is expressed on the building’s exterior. This construction method was widespread across northern Europe and has become the predominant architectural imagery related to Santa Claus, found in snow-globes, children’s books and on Christmas decorations.

‘The 20th Century did see periodic diversions from this traditional imagery. In England, the characterization of Santa as a “right jolly old elf” resulted in his home being represented at shopping malls and department stores as a grotto or magical cave, the mythical home of Scandinavian elves. Popular children’s holiday cartoons such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, portrayed Santa living in a Romanesque style, Bavarian castle with towers, gables and ornamental turrets.

‘Modern interpretations have generally returned to the image of European half-timber buildings, but with the introduction of Santa’s workshop, the architecture of the North Pole has taken on a grander scale. Modern Hollywood movies describe Santa’s home as a bustling European style, medieval village surrounding a monumental production and distribution facility, equipped with modern manufacturing technology, staffed by teams of tireless elves.

‘As the depiction of Santa Claus has evolved through the centuries, so, too, has the architecture that provides a context to his myth. Santa’s timeless image will likely remain consistent in the future, but his architecture will continue to evolve.’ — Brent Bellamy, Number Ten Architectural Group

 

 

_______
Interview

 

Do you have visitors at the North Pole?

Well it is a little difficult to give direction, because the North Pole is not stationary, the water above which is thick ice is constantly moving because of the ocean currents. If I were to give you directions on where we were by the time you got here we wouldn’t be here. If it were not for my reindeer’s keen sense of direction I might get lost too.

Do you live at your North Pole Village?

The North Pole is my permanent residence and the place I love the most. But, throughout the year I visit many cities and countries, where I stop and stay for a few days. Many of my favorite places to visit are a secret known only to Mrs. Claus and me.

What do you do when you’re not making toys?

Santa relaxes by walking in our forest just outside North Pole Village and listening to the voices of the wilderness. I also spend time preparing for next Christmas delivery by reading children’s letter. You know children write me all year long and I so do look forward to hearing from each of them. My favorite pastime is reading books and listening to music.

Do you understand animal language?

Why yes, I understand a little animal language. But actually the animals are very smart and they totally understand everything that I say. Have you found that you do not always understand one of your pets, but they understand things that you say or tell them. It’s really remarkable.

Are all the gifts made at Santa’s North Pole Village?

Not all of them. Some are made at home, and they are especially precious. You’ve surely heard of homemade jelly or mustard or hand knit wool socks. In some places there are little workshops that also help Santa by making gifts.

How many elves are there living at North Pole Village?

That’s something no one knows exactly. Elves are such fast little people, and they are rarely ever all in the same place at the same time. But when the sun sets in the North Pole, there are probably as many little elf toes under the blankets as there are stars in the night sky, if not more.

Do you have swimming trunks?

Indeed I do, and I use them regularly. I like to swim best in the summer but I am known to jump into the icy cold water and play with Polar Bears, but I always make sure the Elf lifeguards are on duty.

What does your house look like?

That’s a good question.

 

________________
65 educated guesses

*

 

25 defunct Xmas themed parks and attractions

_____________
Cidade Albanoel (Paraty, Brazil)
If you like your Christmas-themed amusements to have a little more edge, then this derelict Santa Claus theme park in Brazil is for you. The vast park, where construction began in 2000, was intended to be spread over 38 million square metres, but was never completed after the Brazilian politician who came up with the idea was killed in a car crash right outside its entrance. The site remains filled with gradually decaying Santa figurines, rusty reindeer rides and crumbling candy cane turrets, making it feel more eerie than festive.

 

_____________
A Winter Wonderland (Milton Keynes, UK)
Queues for miles, outrageous prices and a melting ice sculpture: it wouldn’t be Christmas without another tale of a disastrous “winter blunderland”. Families who tried to attend the Christmas Wonderland event in Milton Keynes were promised an “evening of enchantment and adventure”. Instead of which they were met with the bizarre spectacle of what appeared to be a man in a wheelchair on fire. Organisers took down their Facebook page after it was inundated with complaints, with some visitors saying they had queued for two hours to get in, only to see some melting ice sculptures and “just fairy lights hung over some trees”.

 

______________
Santa’s Land USA (Putney, Vermont)
You won’t find a brochure for Santa’s Land USA easily in Vermont. The official Vermont Attractions Map does not list it. It has no billboards. Even the publicity material for Santa’s Land USA’s home town, Putney, VT — which carries glowing descriptions of local businesses like Basketville and the Putney Food Co-op — fails to mention Santa’s Land USA. The entire attraction, which covers many acres of pine-shaded woods, appears to be run by five people: the kindly lady in the gift shop, the guy who sprints between the Sweet Shoppe and Candy Cane Cupboard, the train engineer, the kiddie ride attendant, and Santa. The first thing that catches our eye when we enter the park through the fairyland cottage gift shop is a huge blob of discolored white stuff lying near a little pond. What is it? Fake iceberg? A wad of funnel cake that fell out of Valhalla? The TV in the kid’s video theater in Santa’s Arcade shows nothing but electric snow. We walk up the hill to the quiet of Santa’s House, and can see red legs through the doorway. Santa sits, motionless. We assume he’s a stuffed dummy. Then a truck klaxon echoes through the woods — the over-the-top horn for the tiny Alpine Train — and Santa jerks to life. “Ho ho,” he says groggily. “You caught Santa napping.” The next words out of his mouth startle us even more than finding him asleep. “You look like prosperous gentlemen. Would you like to buy Santa’s Land?” Santa says that the park’s current owner wants to sell the place. The owner’s pumped a lot of money into its electric wiring and septic system — over $100,000 by Santa’s guess — but the right buyers have been as elusive as flying reindeer. The manager abruptly left a couple of weeks ago, and the place is currently run by the multi-tasking Sweet Shoppe guy. “The original owners — I forgot their name, I forget everybody’s name — built it. There used to be an airstrip here. For the war, you know. It’s not here any more.” Santa recalls that a family named Brewer purchased the park in 1970 and ran it for almost 30 years. “This place was Mr. Brewer’s pet. It did quite well for a few years, but then it sort of petered out. They lived up there, in the Igloo Pancake House,” Santa says, pointing into the woods. “Before it was the Igloo Pancake House. If you take the train, and get off at Pancake Junction, you’ll see it. It’s an igloo-type thing.” Note: Santa’s Land USA closed on Dec. 18, 2011.

 

_____________

 

______________
Dickens Victorian Village (Cambridge, Ohio)
Welcome to Cambridge, Ohio, a small town that, until last year, celebrated the holidays in a big way, from Dickensian street scenes to contemporary light shows. It all started eight years ago, when Bob Ley, who owned a men’s clothing store downtown, traveled to Oglebay Resort, the city park in Wheeling, W.Va. that stages a major holiday light festival every year. Why couldn’t Cambridge capture some of those thousands of drivers traveling along I-77 to Wheeling? So Ley and his wife, a retired English teacher, came up with an idea: Create street scenes, with full-size mannequins depicting life during Dickensian England, and place them throughout downtown. At the annual event’s height in 2013, visitors saw 160 statues – including a cast of characters from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” a group of ice skaters, a chimney sweep, money lenders (placed strategically in front of US Bank), a beggar, a bobby, a blacksmith, and a man in a wheelchair.

 

_____________
The Death Yard Christmas Haunted Attraction (Nashville, Tennessee)
“Instead of Christmas cheer, we are spreading some holiday fear,” said Carroll Moore, who in 2014 turned his Halloween season “Death Yard Haunted Attraction” in Hendersonville into a Yuletide horror show. For $10 and an unwrapped new toy, visitors passed through the 13,000-square-foot warehouse northeast of Nashville crammed with Yuletide horrors. For $5 more and a second toy, they could go to the paintball range just outside and take 15 shots at Zombie Santa and his friends. “You can unload on the undead,” Moore said. “Maybe Santa Claus wasn’t good to you last year.” Moore also offered chainsaw-wielding maniac elves, rabid and violent reindeer, and killer Mrs. Santa Clauses. The unwrapped new toys were intended to go to Last Minute Toy Store, which operated out of a Nashville church and gave parents who could not afford toys a chance to look for things their children might want, for no cost. All was well until Nita Haywood, who ran the Last Minute Toy Store at the 61st Avenue United Methodist Church, where she was director of youth and family ministries, visited the Horrific Haunted Holiday two days into its intended three week run. “I was horrified and nauseous,” she said. “The presence of the Devil was very, very strong.” After speaking to local police and the mayor, the attraction was immediately shut down. “New toys are new toys,” she said. “But not when they come from Hell.”

 

______________
Santa’s Village (Dundee, Illinois)
Santa’s Village in East Dundee, Illinois (1959-2006) was a theme park built in 1959 by H. Glenn Holland who also built the other two in San Bernardino County, California and Santa Cruz County, California. This park was the third and last that he built. The buildings were modeled on what an average child might imaging Santa’s Village would look like. When it opened, it was a very prominent theme park. Over the parks history more than 20 million people passed through the front gates. One addition to the park, opened in 1963, was the Polar Dome which provided an ice skating and hockey venue under a forced-air supported dome. On November 28, 1966, a strong wind caused the Polar Dome to collapse. The unsuccessful launch of the Typhoon roller coaster and decreased attention to the aesthetics of the park eventually prompted the corporation to sell. The sale did not proceed as smoothly as hoped, and with many setbacks and unmet deadlines the park had to shut its doors.

 

______________
Santa Present Park (Hokkaido, Japan)
This amusement park has to be included among the most poorly conceived, planned, built, and attended amusement parks in history. It was tied into a popular ski resort and featured numerous Christmas-themed attractions including four roller coasters. Like all theme parks in Japan, it was only open during the non-winter months. Unfortunately, the ski resort was only open during the winter season. Long story short, after having been built for $10,000,000, it never opened and was torn down after standing empty for eight months.

 

_______________
Magic Forest (Lake George, New York)
This was the weirdest place I’ve ever been. I came for Santa and for Lightning the diving horse, and stayed for all the other weeeeird ass shit. It was OLD OLD OLD, snack bar (wish I’d brought my own food) OLD OLD OLD. Sign on the gift shop read, closed but go to the snack shop if you want to buy something. During the Christmas Safari ride (don’t ask me), we noted three instances of racist portrayals. As we got on the ride, I almost knew it was coming. The first was a display with a person being boiled in a pot with dark-skinned mannequins all around holding spears. Ugh. The whole park was dirty, in definite disrepair, and some of the ride operators were creepy, rude and two seemed kinda drunk. Needless to say, it was magical! RIP

 

________________

 

______________
Sherborne Wharf’s Search for Santa (Birmingham, UK)
Until 2014, Sherborne Wharf near Brindleyplace used to run canal trips through Birmingham city centre on a quest to find Father Christmas. All participants were geared up with the latest “Santa-detecting technology” and shipped off aboard narrow boats in search of the Man in Red himself. Apparently finding him wasn’t very hard and, when he was found, he wasn’t very interesting.

 

______________
Santa’s Village (Scotts Valley, California)
In 1958, Santa’s Village was created in the wooded hills of the Santa Cruz mountains. This Christmas wonderland served thousands of park visitors each year with its holiday cheer! Residents of Santa’s Village included Santa and Mrs. Claus, their elves and gnomes, who operated the rides and sold tickets. There was a baby petting zoo filled with goats, sheep, bunnies, ducks, deer and a Mexican burro. Children could feed the animals green feed pelets that they purchased from dispensing machines. Four reindeer from Unalakleet, Alaska, pulled Santa’s sleigh. There was a bobsled ride, a whirling Christmas tree ride and a miniature Santa’s Express train ride. Other attractions included a giant Jack-in-the-Box, an Alice in Wonderland maze, Santa’s enormous boot, brightly painted cement mushrooms and a Queen of Hearts figure … all part of Fairytale Land. Mrs. Claus had her own kitchen, where hamburgers, hotdogs and steak sandwiches were served. An egg-shaped cottage and a shoehouse were open for children’s exploration and imaginations. In 1977, after the Santa’s Village Corporation had filed for bankruptcy, Billawalla bought the whole of Santa’s Village for $615,000, speculating that he could build a more attractive theme park there. The City of Scotts Valley rejected Billawalla’s plan to create a Knott’s Berry Farm-type complex, which would have included a hotel, a shopping center and rides. That year there were heavy rains during the park’s peak season of November and December, coupled with the political bureaucracy of the City of Scotts Valley … it proved to be the death nell for Santa’s Village.

 

_____________
Parlor Lucky (Tokyo, Japan)
Parlor Lucky was a karaoke bar in the Ginza section of Tokyo where patrons could only enter if they were wearing a Santa Claus costume. Costumes could be rented at the Santa Claus Everyday rental costume store next door.

 

_______________
Christmas Land (Marshall, Texas)
Seasonal attraction with year-round Santa statue, sometimes headless, now reduced to an entry sign.

 

_______________
Christmas Fantasy Village (Great Bend, Kansas)
Christmas Fantasy Village (1979 – 2000) was located on Highway 281 about 3 miles south of Great Bend. If you followed the lighted signs during the winter that started at 10th and Main, you were able to find it. You knew you were there when you saw the 50 foot tall lighted snowman! The Christmas Fantasy Village started as a couple’s celebration of Christmas, and turned into a local event.

 

_______________
Santa Land and Zoo (Cherokee, North Carolina)
I haven’t been able to find out the history of the park, but I suspect it was around for a while. Many of its kiddie rides dated back to the 1950s and a few of them came from the Allan Herschell factory. The Rudicoaster was exactly the same as the coaster in Santa’s Village in Ontario; a steel figure-8 configuration with a Rudolph themed car in the front. There was also the token train, a CP Huntington, that went around the entire park. Kids could visit with Santa in his house every day. He had a large sleigh they could sit in and tell him their secret wishes.

 

_____________
Elf School (Brierly Hill, UK)
For one strange Christmas season in 2013, kids from Brierly Hill and beyond were welcome to enroll in Elf School, going through what as billed as a complete elf makeover, learning an elf chant, and taking home their own elf hat. Finally, they got to meet Santa and visit his toy shop where they could choose a present to take home with them. The Elf School experiment was never repeated because many parents complained that, after the event, their children were acting strangely and, in some cases, refused to return to their human form to the point that the parents were driven to seek psychological counseling for their brainwashed children.

 

_______________
Santa Land (Santa Claus, Arizona)
Nina Talbot and her husband founded Santa Clause in 1937 with the hopes of turning the desolate wasteland into a place where families could settle and live the suburban dream. They hoped to attract investors with North Pole themed buildings and children’s attractions dubbed Santa Claus Land. Unfortunately for the Talbots, investors never came. Thought a diner in the quaint snowy desert oasis gained a few fans through the years—including Duncan Hines and actress Jane Russell—the Nina Talbot sold the land in 1949. By the 1970s, the town had started to fall into disrepair. Now, derelict wooden huts and barbed wire fences are clear signs that Santa Claus doesn’t live there anymore.

Alive

 

Dead

 

______________
Eastland Mall Christmas (Charlotte, North Carolina)
Eastland Mall was famous in North Carolina in the 1990s for its yearly elaborate Christmas makeover. Until everyone stopped going there. Or caring. In about the year 2000 when it closed and became an empty shell. There were plans to turn the giant building into a movie studio but they never panned out. So they tore it down.

 

______________
Santa’s Village (Lake Arrowhead, California)

 

_______________

 

_______________
Santa Claus Land (Santa Claus, Indiana)
Santa Claus Land opened August 3, 1946; the theme park included a toy shop, toy displays, a restaurant, themed children’s rides, and, of course, Santa. Koch’s son Bill soon became the head of Santa Claus Land. In 1960, Bill married “Santa’s daughter,” Patricia Yellig; he remained active in the family business until his death in 2001. Bill and Pat had five children; the eldest, Will, was the park’s president for more than 20 years until his unexpected death in 2010. Over the decades, Santa Claus Land flourished. Children from across the country came to sit on the real Santa’s knee and whisper their Christmas wishes. Guests included Ronald Reagan, who stopped by in 1955.

 

______________
Ruislip Winter Wonderland (Northolt, UK)
Parents have vented their fury after another winter wonderland festive fun fair has been cancelled just two days before it was due to open. Despite announcing the event more than a month ago, the Ruislip Winter Wonderland in north London, was cancelled yesterday with organisers citing a disagreement with landowners. Today, one day before the scheduled opening, the site earmarked for the funfair at India Gardens in Northolt appeared barren and undeveloped. A “star-studded” opening night featuring appearances from I’m A Celebrity contestant David Van Day, EastEnders actor Matt Lapinskas and Coronation Street star Adam Rickitt was due to take place tomorrow. Other celebrity scheduled guests included Blue singer Lee Ryan, Another Level singer Dane Bowers and boxer Joe Calzaghe. Since the statement was posted more than 200 angry parents have posted messages over their disappointment, with some saying they believed it might have been a hoax. Nicola Powis commented: “The idiot running it has showed unprofessionalism, petulance and idiocy in all of the responses to the comments. I don’t believe they ever had any intention of putting on the event. Idiots.”

 

______________
Minnie’s Christmas Party (Anaheim, California)
Minnie’s Christmas Party premiered at Disneyland on November 2, 2001, for the 2001 holiday season. But that was the end of its run. In fact, that was the end of having Christmas shows in the Fantasyland Theatre. Minnie’s Christmas Party was virtually nonexistent in scope. The set was simplistic and flimsy enough that vibrations from the passing monorail caused it to shake so violently that an earthquake was hastily written into its plot. The plot — humans visit Minnie Mouse on Christmas — was dispatched with in five seconds followed by 45 minutes of yelling, jumping up and down, and painful stretches of up to minutes with performers standing in stunned silence. The script seemed to be written for children under the age of 1 year old.

 

______________
The Christmas Factory (Athens, Greece)
If you are outside of the country of Greece, the Greek National Tourism Organization would like you to believe that The Christmas Factory, “the most fabulous factory of Christmas”, has returned to Technopolis – City of Athens in Gazi from November 28, 2015 to January 6, 2016. It is claimed this amazing theme park is installed in the centre of the city and – “with the help of elves, fairies and goblins – aims to spread the magic of Christmas to all visitors to Greece”. Holiday travelers to Athens are told of the games, sweets, ‘cheats’, songs, presents, awards awaiting them at the Santa’s House, the Toys Factory, the Digital Christmas, the Sweet Factory, the Ice Rink, the Carousel, the Train, the Wheel and the Slides “thanks to these fanciful heroes”. The interesting thing is that there is no advertising for The Christmas Factory inside of Greece. That is because there is no money in Greece to produce The Christmas Factory this year. Visitors lured to Athens by the florid advertising for The Christmas Factory which is widespread throughout Europe, paid for by God knows whom, will, upon reaching the site of The Christmas Factory, find instead a single mechanical man statue dressed in a Santa Claus costume that has seen better days standing on the sidewalk. His recorded and looped voice thanks whoever has found him for visiting Greece in its time of need. You will also find two members of the military stationed near the Santa Claus mechanical man who will confiscate your phone or camera if you try to take a picture.

*

 

 

DC’s Animated Xmas Tree Lot

*

 

 

You are sort of there: Lapland New Forest

 

‘Creating a winter wonderland really does take a lot of care and expertise. Artistic attention to detail is crucial to creating Santa’s frozen arctic world just five miles north of Bournemouth. For this reason we have bought in many specialists and showmen, including the multi award-winning Hollywood film and tv special fx’s experts who made the awesome winter scenes in films such as: Archangel, Gladiators, Vertical Limit, The Day After Tomorrow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Dr Who and more … With the Snow Business ice experts on board, we can assure you of an absolutely magical scene.

‘After your journey through the beautiful Tunnel of Light where you post your christmas wish to the North Pole Post Office, you will enter the incredibly beautiful ‘frozen’ world of Lapland village, with it’s snowy log cabins and fantastic ice rink that Santa brought along for everyone to play on …

‘Inside the real log cabins you will find helper elves busy with interesting Christmas preparations and other activities that you can either join in or learn all about: Toy making, Dolls House making, Rocking, Chair making, Gingerbread decorating, Face Painting, Sled dog running and adventure … & more … and then there’s the bustling Christmas Market with it’s stalls ranging from xmas paper to xmas trees, for the mums and dads to discover …

‘But do remember at some point during your 4-6 hour day to seek out Shamus the Elf, as only he can lead you to Father Christmas, who is waiting to give all the under 12’s their top quality personal present.

‘As our show is being staged for the first time our website can only begin to hint at the wonder of our winterland to be. Next year’s online presentation will be a total treat to view and we really do wish that we could show you just how incredibly spectacular Lapland New Forest will look at night.’ — Lapland New Forest

 

 

‘Lapland New Forest park claims to offer families a magical festive experience. According to the scores of disgruntled visitors streaming out of the gates, experience is one word for it. As tempers fray, it seems this little corner of Lapland, which opened on the Dorset-Hampshire border at the weekend, is going from mudbath to bloodbath.

‘The two brothers behind the business venture misled its visitors, many of whom had travelled long distances, it was said Victor and Henry Mears advertised the park with a website that depicted images of an ice rink and a bustling snow covered Christmas village. A flyer also claimed to offer the chance to see a polar bear – which turned out to be a model. Yhe ‘magical tunnel of light’ was merely fairy lights strung from trees and the ‘wonderful’ ice rink was broken. The advertised ‘delicious seasonal food’ at the Christmas market was discovered to be two stands offering pork and stuffing baguettes and German sausages. In court, Henry Mears said: “Whatever you do, you will find the public complain about something.”

‘One visitor, Dawn Saxby-Willis from Ringwood, said: “I was absolutely stunned at how poor we and our children were treated. I took my son to the toilet and he saw ‘Santa’ having a cigarette break at the side of a Portaloo. Needless to say, the two reindeer – one with a broken antler – were clearly not enjoying their experience. The majority of the huskies were chained up behind a fence whining, others were chained up outside some of the wooden sheds with no-one looking after them.

‘One security guard, who obligingly told visitors at the gate they were about to be ‘ripped off’, quit after being hit on the head by one who didn’t appreciate the advice. Adrian Wood, 49, was full of tales from the warzone. “Santa was punched by a furious father who had been waiting in line for four hours,” he said. “He had got to the front only to be told he couldn’t take a picture of his children and that they weren’t allowed to sit on Santa’s lap. The family were then told they would have to get in another queue to get their presents. That was the final straw.”‘ — collaged

 

 

‘Emma Craven and Daryl Yarwood left their jobs as Santa’s little helpers at a “Lapland” theme park in Dorset amid fears the stress would make them ill. And Emma said: “When I got there I was thinking ‘Oh my God, is this it?’ It was a huge muddy field with a few sheds popped in it and a few little Christmassy looking things. Angry people just kept shouting, ‘Is this it’? It was really doing my health in.”

‘Frustrated customers attacked three elves and a Father Christmas after forking out £30 a ticket to queue in a muddy field for Lapland New Forest. Dozens of workers at the attraction, which had a closed ice rink and a nativity scene nailed to a billboard, were pulled out for their safety by an employment agency. Trading standards had over 2,000 complaints. The attraction opened during the holiday season in 2008 and was labelled as a “glorified car-boot sale”.

‘Elf Emma quit the park after she was slapped in the face by an incensed mother. The 30-year-old, from Bournemouth, said it happened as she looked after a queue of punters at the grotty grotto. Emma said: “From the first morning I worked there it was just a barrage of abuse from the moment you got in until the moment you left. “People kept asking me, ‘Is this it’? and telling me what a rip-off it was and how we should be ashamed of ourselves.”

‘Pal Daryl left his grotto job after just four days — sickened at ordering parents to fork out £10 extra to have their kids photographed with Father Christmas. Daryl, 23, said: “From the first day we were all getting stressed out. There were parents screaming at me and children crying. It was really badly organized. I nearly got lynched. If I didn’t have the mental strength it could have made me ill. I’d definitely have quit if the agency hadn’t pulled us out. It’s not like it was big money. They offered us £5.90 an hour.”’ — collaged

 

 

‘Visitors who had paid up to £30 each for tickets to a “Christmas Wonderland” in the New Forest were turned away yesterday by a woman shrieking: “Santa’s dead.” This morning a convoy of lorries and horseboxes carrying reindeer, donkeys and huskies left the muddy site after contractors called in the police, claiming they had not been paid. More than 50,000 tickets to the attraction known as Lapland New Forest had been sold in advance. It is not known whether any of those who had paid up to £130 for a family ticket would get their money back.’ — collaged

 

 

‘Families have been left stunned, shocked and speechless after two brothers accused of conning people into visiting a Lapland-style theme park had their convictions overturned. Victor and Henry Mears, from Brighton, were jailed for 13 months in March this year and have both now served their sentences. At the original trial the brothers denied eight charges of misleading advertising but they were found guilty on all counts by the jury at Bristol Crown Court.

‘Lisa Perry, from Wyke Regis, and 12 members of her family went to the attraction which was based at Matcham’s Leisure Park. She said: “I’m stunned. I can’t believe how they can overturn the conviction on the strength of that. I don’t know what else to say, I’m speechless.” Mrs Perry said that her family had been disappointed with their experience and never got any compensation for the £300 they paid. She said: “You had to be there to see it. I have never been to anything as bad as that.”

‘Christine and Eddie Teague, from Dorchester, took their grandchildren to the attraction and said it was ‘nothing like’ what they were expecting.Mrs Teague said: “I think it’s a disgrace. I took my two grandchildren. We waited for hours to see Father Christmas.” She added: “It was nothing like Santa’s Grotto, nothing at all.”’ — collaged

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. I decided for whatever reason that your Xmas present would be the resurrection from the dead of five old Xmas posts from the past that got murdered by Google along with my former blog, and so there’s a gigantic post for you if you find yourself with nothing more fun to do on Xmas Eve or X-Day itself. Otherwise, I’ll just add that I seem to be coming down with some kind of illness, so if I seen fuzzy in the p.s., that’s why. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Cy Twombly wishes. Great, just in time to be a Xmas present: your ‘Silence’ review! I will savor it in just a short while. Everyone, Mr. Ehrenstein has focused his always masterful thoughts and writing abilities on Martin Scorsese’s new and 30-years in the planning film ‘Silence’, so go check it off your Xmas to-do list and enjoy the spoils. Here. ** Steevee, Hi. I really need to see ‘TONI ERDMANN’. Either it hasn’t opened here or I missed its run. Everyone, Here’s Steevee. Listen/read up: ‘Here’s my review of my favorite film of the year, TONI ERDMANN’ Curious to hear about your new film idea when the time is right. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. Oh, gosh, yeah, I think sharing one of those Bellmer/Zurn photos could easily have knocked you off Facebook. You’re a brave man. I hope if you’re doing anything related to Xmas it’s as festive as anything could be. ** Bill, Hi, B. I do know that Zurn is one of your inspirations, yes, and I was consciously hoping the post wouldn’t let you down. I assume that by the time you see this, you’ll be far away and hopefully happily so. Enjoy the beginnings! ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T. A massive sprawling essay … yum, obviously. Yes, I’m picking up the buche that I ended up selecting amongst those that were still on the market this afternoon. And this one is the winner. Have the loveliest Xmas! ** Marilyn Roxie, Hi, Marilyn! Very happy holidays to you! Obviously I’m very happy that Zurn’s work and the Bellmer/Zurn photographs are useful and inspiring for you. That’s the best! And thank you for investigating my music faves. Klara Lewis is wonderful, yeah. Have a great weekend! ** Misanthrope, Hi, George. It is an awfully good book. And, yes, exactly, about what Serdar wrote. I’m right there with you, man. I’ll look for your email, thank you. I’m sure you and your lot are going to do Xmas up prettier than heck, so enjoy all of the food and, I presume, the football or something, and everything else. ** Kyler, Hi, K. Suicide is both an incredibly difficult and immensely interesting thing for me, in massive part because of George. I personally am not suicidal at all, or not since I was a gloomy, confused teenager at least. I hope your Xmas goes very well. Are you in NYC or down with the folks or … ? ** Jeff Coleman, Hi, Jeff! It’s really nice to see you, man! Happy Xmas whatever that entails! Great thoughts and words re: and deriving off Zurn, my friend. I so appreciate them. Take care. ** B, Hi, man. Good, great that the salon went well. As ‘in the moment’ disappointing as a lower than hoped for turn-out can feel, that’s always the least important part, you know? You know. No, it’s going to be an extremely quiet Xmas. No plans at all other than taking bites from a Christmas buche at a certain, as yet undetermined moment of the day. Maybe a nice, long walk in what will be a uniquely deserted Paris. Enjoy whatever the vaunted day brings your way. ** Okay, Happy Xmas to each and every one one of you. See you when it’s over on Monday.