When Holiday World first opened its gates on August 3, 1946, the park made history as one of America's oldest operating theme parks dedicated solely to spreading the holiday spirit.
Back when it was founded by Louis J. Koch, it was known as Santa Claus Land and every corner of the park had a festive Christmas theme. In 1984, however, the Koch family (who still owns the park to this day) realized that one holiday may be a bit limiting as they continued to expand and the park was renamed Holiday World.
"There's a wide world of Christmas, but we felt like it was getting to be a little limiting," Leah Koch, a fourth-generation descendant of the park's founder and its director of communications, said. "I'm very grateful that they did that back then because now we get to play with things like Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July and we have the freedom to add completely different sections and feelings to each section, too."
With areas of the park now devoted to Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Halloween, and Christmas, Holiday World is still making history today, frequently winning awards for safety, cleanliness, and fun.
I visited the family-friendly park in mid-June with my husband and oldest son, on the day of Holiday World's grand reopening after being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Riding and eating our way through every holiday in just one day, it was easy to see why it has such a long list of accolades.
Editor's note: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) does not currently recommend nonessential travel within the US and internationally. If you do choose to travel, it's best to check each state's health and travel advisories and the CDC's travel recommendations for each country.