New Hampshire’s family friendly theme parks

A few weeks ago my entire family and I went on a fun-filled vacation to New Hampshire to visit Story Land and Santa’s Village. My parents wanted to treat their youngest grandkids to this special vacation, so my husband, two children, two sisters and their families joined them in the beautiful white mountains of New Hampshire for four days of theme-parked fun. We had seven adults and nine children under the age of 10 in our party, and made quite a scene at the restaurants asking for a table for 16!

As so many New Englanders can attest, Story Land and Santa’s Village are rites of passages for any small children. They go back at least 50 years and have a special charm and fantasy to them, letting you “meet” your favorite storybook characters and run around a winter wonderland any time of year. I went as a kid, and was so excited to take my two small children there as well!

Story Land

Story Land, located in Glen, NH, features over 20 rides, all with fun and whimsical themes such as Alice’s Tea Cups, Cinderella’s Coach and Dr Geyser’s Raft Ride. All rides are generally designed for parents to go on with their young kids, so it was nice that we could experience so much with our three-year old daughter.

In addition to the rides, they have a special “Storybook Character” section where you can walk into the Old Woman’s Shoe, sit on the wall next to Humpty Dumpty and ride in a pumpkin coach to meet Cinderella at her castle. (My daughter’s favorite!) They also have a “Little Dreamers Nursery Rhyme Playground” for the smallest of visitors. This was my one-year-old’s favorite part, because he was able to safely wander around and explore fun things like a small wooden bridge and giant doors that open and shut (but would never slam his fingers!)

Santa’s Village

Santa’s Village, located about 40 miles north of Story Land, is equally as exciting as Story Land, but in it’s own unique way. We spent one and a half days at Story Land, and then spent a full day at Santa’s Village. We were slightly worried the kids would find this too redundant, but we were happily wrong!

Of course, the whole theme is based around Christmastime, with elf statues hidden in fun places and holiday music playing throughout the park. Santa is there for a meet-and-greet, but you also have all the good old fashioned park rides to enjoy like bumper cars and a Ferris wheel. These rides were slightly more “advanced” than the ones at Story Land and there were a few that my three-year-old couldn’t experience because of the height requirement.

Luckily we found many other fun rides she could enjoy, specifically the “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree Swings” and “Ho Ho H20” water-park. Our favorite part was the “Reindeer Rendezvous,” featuring over 10 reindeers in their stables, all eager and excited to be pet and fed. We all felt like kids getting to meet “real” reindeers like that!

Great Combo Trip

Many of my friends in the Boston area have been to Story Land, but never to Santa’s Village, as it’s just that much farther north. However, we planned accordingly and stayed at an awesome resort close to Story Land. So it was only a one-hour drive up to Santa’s Village from there.

Speaking of resorts, we loved the Attitash Mountain Resort as each room was a “suite” with it’s own kitchen and living room area, so we were able to spread out and eat some meals in. Plus, it’s located across the street from the Attitash Resort,  featuring lots of fun attractions all year-round, just in case you couldn’t find enough to do at Story Land and Santa’s Village!

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