

Skypark at Santa's Village (Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)

Skypark at Santa’s Village finally has an official opening date. Though the long-closed park has technically been operational for the last several days, they’ve finally received the go-ahead to open up to the public beginning Friday, December 2 at 10 a.m.

Santa’s Village opened in 1955, shortly before Disneyland. It went through a series of ups and downs before finally becoming abandoned in 1998. After surviving a wildfire in 2003, the park was bought by developers in 2014. They intend to eventually turn the entire 230-acre property—only 15 of which is Santa’s Village—into a year-round adventure park with camping, hiking, horseback riding, fishing, ziplines and other outdoor activities.

Tickets for Santa’s Village are available online now. In order to prevent overwhelming traffic on winding mountain roads, you must purchase your tickets online in advance. There will be no tickets available at the door. Tickets are pricier than those who grew up visiting the park will remember: $59 for adults, $49 for children ages 4 to 12, and free for children 3 and younger or 80 and over. Parking is free through the holiday season, according to the San Bernardino Sun. Tickets are available here.

Admission includes access to a variety of park activities, including a bouldering room and an ice skating rink, plus the festive cheer. Because the park has only been granted a temporary use permit, Santa’s Village will again close on April 1.

You can check out photos from our recent visit to the renovated park here. (Our favorite part was an eerie, fantastical spider cave that holds the golden key Santa needs to slip into homes without a chimney.)

Photos: Long-Abandoned Santa's Village Is Looking Festive For First Time In 18 Years

