I caught a Groupon deal for the "reimagined" Santa's Village in East Dundee. I had never been to the original, but I remember the commercials when I was a kid. We took our 3 year old on Saturday. We had a great time and I recommend this park for people with small children that might find Six Flags to be too much or overkill for them.
1.) Parking - Free. Enough said.
2.) Staff - These were some of the friendliest people I have ever encountered at a public place. They were all smiling and seemed happy to be there. The animal handlers were more than happy to let my son pet the snakes and lizards for as long as he wanted. They knew how to talk at his level and answered his questions about what the animals ate and where they lived. The ride operators were great. They let him stay on the rides as long as there was room.
3.) Rides - The rides are 95% kiddie rides. Some are rescues from Kiddieland and other parks. The only big rides they have are the Tilt-a-Whirl and one of those swinging boats, which is currently closed for repairs. My son loved the fire engine ride. He is convinced he actually put out the fire that is part of the ride.
Most of the original rides are gone, including the snowman tea cups and the Christmas tree ride.
4.) Crowd - While it was busy, it wasn't as crowded as the park would probably like. We never had to wait to get on the rides and most of the time my son re-rode multiple times. He rode the balloon ride 5 times in a row before we got off.
5.) Food - We didn't eat there, but the food seemed reasonably priced. A full meal combo (including drink) was about $8 to $9.
Like I said, this park is geared to small children. I wouldn't take anyone over the age of 9 unless they really enjoy animals and smaller rides. The animals are mostly snakes, turtles and farm animals. They have a petting zoo. The goats did get a bit aggressive when trying to feed them.
The water park is still closed and looks abandoned. A large portion of the park has been made into a very cool looking indoor/outdoor paintball field. I'm hoping this park is successful. I looked at a YouTube video at the condition of the park in 2005. The new owners have really put a lot of work into cleaning the park up and making it nice again.