In an Instagram post today (October 22), the holiday park announced that it won't be open for the 2024 season after roughly 40 years of welcoming and entertaining South Floridians.
"Santa's Enchanted Forest will be closed for the 2024 season as we reflect on four magical decades of cherished memories and plans for the future," the theme park writes. "While we won't be welcoming visitors this year, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude to you for being an integral part of our journey."
With its familiar twinkling lights, nostalgic attractions, and cheesy Santa Claus photo ops, the seasonal event drew massive crowds on an annual basis.
But as previously reported by New Times, the theme park — which many South Floridians knew (and loved) for its catchy TV jingle advertising its previous home "at Tropical Park off Palmetto and Bird Road" — has faced challenges for several years.
After leaving its longtime home at Tropical Park in 2020 and following a brief move to Hialeah Park in 2021, Santa's Enchanted Forest relocated to a spot at the Medley–Doral border in 2022.
In October of that year, ahead of its opening date for the holiday season, the event was left in limbo thanks to a slew of code violations slapped on the site by Miami-Dade County. Event organizers were issued a cease-and-desist order by the Miami-Dade Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources.
According to county spokesperson Tere Florin, the organizers had failed to comply with 27 citations and a previous stop-work order issued for starting construction at the event site without the required permits.
Nevertheless, the show went on in 2022 and again at the Medley location in 2023.
Meanwhile, this year, an unrelated Christmas-themed park will be up and running in Miami: Christmas Wonderland, which bills itself as the next generation of holiday spectacle, is slated to open to the public on Thursday, November 14.
