EUREKA, Mo. – It’s not even Halloween yet, but it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Jellystone Park in Eureka.
The venue is already being transformed into Santa’s Magical Kingdom. Crews have been hard at work for the past nine days, beginning the transformation right after Jellystone Park closed for the season.
“That Monday, we start setting up Christmas lights and we’ve got about six, seven weeks. So we’re almost a month out, and we’re getting there,” said Becky Lowry, the Operations Manager at Santa’s Magical Kingdom. “We’ll work up until the final minute we open.”
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Crews have spent the last several days working straight through gusty winds.
“Yesterday, we did have a lot of wind. But all that showed us was how strong or not strong things are. So what needs more stability. Actually what we put up so far was still standing, so we’re good on that front,” she said.
On a drive through Santa’s Magical Kingdom you’ll see approximately 4 million lights and some new additions this year.
“We’ve added some baby dinosaurs to our already big dinosaurs that we’ve got. We’ve also updated our fountain. That’s a popular item, so we’ve updated it with new lights. So that’ll be fun to see. And we’ve just changed some stuff up here and there around the park, so I think it’ll be really great for everybody,” Lowry said.
Everyone at Jellystone Park is excited for another year of holiday magic.
“We’re so excited. We love the change every year from camping and then we hit the ground running from October 2nd, and we start Christmas, so it’s a little weird. We start Christmas before Halloween, but it works out for us. We’re excited for another year and to see everybody’s smiling faces just throughout the kingdom,” she said.
Santa’s Magical Kingdom opens Friday, November 18th and runs approximately 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. each night. The cost is $30 per vehicle, cash only. For more information, click here.