I don't recall my parents ever encouraging a belief in Santa. I think I still picked it up from the general culture, but not very strongly- Christmas was "here's $100, pick out a gift for yourself" and so there wasn't really the mystery that accompanies it normally. If anything, I think I thought "Santa" was the codeword for the commercial part of Christmas rather than an actual entity.

Regardless of the pros and cons of the Santa deception, that sounds to me like an impoverished way to experience the occasion. Even if you don't end up enjoying everything you received very much, a lot of the fun comes from the expectation of being pleasantly surprised.