Our Visit to Dutch Wonderland

Earlier this summer, I posted coupon/savings information for visits to Dutch Wonderland.  And, in that same post, I committed to taking my kids to Dutch Wonderland this summer.  We did that very thing on August 17th . . .

Gracie had a little friend spend the night with us on Thursday, and we all woke up bright and early Friday morning so that we could head to Lancaster for breakfast at Dutch Wonderland.  Recently, Dutch Wonderland has added a character breakfast to their line-up of fun.  Being die-hard Disney (and character meal) fans, we were anxious to see how Dutch Wonderland's character meal would compare.

Breakfast consisted of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage links, bagels, fruit, cereal, milk, juice and coffee.  One thing that I noticed (that I've never seen happen at Disney) was that the food containers were often empty - it seemed like they were having a hard time keeping them full (and there really weren't that many people there).  The food was kept in large, domed containers.  While they were nice and visually attractive, they didn't serve to keep the food warm.  The kids, however, got their fill! 

During breakfast, the characters make their rounds, stopping at the tables to interact with the children.  We met Merlin first and I was impressed with how friendly and interactive he was.  He remembered the kids' names and called them by name, which I thought was a nice added touch.  While my kids acted like they were embarrassed to get their pictures taken with the characters, they sure look happy on the pictures, don't they?! 

After breakfast, we set out to find some rides! 

Someone had mentioned to me that Gracie (12) might be bored with the ride variety at Dutch Wonderland.  We didn't find that to be the case at all.  While it's definitely more of a park for kids - not teens - I think any child aged 12 and under would have fun here.

Ian (6) is fascinated with the monorail at Walt Disney World, so he was thrilled to see that Dutch Wonderland had a monorail as well.  We stood in quite a long (hot) line to ride.  Problem is, the monorail window are really high (as you can see on this picture (Gracie is over 5 ft. tall now).  The littler kids could see NOTHING from inside the monorail.  I have to admit that, while they didn't complain, I found that very disappointing!

All in all, we really had a great time at Dutch Wonderland and I wouldn't hesitate to go back or to recommend the park to friends.  Not a thrill ride park (like Hershey) it's definitely more calm and mild; but there's plenty of fun to be had.  All the paths are macadam and smooth.  There are lots of trees, so you can duck under them for some shade, as needed.  One thing I would like to point out is that there really aren't enough benches throughout the park.  We would put the kids on a ride and have to stand because there was maybe only one bench available in that area. 

On a side note, if you're reading this and you sit on a bench in an amusement park, sit off to one side, please.  And if the park is busy, don't take up room on the benches with your backpacks - they can sit on the ground in front of you.  Seriously, people!  Let's try to offer some courtesy to our fellow park guests! 

What was MY favorite thing at Dutch Wonderland?  Let me show you . . .

Now that I know that I can get a Dole Whip fix at Dutch Wonderland, I'll be a lot more likely to visit.  Actually, I wish the Dole Whip stand was located right at the park entrance so I could stop for one every time I head to Lancaster!  Ashley and I both enjoyed Dole Whip Floats right before leaving the park for the day - and it was the perfect ending to our park experience!

Our Visit to Idlewild Park

A few weeks ago, I posted information about Idlewild Park & Soak Zone and told you how you can get $7 off the regular admission price. Idlewild Park is located in western Pennsylvania, on the outskirts of a neat town called Ligonier.  My family and I had never been there – we’d actually never even heard of that park – but we thought we’d plan a visit while my oldest daughter’s friend was visiting us from out of state. 

So, on July 24th, we set out on a “3 hour tour” (road trip) to check it out . . .

The park entrance takes you back this “winding dirt road” and you feel like you have to be entering someplace secluded and special.  I was impressed with the payment process – you drive through gates (much like getting on the  turnpike) and pay your fee at the gate.  Then, you simply go find a parking space and head off on your adventure in the parks.  Very simple and streamlined process – I wish more parks would use this method.  (Trust me when I say we’ve stood in some pretty long lines to get park tickets!)

There was plenty of parking and we had no trouble finding a spot close to the entrance.  The older girls set off on their own, while Brian, Gracie, Ian and I decided to explore the Storybook Forest. This was probably our first mistake. 

This section of the park is based on nursery rhymes.  You enter through the giant storybook (in the above picture, you see my kids standing at the entrance). 

Our fascination with all-things Disney was pretty obvious here because, well . . . I guess I’ve been remiss in telling my kids the traditional nursery rhymes.  Ian wasn’t familiar with the stories, and Gracie (12) was bored.  We wrapped our way through most of it (it’s a bit of a maze and there isn’t any shortcuts). 

This part of the park seems very old.  The paths are dirt and, because it had recently rained, dirt and small stones filled our shoes.  Gracie was constantly asking us to hurry out of there!  On a positive note, Ian seemed to enjoy it.

We were there during Christmas in July, so Ian got to visit Santa.  Embarrassingly enough, he told him that he’d like “money for Christmas”.  Oh well.

There was a tent set up with Christmas trees decorated in various themes.  You could vote on your tree of choice.  Our retro-loving girl chose the peace-themed one, while I liked the Charlie Brown tree.

From there, we went to the Jumpin’ Jungle section of the park.  This section contained lots of opportunities for busy kids to climb, jump, etc.  It was actually a perfect place for our active little boy! 

Both Gracie and Ian decided to attempt climbing this rope thing:

Next on our agenda was to head to the main park, because I knew that Gracie was ready for some real rides.  With the exception of a pretty wimpy water flume ride, the first thing we came to was the Howler.  We all hopped on and actually really enjoyed this ride.  It was very warm that day and the motion of the ride, combined with the breeze, was very refreshing.

Next, the kids rode the Spider.  We met up with Ashley and her friend Sam who had scoured most of the park and come away disappointed.  It seems that Idlewild is more of a “kiddie park” – there aren’t too many thrill rides for older kids/teens.  And the one ride that they were interested in – the Wild Mouse – was closed the day of our visit.  I told them to try to make the most of it and sent Gracie off with them to explore the park some more. 

Meanwhile, Brian and I took Ian to get in the very long line to meet some of the Marvel Superheroes.  Ian was thrilled to meet Spiderman and Hulk.  And I was impressed with the great character interaction.  Since we are so used to the characters at Disney, I must say I didn’t have very high expectations for the character meet & greets at a smaller park like Idlewild.  But the characters spent time interacting with the kids and really paying attention to them.  It made the long wait in line seem not quite so bad!

We met back up with the girls after Ian and I took a spin on the merry-go-round.  We got a few more rides in – the Flying Aces and the Caterpillar – before the storm came.

Fortunately, we found a bit of an overhanging roof to stand under – so we didn’t get TOO wet. 

According the Idlewild website, I knew that – in addition to the Superheroes – Radio Disney would also be at the park on the afternoon of the 24th.  After the rain, we ventured back out into the park and found them:

It was fun to see that “little touch of Disney” right there in PA!  They were giving out Spiderman comic books and posters (so Ian was thrilled).  They were also taking song requests, so the girls had fun picking which songs they wanted to hear. 

I knew Ian wanted to go back and meet some more characters before leaving the park, but wanted the girls to have some fun too.  So, while they went and rode a few more rides, we went and stood in the line.

We ended up leaving the park much earlier than we had expected – things were wet and the kids were all tired, so we missed several sections of the park that I wanted to see (they have a whole section of the park devoted to Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, among other things).

However, I must say that it was worth the 3-hour trip just for Ian to meet the Super Heroes!  He loved it and the characters were just great!

While this probably isn’t a park that we’ll visit often – because of the distance – I’d definitely recommend it to people who live closer and who have younger kids.  If you’re not into the nursery rhymes, skip the Storybook Forest and head straight to the more carnival-like atmosphere of the main park. 

Field Trip Saturday

As was previously posted on my blog, we didn’t get to go away for the weekend as originally planned.  Staying home, though, did have its positive elements, as we had some local excitement here yesterday morning (and without it I wouldn’t have been inspired to write this poem).  Anyway, since we stayed home in PA for the weekend, we decided to make the most of it and go on a road trip yesterday.  It was actually my parents’ idea; so we all loaded up in the  van and set out . . .

Our first stop was in the quaint town of Wellsboro, PA. We stopped at a grocery store for some picnic food.  I wish I would have had all day just to spend browsing the shops in this neat town.  We’ll have to go back sometime.  I was impressed with their streetlights – they’re gas!

And they were all decorated so nicely for fall.

From there, we went to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.  I’ve lived in PA all my life, and I honestly don’t believe I’ve ever seen it.  My parents find that extremely hard to believe, but I usually have a pretty good memory about our trips (think: Disney!)  Anyway, talk about breathtaking!

After the Grand Canyon, my parents wanted to take us to Elk County.  On the way, we stopped to see the Austin Dam.

  

Our next stop was Benezette, PA to see the Elk.  Apparently, many years ago, elk were brought into the area. They’ve since multiplied and they are EVERYWHERE – literally right in peoples’ yards, etc.  Apparently, though, we picked the day to visit that EVERYONE ELSE in a 5-state area chose as well.  The town was PACKED with people.  It was getting dark, so my pictures didn’t turn out too great; but at least you can see that we saw some elk.

 

Here are my favorite pictures (my “treasures”) from our day away:

It’s been a busy week

This past week has been a long and busy week.  Brian and my dad left last Monday to go to Knoxville, Iowa for the week.  This has become a yearly tradition with the two of them.  While they’re  gone, we usually get our school year off to a good start with several field trips.  Plus, we had a few other things to add to our schedule this week – making it quite full . . .

Monday afternoon, the kids and I headed to Hershey.  We visited The Hershey Story Museum for the first time.  It was nice, but not something I’d probably go to over and over again like we do the Chocolate World (of course, I might if it were FREE).

We enjoyed learning more about the life of Milton Hershey.  I think that, if Ashley hadn’t already decided to do her senior project on Walt Disney, she might have decided to learn more about Mr. Hershey.  He did a lot of good not only for the community, but especially for underprivileged children. 

Afterwards, we headed to Chocolate World.  We were pleased to run into an old neighbor there (one that we hadn’t seen for many years) and we also ran into this guy:

On our way home (after a quick run through the Disney Outlet), we saw the Goodyear Blimp:

 

On Tuesday, we had tickets to see The Wizard of Oz at Dutch Apple Dinner Theater.  I didn’t get any pictures but the show was excellently done – one of the best we’ve seen there. 

Ashley went to work on Wednesday.  Gracie’s violin ensemble group performed in 2 local nursing homes  that afternoon, followed by treats at Dairy Queen.  (Those of you who are Facebook friends can see a video of one of their numbers on my FB wall.)

Wednesday evening, Ian had his very first soccer practice.  Mom and I took lawn chairs and sat and watched.  We laughed so hard that the tears were running.  Ian loved it and smiled the ENTIRE time.  I think it’ll be a fun season for all of us.

I was impressed with his coach who sat them all down after practice and said “did everyone have a good time?”

Thursday afternoon, we went swimming at my aunt’s pool.  It was a perfect day – not too hot and not too cold, and the water was wonderful.  Very refreshing!

My mom kept Ian and 2 of my nephews overnight on Thursday night.  Friday morning, we took the boys to Lake Tobias for the safari ride.  We took a picnic lunch too.

Yesterday, we just stayed home and relaxed – did some laundry, took some naps, made homemade pizza for supper, and watched Hardy Boys dvd’s. 

Long week – but good week – and we’re ready for Brian to be home!