Dutch Wonderland

Reviews 4

FR

Frank Garriel

This place was fantastic for my tall-for-their-age 3 & 5 year old children. For better or for worse, there are height restrictions on rides. My children are 41" and 44". This put them in the "green" and "yellow" height ranges. The cutoff for the more intense rides was right at the green/yellow height. This meant that on rides with a yellow height restriction (Flying Trapeze, Space Shuttle, Kingdom Coaster), my daughter (5) could go on, but my son (3) could not. We actually all made it onto Space Shuttle. I dont know if my son was just standing upright better or if the measuring bar was off by a fraction of an inch; but that set us up for a slight meltdown when he wasnt allowed on the Kingdom Coaster and his sister was. This probably wont be an issue for you - my kids are relatively tall and my son is a bit more adventurous than most 3-year-olds. The place could be improved if the "official" height measuring wrist band program were more prominent upon entry. When catering to kids in this age range, it would be best if it was just out in the open and well-staffed instead of having to go the guest services. We didnt get an official measurement because we only thought it necessary after failing to get on Kingdom Coaster... and there wasnt anything else we wanted to go on that the restriction factored in. The place seemed really well maintained, and was filled with families. We would choose this park over Great Adventure, Dorney, or Sesame Place... even over Hersheypark. We were at Hersheypark the day before, but the scale and layout of the place is difficult. We go without strollers (again, tall kids), so HP was just too vast between usable attractions for us. DW is perfect in scale. The admission price is a little high when you consider that Mom & Dad pay full price but dont really use the park except where required. $140 for a family of 4 is about $40 too steep for a small 8-hour park. Still, Id pay it again or get a multiple-visit option if we were a little closer. The real "crime" in the place is the lack of water fountains and the food pricing. The entire park had 2 water fountains, one of which was located in the water-park area and appeared to be permanently out of order - the sign wasnt hand-written and the dust/dirt on the fountains tells me they havent worked in a long time. Of course, we only figured this out after buying a $3 Pepsi. The souvenir cups are a relative bargain ($7 + $1 per refill). We wouldve bought one if we had realized earlier that there were nearly no water fountains. The food options were abysmal compared to Disneys Magic Kingdom. $12 for 3 mediocre chicken tenders, soggy fries, and a Pepsi is a lot. Gripes aside, we loved it. Well definitely go again next year when my son grows an inch or two... and well be sure to buy the souvenir extortion cup.

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ST

Stephanie Faith Grosser

We took our son, who was 1 year and 1 week old and werent sure if hed be too young for everything but we had a great time and cant wait to come back next summer (we drove up from dc). He loved : the train, the gondola, dukes lagoon (they had 3 tiny water slides he loved), the water castle, the story book shows (we went to two of them), and the car track (next to leaping frogs ). I was worried they would not let him on that last ride because he cant take 3 steps unassisted but when they asked if he walks, I told them he can if he holds my hand (which is true but they didnt test him ), and they let him on with us! He was a little small and insisted on standing while buckled so he could reach the steering wheel. We ran out of time but he would have also loved the monorail, the Bubba bear band, and the log boat. My husband and I took turns on the bumper cars without him. Things that really scared him and made him cry : the fountains at the water park, watching the space ship rock back and forth, he loved the diving show until they started jumping off the top of the castle and they he got scared for them and cried, the prehistoric path was awesome but some of the scary looking dinosaurs made him cry. The merry go round was going really fast so we were nervous to take him on. Some of the shows had very loud speakers so we left them because I was worried for his ears . We picked up lunch in Lancaster before we went so we could eat healthy. We went on a rainy Thursday and it was very empty at 10am and that was on a saver day. We drove past at 10:30 am the next Friday and couldnt benefit how packed all the kids were! I loved that it was only 76 degrees in august when we went and the rain was kinda fun. Loved it!!!

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IN

Inspector Gadget

Location: my wife and I expected the park to be in a more secluded in a nice piece of land but it’s actually off the main town intersection. We drove from Virginia (3hrs) a long drive and were immediately disappointed by the location. Parking: You have to pay $5 to $10 dollars, in addition to your ticket. Entrance and the Crowd: The line was not bad because we arrived after rush hour 5pm. The tickets are super expensive ($40) for this county fair park. Crowd: The crowd was mostly from rural areas, loud Yankees fans, and lost tourists like us who found themselves in a Weirdo county fair park somewhere in cornfield America. It was summer time so everybody was sweating their butts off (literally). The Rides: the whole time I was riding I was thinking about the maintenance record for the rides, especially the sky ride. The rides were built in the 1950s (seriously). The rides are mostly for kids under 8. Vicinity: they have an outlet mall few blocks away, we didnt visit but you can add it to your itinerary after you get bored at this county fair park. The Grounds: None of your ticket money its going to invest back on the park, at least I couldnt tell. Im sure everything its the same since the park opened to the public. Comments 1: The rides are mostly for kids under 8. If you visit, go during the weekday and plan other activities nearby cause this park it’s not going to cut it. The park would be fine at $20.00 per ticket during the weekdays and weekends regular price. Comments 2: If you have an option to go come to my state Virginia, then go to Williamsburg Busch Garden. There is a reason why Queen Elizabeth from UK visited Williamsburg VA.

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RI

Richard Legendre

If you have small children, you will love Dutch Wonderland and so will they. You have older kids, you should go elsewhere. Dutch Wonderland is for small children. Yes, they have a rollercoaster, but its mostly fairly small, maybe good as they are transitioning out of Dutch Wonderland. Otherwise, all the riders are for kids. The zip, carousel, lots of going around in circles rides, mostly staying on or close to the ground - all slow. So, this is perfect for your kids, they wont be scared of anything! They also have controlled track go-carts, bumper cars, a boat ride, animatronics dinosaurs, a train ride through the park, a monorail ride through the park and many other things. Done with rides, lots of places to sit and watch. They have a water show with high divers. They have two different outdoor theaters where they have different shows for kids like princess and knights. Of course lots of overpriced food options all over the place. Just as overpriced as every other amusement park. But the nice thing about Dutch Wonderland is that you can picnic in their parking lot. They let you leave and come back. You just cant bring anything inside. So that will save you some money. As with most amusement parks. Do dinner planning and you can save money. Buy your tickets online for a discount, get coupons at Chick-Fil-a, buy your tickets before summer. There are a lot of ways to save, but youll still be paying about $30-35 per person plus parking.

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