Have Son, Will Travel: Dutch Wonderland

Summer Bucket list weekend ended back where it started, in Lancaster County. It almost didn't end this way, we had woken up Monday morning, and the plans were to head to Little Buffalo to go swimming but at the last minute, I decided we would head to Dutch Wonderland instead. Javon had been asking to go to Dutch Wonderland for a few weeks and I knew he would be beyond excited!

We arrived at Dutch Wonderland around 10:30, a half hour after opening and the parking lot was already on the verge of being full. I hate crowds, Javon is a line snob because he's spoiled by the ability to pick and choose his way around HersheyPark based on line length, and we have our season passes to thank for that. I cringed as pulled into a parking spot, knowing there was no turning back now! As we approached the castle to have our bags checked outside I noticed there was a long line for even that. But the line went quickly and in no time we were through the castle and at the ticket gates. Dutch Wonderland is one of the cheapest theme park around, due to it's smaller size and less intense ride selection. As HersheyPark pass holders we receive 10$ off the Royalty admission price, but normal coupons can be located online.

I'm going to throw a little story in here about why I think I enjoy Dutch Wonderland so much. My Mom has some weird complex about Dutch Wonderland. Back when I was a child my mom did a lot of things with me, not as many as we now do with Javon, but she still kept me on my toes. One place she refused to ever take me was Dutch Wonderland. We would pass it every year on our way to the beach, or anytime we went down to Lancaster. I would always see that castle, and I always wanted to go! What little girl doesn't want to walk through a big castle? She would always tell me "Dutch Wonderland is junky" "HersheyPark is so much cleaner" "You won't like it, it's not very nice!" To be honest, I don't even know if she was even there to form those conclusions, but I will give her a benefit of the doubt, as that was the Pre-HersheyPark ownership days. HersheyPark bought Dutch Wonderland in 2001. They cleaned the park up and added newer rides. In 2010 Hershey sold the park to Palace Entertainment and they are doing an awesome job as well. Fast forward to the Javon-Era and I think she has visited with us once. If I remember correctly, it was during Halloween time. Everytime I tell her I am taking him to Dutch Wonderland now, she still turns up her nose and says its junky. I don't think so, neither does Javon. So Dutch Wonderland is like our spot, where just the two of us go together, and we always have an amazing time!

So, once we entered the park we went straight to Duke's Lagoon. This is Dutch Wonderland's water play area. I can't really call it a water park because there is no pool, but there is 3 areas of water play plus 2 big water slides. Duke's Lagoon had a pleasant crowd level this day and I easily found tons of empty chairs surrounding the biggest structure that had 3 small slides on it. Javon took off and he had a blast running from slide to slide and getting soaked in the process! He played for about an hour before he was ready to go, so we packed up and headed to the big slides for one ride before we changed and headed back to the dry rides.

Once we hit the regular rides, I quickly realized that it was going to be a long day. Lines were long, especially for some of our favorites. Slowly we wound our way around to the back of the park as Javon rode any rides he found with a line on the shorter side, until it was time to eat lunch. Normally we eat at the Potato Patch which offers delicious French fries among other things. Due to the rising heat, we decided on the Millstream Eatery this trip. It was after 1 so I figured the traditional lunch crowd would be done by now, boy was I wrong. Instant headache as we entered the building. Not a table to be found, kids running everywhere and the noise level in the place was insane! We went for it anyways and grabbed a meal to share at the counter, paid and then hung against the wall for a few moments before we could snag a table from a fleeing family. We ate quickly and could not get back outside fast enough! This would be our bad experience of the day. We will stick to the Potato Patch for future visits.

After lunch, we made our way over to Exploration Island, which is new for 2014! I didn't expect much from this area except a few dinosaur statues, and for it to be the new home of the turnpike ride. I must say I left quite impressed by this addition! 2 rides grace this "island" The Turnpike and Gondola Cruise, both of which had enormous lines! The Turnpike is Javon's favorite ride but there was no way we had an hour or more to wait and Javon was ok with that as long as I promised him a return visit during Happy Hauntings. We normally visit anyways, so it was a promise I could handle. We did get to experience the other 2 attractions on Exploration Island, Dino Dig and Prehistoric Path. Dino Dig is 3 huge sandboxes with where your little one's can dig for fossils! Prehistoric Path was my favorite and what impressed me. When I saw Dutch Wonderland was putting a Dinosaur area in I pictured dinosaur statues, maybe some Jurassic park type music and a few sound effects. Instead we found real looking, sounding and moving dinosaurs! No, they are not walking around this island but the arms and heads moved on these things in such a realistic way it was so neat to see! Even though we had to skip the rides, seeing the dinosaurs made up for it!

We ended our day by doing laps around the park. Javon went from area to area, riding and re-riding his favorites He even was able to ride the Kingdom Coaster for the first time! That was one of the rides with the shortest lines surprisingly and we rode it twice, including in the front seat! Dutch Wonderland truly is A Kingdom for Kids! Your little ones will have the time of their life at this park designed just for them and the memories will be priceless!