Since Dutch Wonderland opened it's gates in 1963, they have been known to delight families visiting Lancaster County. While many new rides have been added and the park has undergone numerous expansions, the family fun atmosphere has only grown too. I remember visiting Dutch Wonderland as a child myself and enjoy being able to bring my kids there to make new memories with them. There's a lot to love about this Kingdom for Kids and I have a few tips to make to your day truly Dutch Wonder-ful!
As a Royal Ambassador, my family and I received complimentary admission to Dutch Wonderland in exchange for sharing our experiences with you. As always, thoughts and opinions are true to our experiences!
Arrive at Park Opening - We pulled into the parking lot at 9:40 for a 10:00 opening. By the time the park officially opened we had cleared security, entered the gates, and my family was in in line for our first ride - the Wonderland Special - a train ride around the park. Coming early to Dutch Wonderland offers a few great perks. First, we were there to open the park with a special announcement from Princess Brooke as we joined her countdown to begin the day. Second, we beat the crowds to some of the most popular rides. While lines weren't a big issue throughout the day, we certainly experienced faster lines and lower crowds within the first 2 hours. For example, we rode Merlin's Mayhem 3 times in a row - walking right back on each time! And rode the Kingdom Coaster twice with the same experience. Lastly, it allows you to beat the heat. We took a park strategy of riding rides until about 1, then breaking for lunch and a visit to Duke's Lagoon in the heat of the day. We left Duke's Lagoon around 3:30 and went back to the rides for a few hours before departing. As the summer weather only gets warmer, this will certainly make your day more enjoyable.
Take Time to Visit Duke's Lagoon - While this wasn't my visit to Dutch Wonderland, this was my first visit to Duke's Lagoon and all I have to say is WOW! Dutch Wonderland took their concept of creating a Kingdom for Kids and expanded it beautifully to this water play area. Without an actual pool, Duke's Lagoon is a really a giant splash pad with play features, water slides, geysers, fountains, and, yes, dumping buckets. The beauty of this play area is that it is entirely safe for little ones! The concrete becomes a soft pad where the water features are located so little feet don't get burned. And here's the great part grown-ups - you can totally decide whether or not you want to get wet. I spent about the first hour in my street clothes and was totally able to keep track of my 4 year old and 7 year old and their friend without getting anything wet but my feet. Now, because I'm a big kid at heart, I couldn't sit on the sidelines long and I joined in the fun in my bathing suit as well. We took our 7 year old on Pipleline Plunge as well, which is a large water slide. Even on this though you don't get soaked. The water slide is in a raft and you don't end in a large pool, but rather in a chute with just a little water when you come out - again making this not scary and totally safe for little riders - despite the fact that it is a SERIOUS slide from the size perspective. There are lockers and changing areas in Duke's Lagoon. It's important to note that lockers are cash only - no cards accepted - especially because I'm usually a cashless person. My husband actually commented too on how much he appreciated the changing rooms having individual changing stalls for an element of privacy instead of a "locker room" feel. You can find lunch and snacks over here too. We easily could have spent way more time than the 2 1/2 hours we already did at Duke's Lagoon and my littlest said it was his favorite part of the whole day!
Don't Miss the Shows - While it's easy to get caught up in so many other fun things around the park, you definitely want to make time to enjoy some of the shows during your day at Dutch Wonderland. From comedy, to dance, to a little bit of magic - there's a lot to see. Each show is timed perfectly for little attention spans too with typical run times of 15 minutes or so. Our favorite show of the day was at the Aqua Theater where they had a diving story presentation. Yeah - you read the right. We heard The Adventures of the Frog Prince, but instead of it just being acted out, it was presented complete with entertaining (and funny!) diving frogs. The kids and adults both LOVED it and we laughed the entire time. Be warned though that those red "splash zone" rows are serious splash zones. If the divers don't get you with their dives, they will come over and give you a few splashes just for fun! Shows also offer the perfect opportunity to rest your feet during a busy day and most feature some shade from the summer sun. This is also a perfect time to reapply that sunscreen right before the show begins and let it soak in good during the show before going back out to the heat! A few of the show locations also offer character meets throughout the day. We met up with Merlin and Duke the Dragon at one of the stages. But these locations aren't your only chance to meet characters as they roam throughout the park and are happy to stop for a quick conversation and a photo opportunity!
Bring Your Appetite - Like most theme parks, there are a lot of great food options here. While many of the restaurants feature your theme park standard chicken tenders, burgers, corn dogs, french fries, etc., you can also find locations featuring healthier choices like at Bean Sprouts located in the Mill Stream Eatery. There are also several familiar favorites around the park. Our boys are addicted to Auntie Anne's pretzels and were delighted to see not one, but two, different locations to get their favorite snack in the park. We also found a Rita's for a familiar cool, sweet treat later on in the day. Dutch Wonderland also offers a character breakfast on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the summer from 9:00AM - 10:00AM. At only $15.99 per person this is an affordable option to get your day started right! There's also refillable drink cup options in both adult and toddler size to save you money on drinks throughout the day and season pass holders may be interested in looking at an All Season Dining Pass which offers 2 combo meals each day they are in the park.
Enjoy Being a Kid Again - Everything at this park is geared with little ones in mind. I would say Dutch Wonderland is the perfect theme park for elementary school and younger. My 7 year old was big enough to do any ride he wanted to and my 4 year old was big enough for most rides throughout the park. This isn't the park to take thrill seeking teenagers as Kingdom Coaster and Merlin's Mayhem are probably the only two rides that would excite them, but those two coasters are perfect introductions into the "adult" roller coaster world that upper elementary school kids will be wanting to start to explore. Whether it's driving a car, walking a dinosaur trail, laughing on the frog hopper, or getting a little wet on the log flume, the rides are designed to have fun as a family - something really important to us and to many of you! We visited on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and lines were very manageable throughout the day with our longest waits being about 30 minutes and most wait times being between 5-10 minutes. With wait times like those, it's easy to let kids enjoy their favorites over and over again. I sometimes feel very rushed at theme parks trying to get from ride to ride and keeping an itinerary, where here we were able to slow down, let the kids take the lead, and really had an enjoyable time meandering through the park to experience it all.
