Dutch Wonderland or Hershey Park?

[Duncan]

Hi. I'd appreciate any advice on picking between the two. My kids are 8 & 5, and are no strangers to amusement parks. Will Dutch Wonderland be cool enough for them, or do we want to go with Hsy Park?
Thanks.

[wayne foundation 07]

Hershey is great,a park,a zoo fun foods and great food.They have a how its made tour you can take with a free sample at the end.Dutch Wonderland is fun,a real family with little kids type park,good but Hershey is way better.

[Mikey]

I never went to Dutch Wonderland but I think it's more for younger kids.

Hershey is good for kids of all ages.

Considering your kids ages I think Dutch Wonderland might be the best place for you

Also, the Strasburg Railroad is near by
Strasburg Rail Road - Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

m

[LonnieFisher]

I've never heard of either of them.

[johnnystorm]

Hershey owns Dutch Wonderland as well I think. HP has more to do for older kids. If you do go to Dutch Wonderland, DO NOT eat at the resteraunt across the street, the PA Dutch looking place. The food is horrible as is the service.

[Duncan]

Good tips; thanks all.

[Meule]

There's a park called Dutch Wonderland?

[Nostalgiabuff]

sure, have't you ever heard of the Pennsylvania Dutch? Not my kind of place though, I would go to Hershey Park. they do the tour of the chocoloate factory and then you have all the rides.

[MegoNutt]

I've been to both as a kid. Hershey Park was so much more fun.

[Bizarro Amy]

It depends on if you(the parents) want to go on rides as well. Dutch Wonderland is almost exclusively kiddie rides. There's a little more to do in Hershey as well, because they have the Boardwalk(new water rides). Hershey is also going to be expensive, so keep that in mind when you decide how much money to bring. I don't know what other attractions Lancaster has other than the Amish stuff, but Hershey also has the Auto Museum and the new Milton Hershey Museum in addition to Chocolate World. When are you planning to be there? I'm right down the road from Hershey.

Edited to add: Just be glad that Hershey took over Dutch Wonderland, because when I was a kid, it was the lamest, most broken-down theme park I'd ever seen. My dad's company picnic used to be held there, so I was forced to go to Dutch Wonderland at least once a year. There was a lagoon ride, where you sat in a car on a track, which was submerged to look like the car was floating. They had animals around the lagoon and at one time, they would look like they were interacting with you. An elephant would shoot water from its trunk as you went by, an alligator would approach the water, etc. And the worst was the hippo. It would stick its head out of the water very close to the car, and that thing terrified me. As the ride aged, the cars sounded rickety and the animals stopped working right and they would make odd noises when they moved, or just kind of shudder back and forth. Yet my parents still made me go on it and my worst fear was that the car would break and I would end up in the water with that hippo.

[Duncan]

Edited to add: Just be glad that Hershey took over Dutch Wonderland, because when I was a kid, it was the lamest, most broken-down theme park I'd ever seen.

Yeah, that's why I'm looking for input. The last time I was there was circa 1975. I remember this cow statue with a rubber udder that you could supposedly milk , but I guess nobody bothered to fill the cow with 'milk' that day (or any other). I didn't know that Hsy took them over, but I'm glad to hear it.

[Mikey]

If you don't mind driving a little further Dorney Park is in Allentown

[megoapesnut]

We get season passes to Hershey Park every year as we are only 10 minutes away. We usually go one night a week just to walk around and eat supper. In fact, I think my wife talked about going there tonight. If you like BBQ food, there is a great place in the "valley" of the park right next to the Trail Blazer rollercoaster. Best food in the park. It's down the hill from the Storm Runner.

If your kids are no strangers to amusement parks, you definitely want to do HP. They will most likely find Dutch Wonderland very lame. Plus, as mentioned, the water park area is good. If you are really into waterparks, Dorney Park/Wild Water Kingdom has a much better water park, but the amusement park part of it isn't as good as Hershey.

[mazinz]

The only reason I remember Dutch wonderland is that in the early 80's on a family trip, I found some amazing 1970's made rubber jigglers still for sale in their gift shop

though two attractions still ring a bell-- the litte red school house that spun around and some mock spaceship set up (you went inside this thing with a few other people) with a film that they projected on the inside of this ship to try and trick you into thinking you were really flying (unless that was at Hershey?)

[Adam West]

There's a park called Dutch Wonderland?

The Pennsylvania Dutch is just a generic name for the Amish. I'm sure there are many on here that no a lot more than me but I understand that there are various sects within the Amish communities but in the movies the stereotype is the horse and buggy, no electricity, Abraham looking. It is strange that they dress as though it was the 1700's but I find them to be friendly and generally not as conservative as portrayed on film.

The Amish actually came from Germany....not the Netherlands. When trying to talk to what they call the rest of us (the English), they explained Deutsch which was misinterpreted as Dutch. Many of them do speak German to one another and some of them do have German accents even though they have lived their entire lives in the U.S.

Regading Dutch Wonderland and Hershey Park. Dutch Wonderland is a smaller park and does cater to younger children but I definitely appropriate for a 5 and 8 year old. On the plus side, the park doesn't get super crowded so not long waits for rides. They also have some entertaining shows. They don't have any big thill ride roller coasters like Hershey Park but Hershey Park gets super crowded and you can wait a good hour plus just to ride one ride. I also like that Dutch Wonderland has a lot of shaded areas. My opinion is that it is a hidden treasure (especially for younger kids). Hershey gets all the hype and all the visitors. I have never encountered long lines at Dutch Wonderland and although there won't be any big roller coasters, the rides are nice and I like it because of the smaller wait times.