Dutch Wonderland is a small kids' park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1963, the park has remained true to its kiddie park roots over the years. Today it's owned by Palace Entertainment, which also operates Kennywood and Idlewild in Pennsylvania. Of course, Lancaster is home to many cheesy tourist attractions based around the Amish, who live in the area, and Dutch Wonderland is definitely one of them.
The park is located on Route 30, the main commercial strip in Lancaster. Just keep driving west on this road, and you'll arrive at Idlewild Park! The monorail is one of the original 1963 rides, still running today.
With its small parking lot and entrance through this fanciful gift shop, Dutch Wonderland feels more like a roadside attraction than a true theme park.
The park's largest attraction is the yellow roller coaster, known as Merlin's Mayhem. Added in 2018, it's nicely integrated into the center of the park, with the Sky Ride going narrowly through its structure.
It's pretty impressive that they put a support column right between the Sky Ride cables. Merlin's Mayhem was actually delayed more than a year while they worked to get clearance approval.
The back of the park is quite charming, as it's on an island. Circling the perimeter are the Sunoco Turnpike and the Gondola Cruise, two classic Arrow Dynamics rides!
Despite being on a busy highway, there is still plenty of Eastern PA farmland around the park.
One of the park's most distinctive rides is the Dutch Wonder House. You crowd into a tiny room on a little bench, and then something special happens. You can see what that is at the beginning of the video clip below
Being in the heart of PA Dutch Country, Dutch Wonderland makes sure to pay tribute to the region's rich culture, like with this giant soft pretzel...
There're also some wonderful animated dioramas. Press the button, and you'll see the figures move and hear what sounds like a natural conversation.
Holiday World has the Turkey Whirl, but Dutch Wonderland has the Turtle Whirl! I especially like the signs done in the same style as that of a normal Tilt-A-Whirl.
"Bubba Bear and the Badlands Band" is a newer animatronic show, but it's maintained well.
Note the Dutch Wonder House.
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Here's a view from the Monorail! |
Pennsylvania is lucky to have a wide variety of amusement parks, with lots of unique attractions. But with the exception of one park, they all have at least one wooden coaster. (Get on it, Delgrosso's... you've had 112 years.) Dutch Wonderland has the blue and purple Kingdom Coaster.
Opened in 1992, it was originally called the Sky Princess but was renamed in 2006, apparently to appeal more to boys. It's the best ride at the park, a perfect starter coaster with even some gentle airtime.
I'm glad I got to visit Dutch Wonderland. It really is charming.
Is the grey background better or worse? Do you like the bigger images?
