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?
10 comments:
Andrew, this does look like a very nicely maintained park. And I love the view of the real farms, right next to the park
I also like the fact that the Turtle Whirl signs are done in the same style as the vintage Tilt-A-Whirl signs from your last park/trip report!
Is that a traditional Trabant ride, off in the distance of your third to last pic?
That video clip shows the "bear band," and not the Dutch Wonder House. But based on your description, I think I know what is inside that house. I went on an attraction called, "Surprising House" at Hanayashiki Park, in Tokyo, Japan. It was a total trip! And their version dated back to 1949!
Thanks for another trip report, Andrew! Oh, and I do like the larger images! And the gray looks fine. I can't remember what color you had before.
TokyoMagic!, it is really well-kept. I wish Palace Entertainment put this level of care into all their parks. That is a Trabant, and it came from Hersheypark. It's one of the last with all the decorative lights intact, but I didn't get a better picture of it.
The Dutch Wonder House is in the background of the video clip. I guess it's not that obvious since the video is small compared to the pictures. But you are spot on in guessing what type of ride it is! That's really cool the one you rode dates to 1949. Their generic name is a "Haunted Swing," and versions of it actually date back to the early 1900s, though none remain from that era.
Great pictures and presentation of this fun park! I would love to see more.
I do like these bigger pictures. Everything is so colorful - I especially like the 3rd, and 2nd from last, pictures.
Where are you standing to take the 4th picture?
I see the Dutch Wonder House - and that sure does look like fun!
Does the Turtle Whirl move a little slower?? ;o)
Any good souvenirs in that fancy gift shop? I hope you picked up something good.
Thanks, Andrew!
Andrew, I see that Dutch Wonderland copied Disneyland. They, too, have a dented turret.
Sue, the Kingdom Coaster color scheme really is something different. Just no colors like that on real wooden coasters, please!
I took the fourth picture (and a few others in this post) from the Monorail, which had a really long line. The Turtle Whirl ran as normal. Kennywood has a Turtle ride too, and that one does amble along. I did want to get a keychain in the gift shop to add to my collection, but I was too pressed for time.
Andrew, Now I see the Dutch Wonder House in your video! I also found this vintage pic on F.B., showing the whole house rotating. You have probably seen it before:
https://www.facebook.com/DutchWonderlandPA/photos/its-throwbackthursday-with-this-vintage-photo-of-the-dutch-wonder-house-while-sc/10157986870325999/
The exterior of the house at Hanayashiki Park remains still. It's only the interior room that the does the flipping, so there is no way for new riders to know what to expect. I had no idea what was inside. It was a very pleasant surprise:
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KyBL-2TyB34/Se_tjiWESAI/AAAAAAAABig/Q6gF-9xYMLE/s1600-h/zzzzHanayashiki+(44).jpg
One more view (showing the side of the building):
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KyBL-2TyB34/SdG3tyyLHxI/AAAAAAAABeo/U23d4FIFZ28/s1600-h/zzzzNewFntsylnd+(2).jpg
Thanks, TokyoMagic! I remember that you used that one picture as a joke, saying it's the Three Little Pigs' house. I can't think of any modern "Haunted Swings" that have the spinning exposed like this.
Very clever how they arranged the sky ride around the coaster!
Andrew, this looks like such a fun place. Hope you had a good time, thanks for sharing the photos and video with us.
The format changes are very good, thanks. Since I check my blog friends mostly in the dark on an iPad, having a darker background is a plus and bigger pictures always help.
Thank you again for the entertaining posts.
JG
Melissa, parks don't have to remove rides with a little creativity!
JG, I'm glad you are enjoying the posts. This was just a quick stop on the way home, but it's a very well-kept-up park.
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