Dutch Wonderland

One of the goals that Luke and I have for our family is that we'll go on some little vacation/trip each and every year aside from our regular trips to the beach.  Even if it's just something small we want Gage and his soon to be brother to be able to experience something new every year.  Yes I know, these things cost money, but reasonably speaking, I hope we'll have the chance to at least take little trips.  The 1st year after Gage was born, our trip was to Austin, then last year we took Gage to Wilimington, which we really enjoyed and would love to visit again sometime.  This year we knew we didn't have much time since we'll need our leave at the end of the year so we considered taking Gage to Sesame Place or something of the like for just a few days and we wanted to make sure it was something special he could enjoy since this would be our last time to focus just on him.  I wasn't quite sure Sesame was age appropriate for Gage so I am sooo glad we found an alternative.  I really can't say enough about this place.  I feel like I'm about to do a promotion for them, but that's just how much fun we had.

I 1st heard about Dutch Wonderland from a friend and went on their website to check it out.  It looked cool enough and from the website you could actually see what rides Gage would be allowed on, etc.  I couldn't believe that there were over 20 rides he could ride, since he is so tiny and I was doubtful that at any other amusement park this would be the case.  Plus Dutch Wonderland was $35 a pop and Gage was STILL free....double bonus!  Sesame and Busch Gardens, etc. are all upwards of $50-$60 and I'm pretty sure that you have to pay for any kid 2 and up.  In any case, I started to do some more research and found plenty of  blogs, mommy sites, etc. that compared Sesame and DW.  Dutch Wonderland came out on top every time.  People commented about the cleanliness of the park, the small crowds, all the rides for young kids, etc. and every one of the comments was SPOT ON. 

First off we were taking our chances in going to an amusement park at the end of July at 32 weeks pregnant, especially with how hot it's been lately.  But we agreed to keep looking at the weather and if it was under 90 degrees we would make the trek.  Boy, are we glad we did!  Dutch Wonderland, located in Lancaster, PA was just a 3 hour drive from us and we planned to drive up  Th. night, have all day the next day at the park (hoping Fridays wouldn't have as long of lines), hit up the Strasburg Railroad the next day and come back Sat. evening.  We did just that and although the trip was delayed a bit by a rain storm and we didn't get Gage into bed until late Th. night we were up and ready to go on Friday morning long before DW opened.  Our plan was to get there right when it opened, play for as long as Gage could take it, come home and nap and go back.  We were excited to not see a massive crowd when we got there at 10am and we dove right in!  Gage had no fear (which is not usually the case with him) and we rotated from ride to ride to ride, anything and everything that he was allowed on.  There were plenty of rides he could ride by himself and some in which we had to ride with him, but on all of the rides, there was no line and Gage probably could've/would've rode them over and over again, had we let him.

1st ride was a boat ride, kind of eased us in

This ride cracked me up, if the kid couldn't reach the hand wheel or didn't have the strength to do it himself, you could push him along with  stick!  ha!

Gage wanted to have his picture taken with this princess.

This ride made Daddy sick.



Gage's favorite ride:  The Wonder Whip



The only 'roller coaster' Gage could ride

He's up there, you just can't see him

I wrote half of this post 10 days ago, so it's hard for me to continue my train of thought.  I think I'll just say it was a great trip to a great amusement park and we'll surely go again next summer. 

Gage and Mommy goofing off on the Strasburg Railroad