Beyond The Map: Coloring Corner

Beyond The Map takes a look at a few things around Dutch Wonderland that might go unnoticed on a busy visit to the park. These are items that aren't necessarily attractions on their own, but little diversions that are worth pointing out. First up is a neat recent addition to the park, Coloring Corner.

Coloring Corner could easily go undetected. It's a bit off the beaten path, it's tucked away behind a ride and it's not on the park guide map. A few years ago, DW decided to swap the locations of Huck Finn's Leaping Frogs down by the Mill Stream and the Wiggle Racers which was located directly next door to the Storytime Corner theater. I assume the reason for the flip-flop had to do with the often rising waters of the stream which can cause flooding in the back area of the park. Better to move the expensive mechanical frog ride away from the water and up into the park and relocate Wiggle Racers, which is essentially a concrete slab and some kids ride on vehicles.

So while Leapin' Frogs took up residence in the former Wiggle Racers space, the footprint of the new attraction was much smaller than the space allotted for the Racers. The area was split in half and eventually Coloring Corner was born.
 

While in no ways is Coloring Corner a major attraction of Dutch Wonderland, it is one of the few spots in a park geared towards little kids where kids can run around and blow off some steam. By entering through a small path just in front of the Kingdom Coaster entrance, you can enter the back half of the former Wiggle Racers space and kids can let loose in the maze structure that was once for maneuvering little Wiggle Racers through. There's no dead ends or confusing paths to navigate, it's a pretty simple maze that will have kids screaming and laughing as they race around it.

 

The back wall of the Coloring Corner space features a huge dinosaur mural in black and white that kids are encouraged to add color to. There are two buckets full of Crayola Washable Markers and plenty of space for little ones to get their artist on!  I had first seen one of these huge coloring murals at nearby Cherry Crest Adventure Farm and thought it was pretty cool, so it's nice to see DW add a similar activity.

Coloring Corner is also perfectly situated in the park to offer an alternative attention grabber while big brother and sister are on the Kingdom Coaster, the wildest ride in the park.

To find Coloring Corner, walk directly behind Leapin' Frogs and look for a small mulch path on your right and under a tree to lead you to the gated spot.