Photo Update and Orangeade Refills - 7/14

A few pics and some fun stuff from around the park Tuesday. We arrived to a near empty park around 1:45pm. Later on, we discovered most of the people were at Duke's Lagoon!

The monorail has been out of service for about three weeks. Online photos showed a section of track missing near the unused station. Rumors were flying that the track was struck by a trash truck. I'm happy to report that the monorail loop is once again complete.  When we were pulling into the parking lot there was a workman on a cherry picker doing some maintenance to the replaced section of track.

Inside the park, the monorail was parked just outside the station above the service garage. There were people working on it. It was kinda cool to see the monorail out on the line with it's doors open.

A park bench serves as a reminder that the ride is closed.

Later in the day I spotted several trains running empty except for the driver. Within in hour, the monorail was back up and running for guests.  The Dutch Wonderland website still lists the monorail as temporarily closed, but it was certainly business as usual for the ride in the later part of the day.

The name of the park has returned to the iconic pretzel, although if we want to nit-pick the fonts used are wrong.

A few weeks ago, Exploration Island added a second Gem Mining location to the park. The island is now home to another activity apparently having to do with cracking open a Geode. (Is a Geode something that I should know what it is?)  This new activity was covered up but later on I did see some employee training happening in the area. The Geode attraction is located between the Artifacts retail space and the Gondola Boat Ride. 

The cast of Decades of Dutch Wonderland, this is a really good show. We noticed several parents in the audience tapping their feet and bobbing their heads. The show features popular music from the 1960's through the 90's.

 

While some of our group sat and enjoyed their Dole Whip Junction goodies while waiting for the show to start, I ventured up to the Nathan's stand in the front of the park. I had seen the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Frosting Funnel Cake pictured on Dutch Wonderland's Instagram account and have been wanting to try one. A sign at the shuttered Funnel Cake Factory stated that all the Funnel Cake products were now available at Nathan's. I don't know if this was a temporary situation or the beginning of something new for the Factory/Turnpike building. The girl working at the adjacent barn games didn't know the answer either.

 

Anyhow, the Cream Cheese Funnel Cake was amazing...and huge! They also filled up my souvenir cup with Nathan's World Famous Orangeade for only 99 cents. That's a great deal! I will certainly take them up on that deal again. (Hopefully that wasn't just an employee who didn't know the proper policy.) 

This is the sign of a day well spent at Dutch Wonderland!

Photo Update - Grand Opening Weekend

We were at Dutch Wonderland just about every week for the 2011 & 2012 season, then we took two years off while we welcomed another addition to our family. Our last visit was Happy Hauntings last year, so I'm not sure how much of what looked new to me is totally new or I just missed it last October but he're some pics I snapped at yesterday's Grand Opening for the 52nd Season:

At 10:00 they made an announcement and shot confetti cannons off! I missed it by 45 seconds while I was stuck buying a guest ticket on my season pass.

Here's the park's new ride, Bon Voyage Balloon Chase:

The announcements over the speaker while waiting in the queue had a girl with a French accent and said bonjour and mercy. I thought that was a nice touch. There are other themed announcements at other rides that I don't recall being there before, like a mission control announcement at the space simulator rides and a wizard at the Dragon's Lair.

They moved Bosie the Cow across the railroad tracks and closer to the barn. A bench and some flowers fills the space where Bosie stood for a long time!

Sad to see the wobbly bridge across the pond in the front of the park has been removed. It was always tradition for us to cross the bride after taking the train around the park. Not only has the bridge and any indication of the bridge been removed...

...foot traffic has been rerouted to the railroad crossing and fencing prevents you from crossing the railroad tracks at any point other than the crossing. The changes do make for some nice seating space in the front by the food stands.

The Nathan's stand in the front of the park where the PA Kosher Mart used to be was not ready for opening weekend. (Neither was the Subway)

In the background you can spot a duck who has decided to make it's nest near this dinosaur neat of eggs.

The Gondola Cruise (nor the Tugboat) were operating on opening day.

I like this little secluded seating area on Exploration Island that has been created near the site of the old Windmill Ferris Wheel.

Busy afternoon on the island. This might be one of my new favorite spots in the park.

We caught a performance of Really Royal at the Storytime Corner. The show had my 2 year old princess completely captivated!

New structure on the path heading over to Duke's Lagoon. Based on it's neighbors, I would assume this will be used for a game.

There was nothing in bloom in the flower bed at the old Turnpike site.

The birthday party room inside the park is now a third Breyer's Ice Cream location. There is seating inside however, there are not names on the ice cream. There were maybe 8 tubs of ice cream in the cooler but none of them identified. Most of the flavors were in the chocolate family, so it wad basically several different shades of brown. My wife had a Cookies and Cream as that was the only identifiable  flavor.

While we are on be subject of odd things, there was also Christmas Music playing from the Sky Ride station and we had some disagreement on my daughter being allowed on the Silo Slide because of her height...or lack of. 

But all in all we had another Dutch Wonderful day and I'll leave you with a shot of DW's very own Backside of Water:

Bon Voyage Balloon Chase to Open!

Lancaster, PA (PRWEB) February 25, 2015 

Dutch Wonderland will introduce Bon Voyage Balloon Chase, a new family ride for 2015 featuring eight hot air “balloons” that fly in a circle rotation while riders in the balloon gondola baskets control their individual balloon’s spin. The ride is scheduled to open with the Park on May 2, 2015.

Bon Voyage Balloon Chase tells the story of Princess Brooke, the Princess of Dutch Wonderland, who receives the ride as a gift from a fellow royal whom she met during her winter travels – “Empress Emille from the Kingdom of Dania” from faraway France. The ride is a symbol of their friendship and their mutual love of adventure and fun.

“We are thrilled about the addition of this new family ride,” said Rick Stammel, Dutch Wonderland’s General Manager. “We are excited to receive this gift and very thankful to Princess Brooke for sharing this ride with us and our guests. It’s going to be a wonderful addition to Dutch Wonderland,” Stammel remarked.


As a proposed family ride, Bon Voyage Balloon Chase will accommodate riders of all heights. Riders fewer than 36 inches will need to be accompanied by a responsible rider. Hand-held infants are not permitted on the ride. Each balloon can accommodate up to four riders, based on height and weight.
Ride Specs for Bon Voyage Balloon Chase

• Manufactured by Zamperla
• Horizontal rotating vehicles (balloon gondola baskets) are attached to arms, which are attached to a hydraulically lifted center. The center is tilted at the top giving the feel of a rotating wave
• Maximum capacity per ride cycle: 32 riders
• Height of the ride structure is 17’ 6”. Extended height is 21” 6’. Ride circumference is 24 feet. Balloons will soar between 5-8 feet off the ground as they ascend and descend during rotation.
• Ride speed: 7.5 RPMs.
• Ride time: approx. 2 minutes (end of Press Release)

It is rumored that the ride comes from the very recently closed Boomers! park in Dania Beach, Florida. Here is a picture of the ride as it was situated there:

Dry Flume

Here's a look at Double Splash Flume with the water shut off for the season.

Lady Gay Riverboat

The Lady Gay River Boat was constructed in 1963 and has

undergone two rebuilds, one in 1988 and another in 2002. It hails its name from the

riverboat located at the former Rocky Springs Amusement Park in Lancaster, Pa.

 

Postcard of the original Lady Gay Riverboat at Rocky Springs Park. John B. Peoples, who owned a competing bathing resort across the river, transported people to both parks on the Lady Gay steamerwhich ran a mile long circuit from Witmer's Bridge at Bridgeport to the bathing resorts.

 

brochure from Rocky Springs Park