As a Season Pass holder for the last two years, I can easily say I've been to Dutch Wonderland at least 30 times in those two years. This evening was without a doubt...the most crowded I have ever seen the park! The lines for rides at Happy Hauntings was insane!
We got up to the area around 5:00pm and noticed from the parking lot that attendance was high, so we decided to go grab some food and let some of the toddler audience dwindle out of the park. The nearby Fuddrucker's is now closed, which I didn't know until pulling into the parking lot. It wasn't on our radar, but I'll just add that the Texas Roadhouse next door was mobbed with a huge crowd waiting outside. We ventured over to Red Robin across the street which displayed a "00 Minutes Wait Time". We were handed a pager and told a 10 minute wait when we walked inside. Luckily, we didn't wait more than two minutes and to top that off - the food was ready in record time.
So, we headed back over to DW at 6 and while parking was still crowded we managed to find a pretty good random spot on the field in front of the Kingdom Coaster. Inside the park, walkways were manageable but every ride had a huge line waiting to get on. The people waiting for the train filled the queue and made a long line down past the loading platform. The line for the Turtle Whirl was all the way back past the swings! Huge waits at the Turnpike, Monorail, even VR Voyager had a ship full of people waiting in line.
The Trick or Treat Trail this year has moved to the path along the back of the park. The line starts near the Bumper Cars. There was a long line to get into the Trail, but it did move quickly. The Trail benefits from it's new location as it's very scenic and less twisty turney than over at Duke's Lagoon. Another nice touch that Dutch Wonderland does is giving each adult a ticket good for one trick or treat of their choosing. If you are like me and trying to hold out for the biggest piece of candy, may I suggest you cash your ticket in for the Reese's Pumpkin which on this night was being handed out the the Disco Shack. If you were at Happy Hauntings last year, you may have seen the Disco Shack from the train, this year you can actually go into the Shack and get your groove on if you desire. As a Dutch Wonderland historian, it was nice to be able to go inside the former Hobo Shack again, even if there is nothing in it besides some lights.
Our game plan was to ride the crowds out, hoping attendance would drop later in the evening and we could get a few rides in. We caught the 7:30 performance of the Halloween show, "Molly's Wacky Witch's Brew" at the Celebration Theatre. Afterwards, still plenty of crowds. A huge wait at the train. We went back to the Kingdom Coaster - excited to grab a ride in the dark - and the line filled the queue on the ground behind the station. In fact, I have never even seen the queue set up the way they had it to accommodate large crowds. We've done every ride in that park at least 50 times, and the kids and I just decided to leave and call it a night. They had a bag full of tricks or treats, so they were happy.
Don't take any of this as complaining. I'm glad to see Dutch Wonderland doing such a great business. If anything, I was shocked to see the crowds that were there. I spent last week in Walt Disney World and didn't see lines for rides like I saw tonight at little ol' DW! I suspect a Sunday night would be a bit less crowded. If you plan on going, I would get there at 3:00 when they open and do as many rides as you can before the park fills up! There's plenty of Not-So-Scary fun to be had all over Dutch Wonderland, even with a crowd it's still a fun place to be!
