A Visit From Fox 43

Happy Hauntings Report

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!

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

September at DW

Green Dates - Open until 8:30
Yellow Dates - Park Closes at 6

Saturday 9/1 & Sunday 9/2 are the last two days of the season that Dutch Wonderland is open until 8:30pm. Monday 9/3 (Labor Day) is the last weekday of the regular season, closing at 6:00pm. Labor Day weekend is traditionally very crowded with Monday being the most busy day. The Kingdom will be open 10-6 weekends through the rest of the month.

This is also the last weekend of operation for Duke's Lagoon. After Monday the water will be turned off until Memorial Day 2013.

The Entertainment Schedule has also made a change from it's original announcement in the Spring. Swingin' Safari was scheduled to return September 1 but instead Superstar Funfest will be held over at the Celebration Theatre. DW's own Duke the Dragon will be the special guest star until October 7.

New Sandcastle

Look for this new Sandcastle structure that replaced the smaller one in the toddler section of Duke's Lagoon. The new larger sandcastle is more interactive, and you can even go inside it!

Your DW Pass at Hersheypark

I was curious to see if my Dutch Wonderland season pass would offer me any benefits once inside Hersheypark...

Dutch Wonderland is no longer owned by the Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company, but there is still some association between the two parks. Both parks offer a Gold Pass as a Season Pass option which entitles the holder to unlimited admission to both The Sweetest Place on Earth and the Kingdom for Kids for a whole calendar year. Beyond that offer, regular season pass holders of Dutch Wonderland can receive $10.00 off a full-day admission to Hersheypark.

We went to Hershey this past week. I had Comp. tickets from last year, but figured it wouldn't hurt to see if my DW pass would allow me any other discounts or benefits once at Hersheypark. It was a hit or miss affair, but mostly hit!

• I received free parking in the Hersheypark parking lot. That's a savings of $12.00!
• We got a discount on lunch at Minetown Restaurant. (I forgot to check exactly what the discount was, but it was considerable.)
• I also got a discount on treats at the Turkey Hill Ice Cream Parlor in the Boardwalk section.
• The only time I was denied a discount was at one of the large gift shops just before you exit through the turnstiles.

Even though the Dutch Wonderland Season Pass Privileges and Guidelines states only the $10.00 discount for tickets, it's obviously worthwhile to bring your DW pass along and just ask. It can't hurt.

Merlin's Restaurant Opens

As we've already mentioned several times, Dutch Wonderland enters the business of full-service restaurants with the debut of Merlin's Restaurant - located inside DW's iconic Wonderland Castle. The new dining facility replaces half of the Castle Gift Shop as well as a portion of the former Castle Cafe. Merlin's offers a slightly more relaxed dining experience than the hustle and bustle of the Mill Stream Eatery. You enter the restaurant through an entrance located next to the Royal Family Photos booth in the front of the park. During construction, it looked as if you would be able to visit the restaurant without admission to the park, but that is not the case.

 Merlin himself now resides at DW. On this particular day, he was pretty much stationed right inside the main entrance all day greeting guests to the park. Merlin will also be part of the park's new reservations only Character Breakfast experience which will be held at Merlin's Restaurant beginning in July.

 A nice overview of the menu, posted outside the restaurant's doors.

 This insane sandwich seems out of place on the menu at a park geared towards 2 to 10 year olds.

 During construction it did not appear that the venue would seat many people, but the actual size of the restaurant should accommodate large crowds with a minimal wait time.

 The layout is comprised of tables and chairs and booths which could easily hold 6 people.

On to the menu...the offerings are an attempt to step up a notch from the normal amusement park food. Their signature dish is the Dragon Fire and Ice. It's a goblet of creamy Mac n' Cheese served with buffalo chicken bites and crumbled blue cheese on top. (They were out of the blue cheese on my visit.) The mac n' cheese was really good and the buffalo bites were tasty as well. They mixed nice together, and I'm sure the blue cheese would have added the Ice to the Fire & Ice. It's kind of a small portion for $10.99, it comes with two sides - I had fries and a garden salad.

 There are had been some preopening hype that Merlin's was to offer Gluten Free menu options...here's the option: A plate of chicken tenders and star shaped tater tots. I believe this was the exact same offering at the Castle Cafe. It's also the most kid friendly choice on the menu, but does not come in a kid meal size - so you'll be paying $9.99 which is a bit high for a child's meal.

A nice touch at the new restaurant is the use of Souvenir cups. Not only do they sell them, but they also honor the 99 cents refill policy of the park. So drinks don't need to set you back three bucks a person.

Overall review: The room has nice atmosphere. It does feel like you are eating in a whimsical medieval castle. Bright colors and interesting lighting fixtures help to sell that story. The menu offers some unique dishes but too unique for kids. In a park geared toward children, ordering off a simple kids menu of staples like pizza, chicken tenders, hot dog, hamburger ect. ect. would make things alot easier for a parent who has had a long day in the park. The upcoming character breakfast should add a nice touch to the park's lineup of experiences.