We%26#39;re thinking of taking a mini-vacation to the Lancaster/Hershey area sometime this summer (mid-week to avoid major crowds). We have a 17 month old (in August when we%26#39;d probably go she%26#39;ll be 18 months). She LOVED our trip to Disneyland earlier this year, but we don%26#39;t know much about Hershey Park and Dutch Wonderland. I wouldn%26#39;t expect them to be like Disneyland, but would she enjoy herself? It seems like DW caters to young kids, but can kids that young really go on a lot of rides? Would she have to go by herself or could we go with her? What about Hershey Park? Both sites look like they have a lot of rides for her size (under 36 inches), but they don%26#39;t give major descriptions of what the rides are actually like. We did do Chocolate World with her last summer, and she enjoyed that as much as anyone would expect a 6 month old to. :o) My husband went to HP as a kid, but I%26#39;ve never been, and neither of us have been to DW.
Any suggestions as to if these would be fun places for our family?
If they would, any great suggestions for places to stay? We%26#39;d prefer a ';two room'; kind of suite (we normally do Homewood or Embassy Suites) so we don%26#39;t have to whisper after our daughter goes to sleep, and I need internet so I can work while we%26#39;re away (boo! but we need to be able to afford the trip, ha!). Thanks so much for your help!!
Hershey Park %26amp; Dutch Wonderland with young toddler?
There is a country inn and suites right across the street from dutch wonderland. It was clean, nice and had small pool. You can see the castle if you get a ';street view'; room.
When in Hershey we always stay at the Hershey lodge. We only stayed in regular rooms. The property is warm and cozy...very kid friendly. It is very large. We liked that because we could go for ';walks'; inside.
We always go at Christmas time so summer is different. The prices in the winter are very cheap!!!I remember seeing the summer prices for Dutch wonderland and thought to myself that I would rather be at Hershey.....larger, more theme to it.
Your daughter is very young and would enjoy both.
Hershey Park %26amp; Dutch Wonderland with young toddler?
i would say dutch wonderland would be more for your daughter. I can recommend Willow Valley, they do have some suites there. She would really enjoy the little indoor waterpark that they have and they have many pools. Its like a little mini resort.
Those are great recommendations, thank you! We%26#39;ll look into them.
Shoney, what is different about Christmas and regular summer at Dutch Wonderland? Would it be worth waiting for and just going then? (or we could always go during the summer and go back for Christmas as the price then is pretty cheap)
at Christmas time, the park is nicely decorated. The admission was $7 pp...not the $30 that they charge in the summer. The park is very small and doesn%26#39;t have the same feel to me that Hershey does.
Hershey is around $10pp at Christmas time. In the summer it is much more, probably $45pp (not sure), but to me well worth the difference. It is much bigger, has the little zoo, shows, characters, chocolate factory, etc.
That%26#39;s great to know about the Christmas stuff... I%26#39;ve looked at them online and it looks really fun! We love Disney at Christmas, but that%26#39;s a LOT more expensive. ;o) We definitely may check it out this year.
We stayed at Country Inn and Suites last year (Aug), and went to Dutch Wonderland to celebrate my daughter turning 3 (other girls were 9 and 6). We could see the park from the hotel, which got the girls all excited. It was very clean, nice sized suit, and terrific indoor pool (with three window walls, so not in a basement dungeon).
I did not find a lot of details about rides and such before we went, and had heard some questionable reviews. Let me tell you, my girls had a blast. The fact the my baby could go on nearly everything was a great thrill to her. The older girls had a super time too. At the end of the day, we wandered into the water park by accident. If I had known about it, I would have booked an extra day. It was perfectly scaled for little ones, no pools just an acre of water games, fountains, climbers, etc, all on soft surface, non slip rubber.
We are doing Hershey this year, but the girls still ask about Dutch Wonderland.
Have fun!
Tracy
Thanks so much for your review, Tracywag! It looks like there are a few Country Inn %26amp; Suites%26#39; near DW and HP, so we%26#39;re trying to figure out which one to stay at (we have points with them to use). I appreciate what you said!
Thanks also for the info about DW! They don%26#39;t have a great website... not bad at all (since they have SOME info about all the rides), just not as much as I%26#39;d like, and it%26#39;s just hard to tell without seeing it before. The waterpark sounds GREAT! I can totally see my daughter wanting to spend a lot of time there. Thanks so much!
When my son was her age we took him there and he loved it, now that he%26#39;s grown he lives near there and although it%26#39;s grown, I still say that it%26#39;s a better choice than Hershey Park. It%26#39;s family oriented
with little rides, animals and picnic tables. There%26#39;s a nice hotel across the street, mentioned in earlier posts, and she%26#39;ll get a kick out of the buggies and horses. It%26#39;s a lovely town. There%26#39;s even a Carter%26#39;s outlet and so much more. They do have a water park at Dutch Wonderland, that%26#39;s up to you.
Love trips- there%26#39;s a Quality Inn Nearby,nice and clean- check that out in Lancaster.
Sorry, I meant the Country Inn across from Dutch Wonderland. Quality in, now that I remember, no too great. We used to love Willow Valley,too.
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