Dutch Wonderland
Visit: www. dutchwonderland. com / Phone: 717-291-1888
Smack dab in the middle of Amish Country is Dutch Wonderland, Lancaster( Lancaster County); a children’ s park that has something for everyone. With 36 rides, Duke’ s Lagoon water play area, and live entertainment, the park promotes itself as the place“ Where Kids RULE!” The park has been voted one of the Top 5 Best Kid’ s Park in the World by Amusement Today, an amusement industry trade publication.
Dutch Wonderland has a pair of roller coasters for the pint-size crowd: Joust Family Coaster and Kingdom Coaster. Other rides to try include the Sky Ride and Monorail to get a good overview of the park to help determine what to ride next and Wonder House( an upside-down house). The park also offers Dutch Winter Wonderland for the Christmas / holiday season, re-decorating the 48-acre property into a magical reminder of the season with rides, entertainment, and the Royal Light Show, a spectacular display of thousands of twinkling lights dancing to music!
Hersheypark
Visit: www. hersheypark. com Phone: 717-534-3900
The Sweetest Place on Earth can be found in Central Pennsylvania, Hershey to be exact. The town is home to the Milton Hershey legacy – the Hershey Company chocolate factory along with Hersheypark and other entertainment offerings, lodging and restaurants that are part of the separate Hershey Entertainment and Resort Company( HERCO). The organization supports the Milton Hershey School, a private philanthropic( pre-K through 12) boarding school that is the largest residential education program in the US.
Hersheypark is home to a baker’ s dozen of roller coasters along with 63 other rides for all members of the family. Some of the coasters to try include Sky Rush, a winged coaster with four across seating; Great Bear inverted roller coaster, Storm Runner, a launched-lift roller coaster; and Fahrenheit, with a 97 degree first drop. Wooden coaster aficionados don’ t fret – there are three to satisfy your cravings: the venerable Comet, menacing Wildcat and popular Lightning Racer, a twin track coaster where both sides race and duel each other to the finish line. Lightning Racer was named the tenth best wooden roller coaster in the 2016 Golden Ticket Awards sponsored by Amusement Today.
Idlewild & SoakZone
Visit: www. idlewild. com Phone: 724-238-3666
Nestled in the Laurel Highlands near Ligonier( Westmoreland County) is the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and the third oldest operating amusement park in the United States. Idlewild was established by the prominent Mellon banking family in 1878, and remained family-owned for over 100 years.
Today Idlewild is home to 40 rides including 16 water rides. The 1938“ Rollo Coaster” is a junior wooden roller coaster that packs a punch for young and old alike. Other rides and adventures not to miss include the Daniel Tiger’ s Neighborhood Trolley ride; the carousel; Confusion Hill walk-through; the Flying ACE’ s flat ride and adult handcars, powered by your own muscle. Each September the Ligonier Highland Games takes place in the park. Competitions include the caber toss, stone put, and weight and hammer throw along with highland dancing, solo and band piping, drumming, Scottish fiddling, and Scottish harp competitions.
Kennywood Park
Visit: www. kennywood. com Phone: 412-461-0500
“ America’ s Finest Traditional Amusement Park” title belongs to Kennywood in West Mifflin( Allegheny County). Another park created by a trolley / traction company as a way to keep weekend ridership up in the early part of the last century; it is only one of two listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Located only 8 miles from downtown Pittsburgh, Kennywood is home to three wooden roller coasters – the most of any park in the world until recently. The hilly Pittsburgh terrain was used to its fullest to create coasters that wouldn’ t be feasible in most other parks. Kennywood has a baker’ s half-dozen roller coasters for young and old alike, with a total of 46 rides.
EXPLORE PA 2017 | 5.