We are privileged to know an insider who works at Dutch Wonderland Amusement Park and can fill us in on a lot of secret tips, that no one else knows about! Today, I want to share them with you. I hope you find them as interesting and useful as we did.
#1. Park near the pavilion.
The park recently redid their parking lot. Season pass holders can park in front of the castle. However, even if you are a season pass holder, if you will be staying at the park all day, I highly recommend parking near the picnic pavilion.
After you pay at the parking ticket booth, and as you are heading to park near the front entrance, keep going straight. You will be heading towards the blue roller coaster. Directly in front of you, you will find a pavilion—a perfect place to eat your lunch.
We kept our cooler in the van and then at lunch time, our van (and lunch) was right there at the pavilion. Quick and easy for getting out our lunch and changing into our suits for the afternoon water park!
Here is a picture showing you the pavilion next to the blue roller coaster. This truly is the best place to park at Dutch Wonderland (unless you have season passes and won’t be staying all day, or will be buying your lunch inside the park).
#2. The piano room shooting range has a hidden secret.
Did you know that the shooting range is light activated? If you have a camera with a strong flash, use it as if you were taking a picture of the booth.
Everything in the room will respond as if you shot it all at the same time! The piano player will play, the soda can will sky rocket, the cookoo clock will go off, and so on!
Just a note that we did try it with the flash on our cell phone and it did not work. You need a stronger and brighter light like most SLR camera’s have.
#3. You can get a FREE child’s ticket to Dutch Wonderland.
If your child participates in the Lancaster County Library reading program, they can earn a FREE ticket to Dutch Wonderland! If you aren’t a part of this program, I highly recommend signing up. Reading must be completed by the middle of August if you want to redeem your prizes.
Each young reader gets FREE things like a Strasburg Railroad pass, ice cream cone at McDonald’s and Dairy Queen, Auntie Anne’s soft pretzel, bounce place tickets and so on — depending on which part of the county you live in.
Other ways to save on Dutch Wonderland Tickets:
- You can save $6 per ticket if you purchase online (a $2 donation will go to Scouts).
- AAA members can save up to $7 on tickets.
- There are also military discount of $10 off, family 4 pack discounts, smart day ticket discounts, online 4-day advance tickets discounts, and tickets can be bought at a discount at your local Weis market.
- Searching places like retail-me-not and coupons.com to find discount codes.
#4. The bumper cars are some of the fastest bumper cars.
We learned this only because we know someone who works at the park and fills us in on these little secrets. I thought it was a kind of random tidbit, but seriously, how exciting is it? You can now say you drove the fastest bumper cars around?
But here’s the tip, because they are so fast, you’ll want to keep in mind that you can always get out of a “bumper hang up”. The trick is to turn your steering wheel away from the ‘crash’. Wait a few seconds, and slowly the car will steer away from the hang up and you’ll be free!
#5. The little roller coaster secret tip.
The little roller coaster ride is great for kids, but it is FAST and JERKS a lot.
If you hold your little one close, keeping your arm around him, you can eliminate a lot of the shock and make it more fun.
Check out this video to see how much fun it is for even a two year old! (Not all two year olds will enjoy the ride, but for the more outgoing and adventurous ones, it is great!)
#6. A unique place to watch the diving show.
On a busy day, this might not be recommended, but on the rainy day that we went, the lines weren’t long. Because of this, we were able to stop on the bridge for the log flume ride and watch the diving show.
The view we had here was incredible. I think you get a better view of the dive when you aren’t sitting directly in front of it. I will say that you don’t necessarily get the best view of the diver hitting the water. Check out how dark the sky is in this picture! It really was a rainy and overcast day.
#7. Rainy Day Secrets and Tips
If you go on a rainy or overcast day like we did, one of the first rides to close is the fun slide, so be sure to hit this ride up first if it is on your ‘must ride’ list. For safety reasons, no one can be sliding down with rain drops in the air – you would go too fast!
The rides that are under cover, will stay open even while it is raining (as long as it is not thunderstorming). While it was downpouring, our kids rode the “wonder whip” over and over again — and we stood under cover along the side completely dry.
The waterpark will close and open, depending on the weather. We went to the water park while it was raining, because we were getting wet anyway! If they close it for a little, they are just checking for thunder and lightning, and depending on the weather they will open it again soon. So don’t lose hope too quickly!
Dutch Wonderland has an excellent rain guarantee. If it rains for more than one hour during your visit, or they close the park due to weather, you can stop by guest services on your way out of the park to get FREE replacement tickets. You can use them on another day during the summer. Or here’s the best part in my opinion — you can save them and use them for their Happy Hauntings or Dutch Winter Wonderland!
#8. Bonus Tip >>
If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, check out these 9 Coupons and Savings on Dutch Wonderland tickets. You’d be surprised how much you can save on admission whether you are visiting during the summer or one of the holiday specials like Happy Hauntings and Winter Wonderland!
The day we went to Dutch Wonderland it was rainy and overcast. In fact, late in the day we got caught in a flash flood that completely surprised us and all the Dutch Wonderland employees! Be sure to read about our experience and 7 unexpected things our children enjoyed at the park.
