Is 10 too old for Dutch wonderland?

[Anonymous]

I took my kids when they were 2 and 4. Now they are 8 and 10yo.

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Not really, but be prepared for a different experience.

We've taken out kids when they were 5-7. Although my 7 yo kids can ride Merlin's Mayhem (height limit is 39"), they were too short to ride the Kingdom Coaster (they were 45" on their 7th birthday when we went and the limit is 46"). And from 46"-53" they have to ride accompanied by a rider over 54" tall. They can't ride the ride solo until they are 54" tall.

They can't drive the bumper cars by themselves until they are 54" tall. Or drive the Turnpike cars. So that means, if I take them by myself, they can't ride either bumper cars, turnpike cars or Kingdom Coaster at the same time. I have to take one on, leave the other standing at the entrance waiting and then wait in line again with the other kid. Fortunately the lines are not that long, but it means we get to do a whole lot less.

The twister requires someone over the height or 48" to ride with someone 42-48" tall.

Similar problem with the pipeline plunge in Duke's Lagoon. Riders need to be combined weight of 90 lbs to ride. At 6, they had to ride with me, so they had to wait as I went down with one, then had to run up with the other and ride again and they wanted to do it again. I ran up those stairs 8 times before I told them we were done. At 7 they could ride together, but they really want to ride by themselves, which they still can't do yet.

There are a lot of attractions that my kids are still waiting to do by themselves or at least without me so that they don't have to wait for me to cycle through and do it with each of them. Besides rides are a lot more fun without Dad in tow.

[Anonymous]

I think 10 is too old.

[Anonymous]

How timid are they? My older is very timid and likes slower paced rides - she would still be fine at 9, ten would be pushing it. My younger was bored at 6.

[Anonymous]

How adventurous?

I'm in the minority, but we have an annual event in the area and have taken our kids at 10, 11, 12,and 13. The park is aimed at young kids for sure. However, for kids like mine who don't like huge roller coasters, the ability to go on the spinning rides, small log flume, bumper cars (if tall enough) and the two roller coasters over and over (often without getting off) is a draw.

For older kids,especially in the late afternoon and evening, there are hardly any lines.

I don't know if I would make a special trip, but when you look at what you spend at a fair or carnival on rides like a tilt a whirl versus the ability to go on similar rides plus two moderate roller coasters multiple times, it isn't bad.

But again, I'm in the minority and my kids don't love the big coasters.

[Anonymous]

Yes, with those ages go to Hershey. So much more fun!

[Anonymous]

I am taking my soon to be 9 and 5 year olds this summer and they will have fun. This is at least in part because: we haven’t been to a bigger or more mature amusement park with them yet so older one doesn’t quite know what he’s missing, they like doing rides together which would be harder at a more mature park since the older one would want to do everything he could and younger would be too short for many of those, they like the water part, we all like the smaller size for easier walkability and not-too-long lines. If not many of these factors apply for you, your 10 year old will not enjoy it as much.

All of that said we may add Hershey in this year after spending time at DW. If we do not, we definitely would next year.

[Anonymous]

They might be too tall for some of the rides at DW.

I guess you could go to the water park, but even then, I'm not sure the admission price justifies what you'll get out of it.

[Anonymous]

I was the PP whose kids like DW. Remember, it is a small scale amusement park. Hersheypark is much bigger and has more to offer. The waterslides at DW are just two slides that would appeal to older kids. The park is old fashioned, not modern or flashy.

With that said, however, what my kids like about the park is the NUMBER of rides they can go on, usually with very little wait. The Kingdom Coaster is not huge, but it's a fun, fast older wooden coaster. In the evening, my kids and their friends literally went on it more than 10 times in a row. The newer Merlin's Mayham had lines, but even I rode it at least 5 times with very little waiting. Contrast that with Hersheypark, where the waits can be soooo long, some days you can barely get on 10 rides total.

Go to the website and look at the rides and see how many of them your kids will like and/or if there will be any height or accompanying rider restrictions. Would they ride once or again and again? If they would only ride once, it might not be worth it.

If you take older kids, use the preview night when the park will be empty and go back the next day later afternoon and evening if you want the chance to do multiple repeat rides.

PS - Our family likes the diving show too.

[Anonymous]

I still enjoy DW, so it depends on what you're looking for. If you want a small, manageable park with small, manageable rides, a 10-year-old would still like it. If you want a park with lots of adventure, it would be boring.