Happy Birthday Duke The Dragon!

Welcome to Duke's Lagoon here at Dutch Wonderland. Last Wednesday we celebrated the birthday of a very important dragon Duke, Dutch Wonderland's mascot and our friend. Yes we have been through a lot with this huge purple dragon that most people confuse with Barney the dinosaur over the past three years. It is always nice to celebrate with friends each year with cupcakes and a dance party. Sadly this year it seemed a little less crowded as usual since most of Duke's friends didn't show up for him. When Hershey Entertainment owned DW they would have other character mascots from local buisnesses stop by to wish their old buddy Duke the best of birthdays but I felt so sorry for the guy this year since no one showed up for his special day. Managment said between cost and time no one was available. It may have nothing to do with the fact that the amusment park is under new ownership but I think that maybe Yummie from Kitchen Kettle Village and Cylo from the Lancaster Barnstormers may not have been able to pay the $10 perferred parking fee this year....just saying. I was not the only one disappointed over the fact that his friends didn't show up. I heard other season pass goers said it was a let down from prior years. Dutch Wonderland managment did explain on their Facebook page that every year is a little different but they can't tell me this since we been going to this event for 3 years straight and this is the first time it was different.

Another disappointment was the vendors that set up in the grassy area of the lagoon. Usually it is local buisnesses that give you items that you can stash in your bag to take home. This year they had a spread. The food was mostly hot food that you had to eat right there. The problem with this is parents must compete with a WATER PARK to get their kids to sit down to eat. I mean I know my daughter loves me more then anything but there was no way she was sitting with me for a hour to eat food and let it settle enough so she didn't get sick running around in the water. The water park wins every time. To top things off the food was not the healthiest of foods. There was Crush Soda with their new line of Blue Raspberry soda,. Heinz made a pork and beans mix and a chicken dumplin that looked like baby vomit. A salad place that made all kinds of chilled salads such as Potatoe Salad that the Amish make right down the street much, much better. There was a guy from Frito Lays handing out tiny sample bags of chips. Another vendor from Beyers, DW's new establishment, with chocoalte milkshakes they were making just as fast as they were melting. Also Sysco food company made a arrangment of foods such as brownie bits, breaded shrimp, chicken sliders, and belgium waffles. My daughter did eat some of the chicken sliders and enjoyed them so I asked where I could buy the products and I was met with a blank stare. The man informed me this was food sold to restaurants only and the every day shopper was unable to get this food. Managment from DW told me that they asked Sysco if they would help do some food for the guest. My question is why? This food is not what they sell at the park, it was better. Another question is what's up with all the grease? I don't indulge in eating too many greasy foods myself but I thought it was a special occasion so I would go ahead and taste the food. It was good to eat but later on it was horrible, felt like I was having a mini heart attack. Also the waffles were frozen in the middle. Isn't that some kind of health violation? The only healthy vendors there were PopChips which are never baked or fried and a apple juice vendor out of New York. When I asked where to buy the juice he told me to go to Wegmans or Whole Foods. I don't know of any Whole Foods in PA and there is only one Wegmans all the way up in Camp Hill. Why was he there if they don't sell the juice locally? You get us hooked on something that we will never find again. Prior years we had chips from Herr's which isn't too far from the park and applesauces from Musselmans. Perfect snack foods that are light enough for the kids to gulp down before playing again in the water park. It was nice to have some options but at the same time it wasn't what we wanted or expected.  The food they got right? Cupcakes! The cupcakes melted in your mouth they were so moist. I took a look at the bakery boxes and saw they were from the Bird In Hand Bakery not too far away. Finally a local buisness! Funny how that was the best food there.

As for the party, my daughter wanted to leave just a few minutes into the celebration. Now to be honest most people that attend the party are from out of town and have no idea what the special events are so they are not there to celebrate. I met many people who was asking me what was going on. The only way of knowing is if you stop at the front gates when you enter and read a sign. The dance party happens every day at Dutch Wonderland at 2:30pm in Duke's Lagoon. This is not out of the ordinary so people show up for the show no matter what. Duke came out and was surprised by the amount of children waiting for him screaming " Surprise Duke! Happy Birthday!". Then in the hindsight of the managment at DW, Duke was left without a handler. Those that are unfamiliar with characters the establishment provides someone without a costume to walk around with the mascot to keep the kids in control and help the character out when needed . So far this year I have seen Duke a number of times without someone around. In this case they really needed one since most of the children wanted a hug right away from Duke. They all piled up on him and I was in fear for my dear friends life. He was a inch away from dragon heaven when I alerted a manager on the other side of the performance that Duke might need some help. The other performers got into helping as well by getting the kids to line up and dance around the grassy area. It helped a little but not much. The other Dutch Wonderland characters were there to lend a hand but it's impossible when they are also being ambushed by so many tiny tots. Once again the Princess showed her true colors, hair color that is. I have mentioned this before on this blog about the new wig the princess must wear. The whole party the girl's brown hair was poking out the side of the blonde wig. If you can't hire a blonde to play the part then get someone willing to dye her hair for the part. It happens all the time in show buisness. I also liked it when the princess was always a little different. It showed my daughter that she doesn't have to look like Barbie in order to be special. At this point in the party my daughter started to flip out. She isn't good in heavy crowds and started to freak out a bit. We pulled on the side until the crowd spreaded out a little then she was okay once again. I saw a lot of kids walking away and heading back to the water park area no longer interested in what was going on. Once the party was over Duke was ushered away very fast into his special "Dragon Cave" for a little rest. He was brought back out at 3:30pm for cupcakes. The DW band, The Wonderers, was also there to help sing Happy Birthday. They stayed for that one song then went away leaving kids looking for more.

After the cupcakes were eaten and Duke went back in for another rest the party came to a end. Bridget makes Duke a card every year to show her love she has for Dutch Wonderland and especially Duke. She was able to get some time to give him his card this year. He was thrilled with it and made special time just for her. It was nice to see them take time out of the day to share that moment with us. As the vendors started to pack up they games section was lost as usual. The game, yes I know I didn't make it pural, was a small bean bag toss game with Duke's image on it. They really shouldn't advertise games with this sad pitiful game. The party was over but the lagoon was getting more and more crowded with those seeking some coolness to the hot day.

Bridget giving Duke his birthday card that we made.



Bridget showing off her birthday card to one of the amazing performers and some kids.

       

The water park is made up of three major areas: a baby/toddler zone, a water contraption zone, and the water slides zone. Althought the baby area has little baby slides a lot of older kids play in this area too since there is no rule about it. "Lifeguards" are posted at every station making sure kids go down the slides one at a time and there is no horseplaying. They do a good job of keeping safty number one. You might see the woman in charge walking around helping out everyone, she is awesome! This is the most organization I have seen in the park so far this year. I do wish that the staff smiled more though. A smile goes a long way and a lot of the staff looked bored out of their mind.

           

        

The water park is surrounded by a fence with only one exit/enterance. This makes it much better for parents to be able to sit back and relax while the kids have fun. Don't worry though parents, if you want to get into the action as well you can. I love standing under the big bucket that fills up and dumps all over unexpecting kids and adults. It's a great way to cool off. There are changing rooms and lockers to store your belongings as well. So go crazy! There are two large water slide tubes that you can see from the parking lot as well. One is light so you can see the whole trip down and the other is blacked out so you get surprised by every twist and turn. As with all tall tube slides you must hike up a lot of steps for just one trip. You sit in a raft the whole time but you will get wet so just be aware.

One of the many water contraptions at Duke's Lagoon.

The water park is just the right size and so far it's the only place I can let my kid go off on her own and know she is okay. I make her check in every so often for a drink and a hello. If she doesn't show up for a while I go out looking for her. Because of the size of the park I am able to find her no problem. She usually ends up with some little friends that she has been sticking with during our visit. You will need almost a whole day here to let the kids go crazy. The park will take another day as well so it's best to get two days worth of tickets. Don't forget your sunscreen and a squirt bottle for the parents to cool off at the table. On those extra hot days, I like to take a washclothe with me and wet it to place on the back of my neck. It helps keep you cool. As a reminder, you cannot take in your own food and the food there is overpriced. You can however use their picnic area outside the castle in the parking area. That is your best bet. Also remember the perferred parking is $10 now, a new change thanks to Palace Entertainment. I have been assured by Dutch Wonderland Managment that they are looking into the problems with the parking and will be making adjustments where needed. The parking fees are here to stay sadly.

The perferred parking was empty when we were leaving the park, wonder why?

As another alert to those coming back to Dutch Wonderland they are now doing what they call a "soft opening". The park opens at 10am but because of the lines for the gate are getting mixed with the lines for tickets they have decided to open the park at 9:30am and let customers in as far as the train tracks until 10am. I think this is a great idea but the staff did not inform the customers of this and we walked all the way down to the train tracks to get stopped by one employee who is posted to keep guard. In these situations I feel very sorry for the employees that have to carry out these horrible ideas. It's not their fault but when your upset you have to pick it out on someone and there they are. We were not the only people upset about this change. If they told us at the front about this new opening procedure we would have gotten my mother in the shade and in a seat but instead we had to wait twenty minutes until the rest of the park opened. To top things off the announcement did not come through and we waited a extra ten minutes before we were able to go into the rest of the park. A good idea poorly exacuted. They need to post this on the website and inform guest when they enter the park.



Funny that we were told to stand in this area and this sign is posted there too.

              

All in all Bridget did have fun for the day in the water park. She was happy to see Duke but was disappointed in not seeing all his local buddies like prior years. It's hard to let a child know why things are so different when they have been pretty much the same for three years.We expected to see changes for the better not for the worse. We wanted to attend the party since this is our last year as season pass holders due to all the changes. I have been informed that Dutch Wonderland has had a increase in complaints this year due to all the changes, especially the perferred parking. Palace Entertainment has taken a good family friendly park and turned it into a money making machine. The employees don't seem happy to work there anymore as well. I did get a chance to talk to a manager at Dutch Wonderland on this day but did not get too far. In other words they do not make any decisions at the park anymore, it's all up to Palace Entertainment that is set up in Californa.

If you are looking for a alternative may I suggest Knobels. I have never been there, being the loyal DW fans and all, but I have heard great expereinces there. The park admission is free but the rides cost money per ride or you can buy a wrist band. This is great for families with grandparents! Also you can take your own food into the park although from the pictures I have seen of the food it doesn't look half bad. It's been family owned for generations and from what I have been hearing it gives that family friendly feel.

No matter where you decide to go let us know here at Travels With Theresa. We want to hear of any local attractions you might be visiting this summer and would love to hear a review. You can also email me at findingfaithinpa@aol.com. Let me know what's happening this summer!