Nice little place to take the kids in PA

RJM62

RJM62

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Geek on the Hill
This past weekend I took my two goddaughters and their 13-year-old aunt to a place in Warrington, PA called Happy Tymes. I was pleased to find that the park was better than its Web site. In fact, I thought it was exceptionally well-run and a very good value, so I decided to give them a plug.

It's mainly a combination of a go-kart track, a batting cage, mini golf, and an indoor area with various rides and amusements (mainly geared toward preteen kids) and an arcade (a'la Chucky Cheese: They play for tickets and trade them for trinkets).

The admission per kid was only $20.95 for an all-day wristband that includes unlimited access to everything except the batting cage and the arcade. They must have ridden the go-karts twenty or thirty times, lol.

I also was pleasantly surprised to find the food and refreshments reasonably priced. Foot-long Philly cheese steak sandwich combo with fries and a drink was about seven bucks. Grilled cheese combo was about four bucks. Not at all bad by amusement park standards.

The staff, too, was excellent. Mainly high school and college kids, but they seemed to enjoy what they were doing and laughed a lot while they interacted with the kids.

All told, it cost me about $130.00 to feed (lunch and supper) and entertain three kids for about nine hours. When we left, their bellies were full, they had leftovers to take home, and they were exhausted.

So if you're in that area and you need to kill some time with your kids, I suggest you check this place out. I thought it was well worth the money for the non-stop smiles.

-Rich
 

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WoW Rich you are either a glutton for punishment or a much better man than I. I don't think I could go 9 hours at Happy Tymes without being put in a rubber room. Seeing as its only about 20 minutes from me I was there quite often for birthday parties that my daughter attended. The noise the goo the PA system calling out a different birthday party every 10 minutes Ahhhhh.

I am happy you got to spend some good time with the kids and thats what counts.
 
AdamZ said:
WoW Rich you are either a glutton for punishment or a much better man than I. I don't think I could go 9 hours at Happy Tymes without being put in a rubber room. Seeing as its only about 20 minutes from me I was there quite often for birthday parties that my daughter attended. The noise the goo the PA system calling out a different birthday party every 10 minutes Ahhhhh.

I am happy you got to spend some good time with the kids and thats what counts.
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Frankly, I doubt I could have dealt with nine hours there when my daughter was a child. Things like noise, goo, and PA announcements bothered me more back then. I guess I've mellowed.

I was also enjoying watching the A-10s flying overhead. I guess there's an Air Force base next door?

-Rich
 
The kids won't forget about all the fun they had. Rich, plan on taking that trip again!
 
RJM62 said:
Frankly, I doubt I could have dealt with nine hours there when my daughter was a child. Things like noise, goo, and PA announcements bothered me more back then. I guess I've mellowed.

I was also enjoying watching the A-10s flying overhead. I guess there's an Air Force base next door?

-Rich
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Yup JRB Willow Grove is spitting Distance, they have a great air museum too so the next time you go remember to take the kids there as well.

Paul Allen said:
The kids won't forget about all the fun they had. Rich, plan on taking that trip again!
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And creating those memories is what its all about. Rich those kids are fortunate to have you in their lives.


Yup you co
 
Thanks for the info.

That Dutch Wonderland looks like a nice trip... I sent the link to the kids. They want to go to Six Flags, but the last time I was there I thought it was a rip-off. Dutch Wonderland looks like a better bet.

Just as an aside, I had a medical scare a few years ago. The doctors had me dead and buried within a year. :yikes:
But it turned out to be nothing (well, nothing that a few hours under the knife couldn't fix, anyway). It took thinking I was going to die to show me what's really important in life. And things like this are high on the list.

I don't have as much money as I used to, but I do have a lot more fun and sleep a whole lot better these days. :)

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
Thanks for the info.

That Dutch Wonderland looks like a nice trip... I sent the link to the kids. They want to go to Six Flags, but the last time I was there I thought it was a rip-off. Dutch Wonderland looks like a better bet.

Just as an aside, I had a medical scare a few years ago. The doctors had me dead and buried within a year. :yikes:
But it turned out to be nothing (well, nothing that a few hours under the knife couldn't fix, anyway). It took thinking I was going to die to show me what's really important in life. And things like this are high on the list.

I don't have as much money as I used to, but I do have a lot more fun and sleep a whole lot better these days. :)

-Rich
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Rich,

Dutch Wonderland is now a Hershey property -- which means its clean, maintained, and generally well-staffed.

The ideal age is 4-11 or so. Our kids loved it until about 13 or so (we lived 3.5 miles from it), then our oldest worked there for a couple of summers.

You can actually fly to Smoketown Airport (you'll fly over DW on left downwind for 27, IIRC).

Call ahead -- I'm sure someone there will give you a ride (it's a mile --maybe).

Dan
 
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Hey, thanks for the information about Dutch Wonderland. I took the kids there yesterday for 10 hours and and they loved it. Clean, well-run, lots of variety to keep the kids entertained.

The oldies on the PA system made it tolerable for adults, as well. Lots of Beach Boys songs.

The prices were pretty reasonable too. I'd say the day cost about $200.00 or so for the three of us, which isn't bad by today's standards.

Thanks again,

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
Hey, thanks for the information about Dutch Wonderland. I took the kids there yesterday for 10 hours and and they loved it. Clean, well-run, lots of variety to keep the kids entertained.

The oldies on the PA system made it tolerable for adults, as well. Lots of Beach Boys songs.

The prices were pretty reasonable too. I'd say the day cost about $200.00 or so for the three of us, which isn't bad by today's standards.

Thanks again,

-Rich
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Great!! Did you fly there?
 
dmccormack said:
Great!! Did you fly there?
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No, unfortunately. I'm still a x-country solo and a check ride away from getting my ticket. Other needs have taken priority during the recession. But it was a nice drive from Philly to Lancaster. Lots of interesting conversation:

KIDS: "Uncle Richard! Look at all those cows!"

ME: "Yeah, there's a lot of them, huh?"

KIDS: "Yeah! What are they all doing there?"

ME: "It's a dairy farm."

KIDS: "What's a dairy farm?"

ME: "It's where milk comes from."

KIDS: "Really? Wow, that's cool!"

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
No, unfortunately. I'm still a x-country solo and a check ride away from getting my ticket. Other needs have taken priority during the recession. But it was a nice drive from Philly to Lancaster. Lots of interesting conversation:

KIDS: "Uncle Richard! Look at all those cows!"

ME: "Yeah, there's a lot of them, huh?"

KIDS: "Yeah! What are they all doing there?"

ME: "It's a dairy farm."

KIDS: "What's a dairy farm?"

ME: "It's where milk comes from."

KIDS: "Really? Wow, that's cool!"

-Rich
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I did that drive many, many times (Lived in lancster, worked in KoPrussia). I even rode my bike once from Coatesville to home when my car broke down.

That stretch of 30 between Coatesville and Gap helps you make the transition from Phillybigcityeastcoast to Midwesternnotsoimportantland.
 
dmccormack said:
I did that drive many, many times (Lived in lancster, worked in KoPrussia). I even rode my bike once from Coatesville to home when my car broke down.

That stretch of 30 between Coatesville and Gap helps you make the transition from Phillybigcityeastcoast to Midwesternnotsoimportantland.
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yep, not so important, except for feeding all of the people in the big city :)
 
dmccormack said:
I did that drive many, many times (Lived in lancster, worked in KoPrussia). I even rode my bike once from Coatesville to home when my car broke down.

That stretch of 30 between Coatesville and Gap helps you make the transition from Phillybigcityeastcoast to Midwesternnotsoimportantland.
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Ha, yeah Dan I hear ya. I lived in Lancaster (Centerville area) for about six years before I moved back to Chester County (big move huh?) and know that stretch of Rt. 30 very well.
 
Anthony said:
Ha, yeah Dan I hear ya. I lived in Lancaster (Centerville area) for about six years before I moved back to Chester County (big move huh?) and know that stretch of Rt. 30 very well.
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Centerville! That's big time suburbs over there.... :ihih:

We lived in West Lampeter for 17 years -- watched it devolve from FFA-land to Aeropostale town in that time.

Not exactly Quarryville, but on the very edge of civilization, surely. :cool2:
 
What I found amusing was that the kids knew milk came from cows, and had some vague idea that cows were found on farms, but didn't immediately recognize that they were indeed passing by a farm at that very moment. That was good for a chuckle.

The next conversation began with, "EEEEeewwwwwww! What's that smell?"

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
Hey, thanks for the information about Dutch Wonderland. I took the kids there yesterday for 10 hours and and they loved it. Clean, well-run, lots of variety to keep the kids entertained.

The oldies on the PA system made it tolerable for adults, as well. Lots of Beach Boys songs.

The prices were pretty reasonable too. I'd say the day cost about $200.00 or so for the three of us, which isn't bad by today's standards.

Thanks again,

-Rich
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I think Rich needs to adopt a few kids!
 
dmccormack said:
Now that we go back to Lancaster, I realize how accustomed to "that smell" we'd become when we lived there!!!!!
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Amish and Mennonite farmers use tons of manure for there fields. Suburbanites that move there always complain.
 
Anthony said:
Amish and Mennonite farmers use tons of manure for there fields. Suburbanites that move there always complain.
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They do, but they also use manure slurry, which is concentrate taken from large chicken production houses (which are now housing hundreds of thousands of broilers, whereas in the 1980s 20k was a big broiler house)

It's fine if they spread and then turn the soil over immediately, but often they don't, causing house fly population booms.

The Amish and Mennonites are people, and some are sloppy and not as careful as they should be. However, they shouldn't get a pass from neighborly farming practice just because the neighbors are from New Jersey.

:no:
 
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