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Plan your next Idlewild family adventure and save up to $13 per ticket!

Our summer is never complete without a visit to Idlewild and Soakzone, located in Southwest Pennsylvannia. It’s an easy drive for us from Northeast Ohio and so worth it. They have been voted best Kids Park in the World times and deservingly so. This year was a little differentt as we only spent one day (usually we spend two, one for storybook forest and rides and one day for waterpark and rides) and after trying to fit it all in in one day, I definately reccomend making this a two day venture. While the park isn’t huge like some parks, there is more to do for the little ones than most parks. Its really one of the best things about Idlewild.

Here is a reccomended itinerary:

Day 1:

Storybook Forest usually opens before the rest of the park so if you get there early you won’t only get a great parking space, but will get a jump start on the day.

Storybook Forest is also a little more crowded at this time, but not so much that it is unpleasant and you can go at your own pace which helps.

Fun at Jumpin Jungle

After Storybook Forest the rest of the park is open and we will hit up Jumpin Jungle for a little bit, then head on over to the small kids rides where we catch a show with Daniel Tiger and of course a Trolley Ride through Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

We then spend the rest of the day riding rides in the Racoon Lagoon area, with breaks for naps, pottybreaks and lunch.

Often I will pack peanut butter and jelly that I make from the breakfast supplies at our hotel as well as a couple small yogurts.

(Travel Hint: Always, Always, Bring Ziploc bags, Everywhere. Always. Really.)

We also will usually go over to the Hootin Holler food area and get some of their loaded cheese fries (Travel tip: to indulge in serious PA culture, get the Gravy Fries… let me know how they are, I love em but can’t get the kids to split with me… and I haven’t had the heart to try to devour an entire order by myself…someday though…)

We Won at Wac-a-mole !

Usually the Racoon Lagoon closes a little earlier than the rest of the part (about an hour before). So we will make our way over to the main area and play games as well as ride some of the rides in that area.

Day 2:
First part of the day we walk over to the Soakzone area to select our pre-booked Cabana (Hint: You can do this online) but we go over early to select our exact Cabana… if this isn’t as important to you, then you could probably skip this step, but if you do want to rent one, make sure to reserve one in the morning when you arrive if you didn’t do so prior online.
Once we get that out of the way we usually head back to Racoon Lagoon to ride rides until about 12:30/1 or whenever its warm enough to swim. (Hint: This is a great day to use the peanut butter/jelly trick because you can make them in the shade of your cabana and minimal waiting on food during swim time).

View of Soakzone’s Lazy River

The waterpark usually closes at 6p and the rest of the park close at about 8-9. Racoon Lagoon of course closes an hour before the main part of the park so after swimming we usually go and hit a few more rides in Racoon Lagoon.

Depending on how the kids are, we may stay until the park closes or head back to our hotel early to catch up on rest of a couple of busy and very fun-filled days.

Sometimes if we get out of the park early enough we hit our favorite place for food in the area, Ruthie’s Diner, which is about 5 minutes down the Lincoln Highway from Idlewild park. Everything is good a Ruthie’s, but their haddock sandwich and fried chicken are out of this world. Lots of local folks are always at Ruthie’s and that is a good sign for any place when you travel.

Storybook Forest 60th Anniversary!

Princess Lilly Meet and Greet

Idlewild & SoakZone is celebrating the 60thAnniversary of Story Book Forest and they have built an entire Enchanted
Castle! During our visit we got to meet the beautiful Princess Lily and Duke the
Dragon.

In the castle courtyard, they have the famed sword in the stone, Excalibur. It is really neat to see Storybook Forest get a refresh so that another generation can enjoy this childhood gem. While we were there in early June they were still finishing up the castle, due to so much rain througout spring. But what we did see looked great and we look forward to the full experience next year. From what I understand though it is finally finished so if you make it this summer you will get to be one of the first to enjoy this addition to Storybook Forest in honor of it’s 60th anniversary.
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