My family and I just got back home from our first trip to Storybook Land. Storybook Land is located in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, pretty close to Atlantic City. It took us a little less than 1 1/2 hours to get there from my home in Wilmington, Delaware. If you've never been to Storybook Land before, think of a place like Dutch Wonderland, but a bit smaller without a large water area. Storybook Land has been around for almost 56 years which is evident by some of the 1950s charm and nostalgic displays they have.
On this trip were me, my mother-in-law, a family friend, my 5 year old son Beluga and my 2 year old son Christopher. This is a place that was perfect for kids their ages. Both of my sons were able to go on any ride if they chose to. Many of the rides, my 2 year old was too little to go on by himself, but was able to go on with an adult, which is perfectly fine.
Today was a customer appreciation day, which meant that tickets were 25% off. We were also chosen out of the line to get free cups (that had lids and straws) for our party that we were able to have filled with soda, water or lemonade for free whenever we wanted! This was a very nice surprise to start our day off with.
The theme of Storybook Land is, of course, nursery rhymes and story books. When we first got into the area the first thing we saw was the Hickory Dickory Dock, which was a large clock that had a mouse going up and down it. Now as a grown person you may not be impressed, but my 2 year old, for some reason, was enthralled. He kept wanting to go back and see this clock and the mouse that is hidden for a minute and then comes back up the clock then down the clock. He loved it.
The first official ride that we went on was the Railroad train, which is necessary for my train loving Beluga. This was a great way to see what is around the park when you first get there. As I mentioned, it's not a large park about 20 acres of cute family fun. Another thing that Beluga loved was the Alice in Wonderland maze, we had to go through that twice.
Everyone had a great day and was very satisfied with the trip. The only part that didn't go well was during lunch we were eating at the Dining Depot and my mother-in-law went up to the counter to get her customer appreciation cup refilled. The older lady working the counter got an attitude with her and told her "you know, there are other areas where you can get your cup refilled", my MIL explained that we were eating lunch in there, which did not seem to satisfy this worker. Talk about customer service! But that was the exception to the rule because every other staff member that we interacted with was very friendly, courteous and seemed to enjoy having the children around having a great time.
Another thing that I enjoyed about Storybook Land is that it was not very crowded. We went on a Monday, so I'm sure this makes a difference, but we felt very comfortable just taking our time visiting everything at our own pace. We got to the park a little before 10:30 am and left around 2:45. We could have stayed a bit longer, but we had seen most of the park and the kids were starting to get a bit tired. There are probably only about 20 rides, but my 5 year old would have been happy riding a couple of them multiple times.
This is a great place for little ones, but if you have a child 10, they might not be thrilled and you may have to take a picture of them because they didn't mind their mother :b If you do have young children and are looking for something to do for a day trip, you should consider Story Book Land. It's also good for frugal families because although the price is not cheap at $21.95, it is free for 1 years and under, 25% off all tickets on customer appreciation days and you are welcome to bring your own food and drinks inside and they have a partially covered picnic area available close to bathrooms where we saw many families with coolers.
To find out more, visit
Story Book Land
Sidenote: We saw two chipmunks in the park while we were there. They do have animals there, such as "Mary's Little Lamb", but these guys were not part of the attractions. I've never actually seen chipmunks in real life, they are so small!
