Storyland: A Family Friendly Amusement Park [ Video ]
In the same weekend we headed up to New Hampshire to attend A Day Out With Thomas, we also spent the afternoon at Storyland in Glen, NH, just a short driving distance from North Conway.
Storyland is a deceivingly large, family friendly, amusement park geared mostly for kids ages 2-12. Children (3 and over) as well as adults are currently $27.99 per person, but the price of the admission ticket includes all rides, shows and attractions. Children 2 and under enter free. Our trip and experience was based on two adults visiting with a 20 month old toddler, so there were many rides and attractions we did not personally experience during this particular trip simply because of his age, size and attention span. Though children grow so fast and because of the wide array of rides and attractions, there was a little something for everyone, so I could see how a family could have a totally different experience with each visit to the park.
Even though we were only in the park for a total of 5 hours, we rode about 7 different rides (some more than once), took a boat trip on the Storyland Queen, visited Cinderella in her castle, had a showdown with Humpty Dumpty, sat with Mother Goose and spent a lot of time playing in the Little Dreamers section of the park that included a ball pit and other activities with cute photo opportunities perfectly sized for a toddler. We were busy every moment we were inside the park, and because the park was so large, it never felt crowded.
The park has are over 21 different rides, which are clearly marked for each age group. Kids taller than 36 inches can ride every ride in the park, with an adult accompanying them; while children taller than 48 inches can ride alone. There is a rider exchange program where a parent can wait behind to care for a child who doesn’t meet the ride requirements and then switch off. We ate our lunch before we entered the park, but inside bought an ice cream and a few drinks, which were about $3 each. I personally feel like anytime you buy food at a place like this it is always going to be more on the expensive side, so I didn’t really have sticker shock. On the day of our trip I thought the park was very clean. There were bathrooms centrally located in multiple areas of the park. There was also many baby changing and nursing areas for mothers, which came in handy to do several quick diaper change.
Our favorite experience in the whole park was the Egg-stroardinary Farm Tractors. This ride was definitely worth the almost 10 minute wait to see Gavin quickly figure out how to “drive” the tractor. I had a flash forward to 15 years from now, as my husband and I sat in the back, while he drove the tractor, quickly figuring out how to drive with one hand and change the station with the other, faster than I could ever anticipate. The fun he had in those few minutes was totally worth the tantrum he had when the ride was over, and the family picture we purchased for $12 was priceless.
If you ever take a visit to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, be sure to add this family friendly amusement park to your list.
Storyland provided my family with 3 free tickets to the park to facilitate this review. The opinions are my own.