Lancaster itinerary - update page 4 '23, update page 7 '24

amother

↑ Turquoise

Tue, Aug 08 2023, 8:33 pm

amother Garnet wrote:

Does the restaurant have dine in seating or is it just take out?

There is a big room, kind of like a social hall where you can eat. Not fancy at all but a great place to just sit down with the family if want to go eat somewhere.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 08 2023, 11:42 pm

amother Junglegreen wrote:

We're in lancaster now. staying at the candlewood 8 minutes from the shul next door to that fish place, its nothing fancy but we like the full size fridge and kitchenette in the rooms.
Sunday we did that fish place (they had a reptile show) and then we went to the hands on house children museum
today we rented a swimply pool, went to kitchen kettle village (don't recommend) and the lil country store and miniature horse farm (the kids can get rides on the little horses), its right by old windmill farm so we checked that out too, they also offer tours/buggy rides, we had planned to go to the amish farm and house today but it was too hot (and im 9 months pregnant)
Tomorrow we're going to kreider farms and looking for a fun morning activity. we may do a buggy ride or check out some farmers markets.

Thank you, I will look into Candlewood. The kitchenette area is a nice plus. Do they have connecting rooms?

We were considering Wyndham because it has all those places for kids to play, but it's about 15 minutes from the shul. Is it worth forgoing those play areas to stay at the Candlewood which is 8 minutes from the shul?

amother

Oxfordblue

Tue, Aug 15 2023, 12:02 am

What's is the shul? And what's the info about kosher food?

amother

↑ Garnet ↓

Wed, Aug 16 2023, 8:40 am

Has anyone been to Old Windmill Farm? Is it nice? Do you actually get to milk the cows or you watch them do it? What else is there to do there? If we're doing Cherry crest the next day would it be too much farm in one shot?

amother

↑ Copper ↓

Wed, Aug 16 2023, 10:47 am

amother Copper wrote:

We went to Old Windmill Farm instead and did the farm tour, it's an actual working Amish farm and you get to pet and hold a ton of adorable baby animals, and take a hayride, and right on the same property is a cute shop to look around and it's free to visit and pet the mini horses. Highly recommend, my kids (and I!) loved it!.

Yes, we got to milk the cow as well. We fed baby cows with bottles, fed hay to the horses, fed chicken feed to the hens, gathered eggs... It was a great tour.

amother

↑ Moonstone ↓

Wed, Aug 16 2023, 11:12 am

First time going to Lancaster and very excited.
DH will daven with minyan should we base the hotel we choose around the Shul?
What’s the name of the shul so I can check davening times
We plan to go last week of august is there still minyan?
Someone recommended country inn and suites?

amother

↑ Moonstone ↓

Wed, Aug 16 2023, 11:14 am

My oldest are 10 and 12 with 7, 4 and baby and I have three days- from what I see here I’d do Cherry Crest Farm and mane Dutch Wonderland- what else is good for the oldest kids age? Kreider farm? (I am basing that all on this thread alone, thanks Imamother 😀)

amother

↑ Azure ↓

Wed, Aug 16 2023, 11:35 am

amother Moonstone wrote:

Went last year. Three days. Kids 11-2

Day one. Dutch wonderland. Full day
Day 2: kreiders farm tour, horse and buggy ride, Amish farm driving around etc. I should've done also strassbyrg railroad.
Day 3: cherry crest farm

Stayed in DoubleTree Hilton with water splash park.

amother

↑ Moonstone ↓

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 3:56 pm

amother Azure wrote:

When did you travel there? Morning of day 1?
How do kids use splash pad- any tznius issues?

amother

Coffee

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 4:15 pm

amother Moonstone wrote:

Your older kids might like the herrs potato chip factory tour.

amother

Marigold

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 8:21 pm

Just wanted to let you know that Dutch Wonderland is only opened on the 27th for that week

amother

↑ Almond

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 8:31 pm

If it’s a rainy day , we went to Going Bananas a couple years back and the kids enjoyed.

This year we did Hershey Park since I have teens and they outgrew Dutch Wonderland , yet still have kiddie rides for the little kids .

If you are looking for something small to do, Lost Treasure Mini Golf was a nice way to spend a few hours.

amother

↑ Azure ↓

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 8:56 pm

amother Moonstone wrote:

When did you travel there? Morning of day 1?
How do kids use splash pad- any tznius issues?

Yes left at like 6 am and got.to.dutch wonderland as they opened.

amother

↑ Azure

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 8:57 pm

Double tree Hilton had a room for minyan last year in the hotel. I believe they have this year too according to chat I am on.

eishis chayil

Fri, Aug 18 2023, 12:20 am

Hi going for 2 days with 4 and 7 yr old. Kreider farm one day cherry crest the other. What else can I do to get max of my stay? Lving for 2 hr drive abt 10 am and kreiders scheduled for 145 so eithera small activity before and something for after. The following day cherry crest I understand is a full day. Ty!

amother Chocolate wrote:

This exactly. I wouldn't schedule anything else for those days. There is a ton to do in both places, and your kids won't get bored. If anything, they will be upset to leave early. Also, they are expensive and IMO not worth the price for only half a day.

This is our third year going to Lancaster. Out itinerary is:

Sun - drive
Mon- dutch wonderland
Tues- water's edge mini golf and a playground
Wed-lancaster science factory
Thurs-cherry Crest farm
Fri- drive

In 2022 our itinerary waa:
Sun- drive
Mon- hand's on house children's musuem and national toy train museum
Tues- dutch wonderland
Wed- we drove out to city island and did some activities there including boat ride (pride of the susquehanna). We also went to the wildwood nature center which is free and like a mini children's musuem
Thurs- cherry Crest farm
Fri-longs park and drive home

In 2021 our itinerary was:

Sun-drive
Mon-Dutch wonderland
Tues-amish buggy ride, Strasbourg railroad and choo choo barn
Wed-cherry Crest farm
Thurs- longs park and kreiders farm tour
Drove home in evening

amother

↑ Amethyst

Sun, Aug 20 2023, 2:35 pm

amother Azure wrote:

Double tree Hilton had a room for minyan last year in the hotel. I believe they have this year too according to chat I am on.

do you have the chat link? I cant find it anywhere

amother

↑ Moonstone ↓

Mon, Aug 21 2023, 10:33 am

amother Marigold wrote:

Just wanted to let you know that Dutch Wonderland is only opened on the 27th for that week

are things open like usual? Is it worth going?

amother

↑ Moonstone ↓

Mon, Aug 21 2023, 10:33 am

Where is the shul?
What has to be pre-booked?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Sep 03 2023, 12:05 am

I just wanted to come back here and post what we did in case anyone in the future looks back to this and it would be helpful.

So we ended up staying at the Wyndham in Lancaster (specifically that one, I think there are one or two other Wyndhams in the area). They wouldn't guarantee connecting rooms which I didn't realize when someone I spoke to on the phone made it sound like I had them. When we got there it looked like one of the rooms assigned to us was taken so they had to find two others preferably connecting (it really is a must for us, in the future I will keep this in mind) which they did manage to find. Those two were near the elevators/stairs which was great for us.
What I was happy about this hotel over others was that it has an indoor kiddy play area, and an outdoor park + sprinkler park. It also has an indoor and outdoor pool. More on this later.

We left on Sunday morning from Lakewood area. We got to Dutch Wonderland (it was not open the rest of the week afaik) maybe around 1:30pm. We ate lunch on some picnic benches (make sure to go to the ones closer to entrance, not by the rv park area) and then headed into the park. We had a great time! I don't remember what time we left, maybe around 5:30. We did a bunch of rides, and at the end we did the train ride. It was all very enjoyable and not super crowded I guess at that point in the summer. We bought the tickets ahead of time online at a discount. Maybe they always offer discounts, online, I don't know.

Then we went to the hotel that was right nearby, checked in, ate supper, and the kids played in the indoor kiddy play room.

The next day we went to the miniature horse farm which we really enjoyed. Then we went back to the hotel for an early lunch. Then we went to the Lancaster Science Factory which was so interesting and had a lot to keep everyone busy. Then we headed back to the hotel and after eating something my kids got into their swim stuff and went to the outdoor park/sprinkler park and then the pool area which was pretty empty. The pool area also has these 2 smaller round pools that are just 3 ft deep and at some point 1 was empty and then the other, and my husband took my younger kids into those empty pools as well.

The 3rd day we checked out and went to Cherry Crest Farm. That was really nice, so so much to keep busy. It really is a full day outing, even though I originally thought my kids would not be able to stay in any one place for more than 2-3 hours. We ended buying some much needed cold drinks in the middle and that rejuvenated everyone (it was so hot!) and we did a few more things. We really had a nice time!

Then we went to Long's Park for a BBQ/park play. Then we went home. I had been hoping to stick in That Fish Place/That Pet Place somewhere, but it did not end up working out. Either way though we had a great time!

Regarding davening, we knew about the shul there but there were so many other Frum ppl at the hotel that they had minyanim there. Mincha my husband was able to get a minyan at Dutch Wonderland and Cherry Crest Farm too.

Regarding food, we brought everything from home, except for the cold drinks we bought at Cherry Crest Farm and we did pick up more bottled water and a couple of other items at a Target that was near the hotel.
We brought the following from home: Bread, bagels, cream cheese, tuna, hummus, squeeze yoghurts, string cheese, sliced cheese, crackers, rice cakes, assorted granola bars and nut bars, applesauce cups and squeeze ones, pretzels, popcorn, other snack bags, fig bars, fruits such as apples, nectarines, plums, bananas, veggies such as cut up pepper sticks, baby carrots, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, milk, box drinks, small sodas, water bottles, franks, buns, cooked noodles, hard boiled eggs, noodle soups....etc. Assorted paper goods, garbage bags, plastic bags, plastic tablecloths, tongs for the bbq, knives... We also brought our electric kettle and I'm sure more stuff. My kids are still under 10 yrs old, we didn't need to cook anything and for 3 days whatever we brought worked well for us.

I hope this will help anyone going in the future! We really had a great time and we're happy we went!

amother

Gray

Wed, Sep 20 2023, 10:57 pm

Very informative thread.
Anyone has anything to add for sukkas?
Where is the shul?