OT - New Jersey Fun Places

[AnnaS]

Rocking Horse Ranch, Upstate, NY

Willow Valley, Lancaster, PA

Cape May - have not been, on my list (my brother and sil tell me they love it but have only gone during the summer months.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

NOt sure exactly where you are located, but when the weather warms up Dorbrook park in Colts Neck is aweome...they have a great playground and awesome Sprayground..you can have a picnic and walk te trails..It is a lot of fun!!

Oh yes, Dorbrook is about 20 minutes away, we go there all the time. The first time we went we didn't know how wet the kids would get with the sprayground and didn't bring any bathing suits or towles..... but they had fun!!!

 

[Ariel8676]

Thats awesome..we are in Marlboro so not far either...we should meetup at Dorbrook sometime

 

[Eeyore4me]

I highly recommend Storybook Land and the Ocean City Boardwalk and The Cape May Zoo. They are all age appropriate & relatively close to each other if you wanted to plan a few days

I live close by if you have any questions about any of them.

Lauren

 

[Gillian]

If you want a quicky-thing to do, there's a drive-through sculpture museum just outside of Trenton. (though might have to wait til the kids are a little older)

Probably you mean Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton. It's not drive through, and there is an admission charge. Fun place for the kids to run around, even if they don't really appreciate it.

We like Storybook land too. I think they are open now, but with shorter hours.

 

[RMulieri]

Here in pa there is..DUtch Wonderland( great for little ones) Hershey park, Hands on House ,Crayola factory,Sesame Place, Dorney Park.

 

[minniebeth]

I keep thinking about this thread! I know I did a lot growing up in NJ, just can't think of exactly what!
Sometimes I think we all think "grand" and overlook the little places that bring lots of fun and joy to little ones. If you are looking for more local, more low key, I have no idea what the ammenities of these places are like today, but what about The Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange (Essex Co.)
or Van Saun Park in Paramus (Bergen Co.) Van Saun Park had pretty grounds, nice playgrounds, a train ride and pony rides. It would be a nice day, at least as I remember it.

 

[jjhardy]

We just did the Cape May Zoo this weekend with DD 1 1/2! It's GREAT! It's the best zoo ever! You can also drive down to see the Cape May Lewis ferry pull in and out of port and take a walk on the beach at the bay right there where the ferries pull out.

I agree with the Please Touch Museum too but it is indoors. Another cool thing we did a few summers ago before DD came was the USS NJ which is in Camden next too the aquarium. It is an old battleship and you get a tour of it given by a WWII vet. We enjoyed it very much!!!

 

[wishtdream]

My dd likes the cape may zoo, she also likes the safari at six flags in jackson. we have season ticet and she asks to go at least once a week.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

The verdict is in.....
We are doing the Please Touch Museum, and then just walking around Philly. We didn't really want to do anything indoors because its going to be so nice out, but we figure if we do both (indoor and outdoor) it will be ok. I looked up Please Touch on the internet - it looks so great. I espically like the food store where the kids can "buy" things and then check out - so neat! Thanks to everyone for all the great suggestions - I will keep the rest in mind for other weekends!


PS - We would love to do the Cape May Zoo, but its like 2.5 hours each way. We usually go to the Bronx zoo, but we will save that for a later date - my girls just LOVE their animals!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Not to try to sway you but for future ideas:
1. Garden State Discovery Museum in Cherry Hill. Great for 10 and under.
2. Funplex in Mt. Laurel, we had such a blast with the lazer tag with all black lights.

We've given up on Six Flags Great Adventure. After a few years of dealing with that nasty, rude, ghetto crowd, we actually trashed our season passes last year. There's enough litter in the parking lot at the end of the evening that you need a bull dozer to clean it all up. It's really pathetic. I'd rather pay the extra $700 to fly to Orlando.

 

[kacaju]

this is a really fun day for next Sat. the 26th.

http://agfieldday.rutgers.edu/

 

[justwinnie]

Don't forget the NJ Folk Festival at Rutgers too!

http://www.njfolkfest.rutgers.edu/

Same date, just walk over.

The Folk Festival has a lot of children's events too-- music, face painting, etc.

We always walk through Cook Campus to look at the animals and then buy some plants... Then go to the Folk Festival for food (carnival type food), buy some crafts, watch the performers and just have an overall great day.

Arrive early, bring a wagon or stroller for the kids, and be prepared to spend a great day outdoors! Free admission, parking is not (abt $10?-- changes year to year)

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

forgot to mention this too:

http://www.northlandz.com/

Haven't been there yet but my brother raved about it. looks really great if you like trains.

 

[kacaju]

check this site out. We ahve done lots of stuff on this list!!
http://www.fieldtrip.com/nj/index.html

 

[GoinToDisney]

Great ideas, but none of them are open yet - they don't open till May.
Plus I've heard a lot of bad things about Sesame Place - very dirty!

We go to Sesame Place all of the time. It's not Disney clean, but it's definitely not dirty. There is someone in the bathrooms cleaning them about every other visit, and we visit the bathroom quite a few times in a day. The park in general is pretty clean as well. I swear the residents in that area start those rumors because they don't like the extra traffic, especially on the weekends, but it really isn't true.

 

[GoinToDisney]

I highly recommend Storybook Land and the Ocean City Boardwalk and The Cape May Zoo. They are all age appropriate & relatively close to each other if you wanted to plan a few days

I live close by if you have any questions about any of them.

Lauren

Oh! I agree. and the pier at the far end of the OC boardwalk has a ton of indoor kiddie rides that my 3 yo just loved last year. They were open on weekends in mid-September. She still remembers and talks about that more than our Feb. Disney trip lately. Not that she didn't love Disney, but I'm just glad she is asking to go some place we can afford right after a Disney trip!

 

[dspads]

Sorry to sort of hijack, but I have a few questions as I am going to a wedding in Tinton falls NJ and we are looking to do a day trip....


-what is in Red Bank, I think we are near there
-tell me about Storybook land, sounds interesting!
-how about Great Adventure

my kids are 3.5 & 5

TIA!!!

 

[donac]

Hi there I am right next to TInton Falls.

If you have a couple of little kids Red Bank is not for them. It is more of a teen hangout.

YOu could you to Brookdale Community College and on the campus is Monmouth Museum which has a children's section.

YOu could go up to Middletown and go to Poricy Park and go fosil hunting.

Or you could go to Holmdel and go to Longstreet Farms which is a working farm at Holmdel Park.

South of Tinton Falls is a place called Allaire State Park which has buildings from the 1800's.

Next to Tinton Falls is Eatontown and a large mall with a big movie theater if all else fails. It has a nice food court
Out in Freehold is Mounmouth Battlegrounds where there was an important battle from the revolution.

I hope I got the names of these places right. YOu could always take the kids to Seaside and let ride some rides but that gets expensive.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

Sorry to sort of hijack, but I have a few questions as I am going to a wedding in Tinton falls NJ and we are looking to do a day trip....


-what is in Red Bank, I think we are near there
-tell me about Storybook land, sounds interesting!
-how about Great Adventure

my kids are 3.5 & 5

TIA!!!

I can answer yor Red Bank question.... Its a pretty good place to walk around if you've never been. The main part of the town has a lot of neat stores, and if you have a Silent Bob fan in the family he has a comic store there as well. There are many places to eat, from cheap to expencive, and it also has a nice park (if theres no one smoking pot!). There are so many great kids stores, adult clothing stores, jewlery stores... really everything. We do enjoy going there, but I've been going since I was 14 - the only thing that doesn't get old after going so many times is DISNEY!