Idlewild & SoakZone

I haven’t been to Idlewild in years but took my youngest grandson there. The park was busy but not overly crowded the grounds were clean and employees helpful. We had a short wait at the gate to get in our digital tickets worked great and we were in in no time. We were directed where to park. I loved the tree lined park and there was plenty of shade. If you have a young child this is the perfect park. The giant Rubber Ducky was there and the baby yellow ducky too.

Long lines for food (1 person working bbq shack and 1 hr wait, no trays, no silverware), rides closed due to staff shortage, maintenance, and removed (slides)... I used to love this place... going downhill fast... lack of maintenance and appearance. If due to lack of help, reduce ticket price or close when little help so people dont have to have a bad experience. We paid full price for 1/2 the experience. Maybe the owners and senior leaders should come thru when short staffed and see how they like the treatment. They wont... they want their full ticket price collected no matter the experience for the public. Was like this last year too... figured they fixed it up since.... Edit as the day goes on.. after the long wait, my BBQ sandwich was cold, as was mac n cheese and half ripe watermelon. Son bought the $25 unlimited refill souvenir cup only to find out it has a QR code and only gives a LIMITED # of refills. Caramel apple not available, as "apples aren't ripe yet".

I will start with what really ticked me off…. We were in the lazy river and just kept going around cause it was peaceful. My handicapped daughter cannot do much so we stayed. While we’re in there and it’s hot out 88 degrees they kicked everyone out and said they were closing it for about a half hour so everyone could take breaks. You don’t close a water attraction when there aren’t many for breaks, you swap out workers for breaks. It was closed for over an hour. I’ve never seen anything like that and I’ve been to many parks. So we had to go to the pirate play area and the worker complained at me for going down the little water slide with my daughter who doesn’t walk. I’m like she doesn’t walk he’s like I understand I’m like no you don’t. Next the only bathroom with a big changing table smelled like pee, it was all over the floor. I didn’t see anyone clean the bathrooms at all. The food was so expensive. I’m from Eastern PA and you guys are more expensive than them. Also closing at 7 is really early. Sesame place stays open later and that’s geared towards little kids. We would’ve went to Kennywood, but it was too hot. I love the big changing table. I love how you just check in with your tickets when you park. I love how the parking is right there. Some of the workers were really nice. The wait times for rides were next to nothing which was nice, but it was a Monday.

My children and their spouses and my 6 grandchildren had a great time from opening to closing! We had so much fun last year that we made it part of our annual family vacation. Looking forward to next summer already! Very clean , well maintained park , including Soak Zone.

We have season passes and have been several times this year have had a great time the only thing I would ask you to change is when people are filling their cups can you please make sure there is ice there is never ice because the soda machines do not make ice someone has to fill it and it is always empty but other than that we have had the best time with our 5 grandkids there we will continue to come back

Went for our daughters early birthday 🎈🎂 present from her grandparents and she had a blast. The park is great for small kids!! Definitely recommend a wagon!!

Buy your tickets online for special holiday visits. We saved $30.00 per ticket buying online. It is a very nice, "kid friendly" park nestled in the woods with quite a bit of shade. There are a lot of classic rides and park food you will enjoy. There is also the Soak Zone and Storybook Forest. All in all, a nice get away for a day. Located between Latrobe and Ligonier PA. Parking is free.

We love Idlewild! It is such a great park, and we have made so many fun memories there! For our family, the season passes; they are so worth it! You can go as often as you want in the summer and fall with most of the passes. Their payment plan system they have is great and can make it more affordable for families. Another little thing I wanted to mention. Sometimes we have people in our group that need a wheelchair, and I noticed this year they are offering mobility scooter rentals now, which is great!

We were on the fence about visiting because of all the negative reviews here but we were pleasantly surprised and had a magical day with our kids. We love Daniel Tiger and were so excited with the shows, the trolley ride and the "neighborhood", my girls were in DT heaven. We got to meet 4 of the characters which was great. The lines for all rides were moving fast, 5-10 minutes at the most. I love that all the rides are geared for smaller kids. We weren't interested in any of the water rides, so I have no comments on that part of the park. But everything else was very enjoyable and nice! Staff was amazing, very caring and polite.

Ample free onsite parking, wheelchair/scooter/stroller accessible. Very family friendly. We drove over an hour to see the rubber duckies. We arrived at opening, took a leisurely walk, and rode on many rides. Each operator obviously enjoyed their jobs. "Put your hands in the air like you don't care." The operator got everybody to raise their arms to easily perform safety checks. During Daniel the Tiger performance a staff member gave the performers a signal and the show was stopped for a change in weather conditions. Employees shut down rides until the rain, thunder, & lightening stopped. They explained the situation and guided guests out of harm's way. Unfortunately with the storm the 60+ ft rubber duckie was deflated. Staff would wait an hour before re-inflating. While waiting guests enjoyed $14 chicken fingers and French fries. Sticker shock until I saw the portion size. It could easily feed 2 adults or several kids. We enjoyed hot soft pretzels. Probably best we have ever had. Suggest bringing hats, sunscreen, and frozen water bottles. Wish the mouse roller coaster had some shade. We waited 45 minutes in line. Highly recommend this low key, family oriented park. Note: Ticket prices are SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper through AAA v. park entrance.

We had a Great day at Idlewild in SoakZone the wave pool Was cool but refreshing kids loved it. The soap zone lazy river was crowded but the kids had a great time. We rode the roller coaster and we had fun walking around the park with a nice warm sunny day. Highly recommend this park if you're not going to Kennywood. Don't forget the french fries, storybook forest with a long walk, but it was fun !

Idlewild opening day May 17, 2025. Carousel didn't have any music playing. Lines were awesome; not too long of a wait at all however every single ride was much shorter than usual and we've been coming for years. I don't know if the rides were just super short because it was the first operating day of the season or what, but it was not my imagination, they were definitely short. We are platinum season pass holders and get free drink refills and they have a self serve drink station and 2 of our 4 cups wouldn't scan, the screen said "card not valid" even though we were scanning our cups the soda fountain would not turn on. Another park goer asked one of the employees if he could fill the drink cups and he said yes, but the soda he gave us was flat. We ended up going to customer service to try to resolve it and they really just didn't seem to care at all but gave 2 new cups and took the old ones. A genuine apology goes a long way! They also used to have 2 playground areas (near the Howler) which are now completely gone. Also, in Racoon Lagoon kids bumper cars are gone and that area now just has picnic tables, the little boat ride is gone, one of the hand car rides in Racoon Lagoon is gone, and the kids Ferris wheel is gone. The big Ferris wheel that used to be next to the Spider is also gone and it's just an empty patch of grass. He also got rid of the ball pit, which was in Jumpin Jungle. I know it's been a few years since it's been gone but that was one of the nicest things they had, I remember going in it as a kid. Now it's just a dark maze. Food is expensive. We got fries and chicken tenders at the Potato Patch and some of the fries were burnt and hard. Also in Ricky's Emporium gift shop, not all the items have prices on them (kind of annoying when you are trying to get your kid a souvenir but don't want to spend a ton). The Loggin Toboggan broke down and people were stuck at the top and bottom of the hill. Some employees came and pushed the people that were stuck at the bottom of the hill backwards to the station. I didn't see what happened with the people stuck at the top, I'm assuming they had to walk down the stairs but they got it working again quickly and we went on it. The photo station however was not working properly and we never got to see our photo. It seemed to be stuck on people that went on it earlier in the day. If you are a season pass holder you will not get a discount at Auntie Anne's since they are not part of Idlewild. I do like the fact that they redid the entry and exit lines for the balloon ride so you exit where you enter and that's nice if you have a stroller. Also got to see the characters Duke and Ricky and take photos which was also nice. Looks like SoakZone is getting ready to open with water already in the lazy river ride! Park is beautiful with the trees and stream. In my opinion, they used to have a bee problem. Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like bees would follow me everywhere there, but it seems to be a little better now even though some bees still followed me today. It used to be really bad when they had open garbage cans, now it seems like most of the garbage cans have lids that are closed tightly. They got rid of the scale for the rollo coaster, you used to have to stand on it with whoever you were riding with and it had to be under a certain weight. I noticed they redid some of the queue lines for the rides which is nice.

Went there as soon as they opened. Walked through storybook forest and went straight to the pretzel stand by the jungle gym playground. They were out of several items. We then went to the food court. The BBQ pit was out of mac and cheese. The bathrooms in racoon lagoon are horrible. Have been going for 30+ years and never had such a horrible experience. The price of admission and the cost of food and drinks are too high for the quality of the park. Im not sure if I will go back.

I think the place needs a complete makeover it's really beginning to show its age now from all those years. It's just not that exciting anymore unless you're one year old ! It still gets packed though that poses a problem for entering and leaving the park there should really be a traffic light outside of the place. For the money that's charged I'd say save it and look for somewhere else to go ..

Idlewild is my favorite of all the parks around Pittsburgh. It's a bit of a drive from the city, but worth it. An amusement park and water park in the same place. The rides are more geared toward kids (and adults like me who are scared of roller coasters). You can spend the whole day here in the summer and find everything you could want. The food is a bit expensive but typical for what you would find at a similar park. The staff is always so kind and helpful. I always look forward to my idlewild visits!

Overall staffing was very pleasant. I think for the price you pay to get into the park to only arrive with only two water slides open and the wave pool without any notification on their website prior to purchasing the tickets says they do not care about the customer service. Had I known the lazy river and small pool were not open would have reconsidered the date. And for the kids it was about the water slides. Anything closed should be listed on their page or a notification sent out. Just too high of a price to travel that far for so much to be closed

We arrived early and we were able to park near the entrance to the park. I was able to enjoy the park from a toddler point of view. First we went through storybook forest. All of the characters played their roles well. The we went over to the jungle gym area. This is fun for all ages. We packed our lunch and ate in the pavilion. Some people brought a portable grill, the park provides a spot to put your hot coals. Next was kiddy land. All of the kids enjoyed a performance by Danial Tiger and friends. We then went on other rides. All of the children seemed to enjoy themselves. After that, it was off to the soak zone. With a lazy river, a big splash zone, water slides, a wave pool or the kiddie pool, you sure to find your place to cool off. The rest of the park I'll have to try on another day. The park was very clean and with all the trees, you can always find some shade. I truly enjoyed the park. I hope you can come and have a great day too!

A great family fun park in Western PA. Prices are reasonable, no overly strict bag policy, and the rides are fun and accessible for all!

PROS:the waterpark although small is nice. The restrooms clean throughout and it is a nice family oriented day out. CONS: The admission cost to attraction/value isn't good at all. The games are simply over priced "on average non claw machines" range from 5-15 dollars per play depending on how many players are required. The food suffers the same exact issue the price to quality and value are poor at best. I tried the bacon fries which while did have enough cheese and bacon lacked any flavor and simply were cold. CONCLUSION: while it does have a family friendly and welcoming atmosphere the value as a whole lacks and could use a full review and revamp.

The forested setting and slow pace made our Idlewild visit a true reprieve from daily life. We nostalgically enjoyed the paths and displays in Storybook Forest even without a kid in tow, and appreciated how quiet it was. Our weekend visit had low crowds and short lines. The longest line we stood in (maybe 5 minutes) was for the wild mouse coaster, which I would definitely skip next time because it was more painful than fun. This park is definitely geared towards children and families, so temper your expectations if you're an adult visiting without kids.

This year has had the friendliest staff. I feel like there's a stereotype against lifeguards at water parks but this place had the friendliest. I was very pleased. I have a 5 and 7 year old and we would have needed two days to do everything. We spent a lot of time at the soak zone. We've also gone for Halloboo which is a ton of food.

Worker were nice My son made friends with them they gave us free game. The food was ok, over priced like who going to pay so much money for decent food come here if you are rich

I haven't been to Idle Wild in years. I remember coming once or twice as a kid and maybe even once in college. I decided to get some season passes during the Black Friday sale. We've been twice this summer and my 4 year old loves it. The pros: -There are virtually no lines on any of the kids rides. -The amusement park side has lots of trees that give lots of shade! -You can bring in your own food and drinks. There are lots of places to have your own picnic. - They have character meet and greets. We got to see Daniel Tiger and Katerina Kitty Cat. - There are a ton of staff and they're all friendly. The cons: -Tickets are expensive. Food is expensive. But there are ways to off set the costs to really get your moneys worth. - On a hot day the water park is packed! Every pool, every chair, every grass spot is covered with people.

Absolutely HORRIBLE. I used to love going to Idlewild, so we planned our daughters first trip this year! A ton of food stands were closed (mid-day on a Saturday), the park was dirty, displays and attractions were literally falling down and broken, and the staff was unfriendly. My husband got to Soak Zone, bought our locker, and we changed into swimsuits, just to be told it was closed. Why are they letting people pay for lockers in a place that's already closed? It was a little after 6, by the way. Our little girl was soooo upset. She wanted to swim so bad, so I told her we'd go for ice cream! She was excited again, I got in line at the Cyclone Creamery (my husband was even excited about this because he apparently loves the cyclone cone). When I place my order, she says "We're out of any ice cream that's not pineapple-strawberry twist dole whip". I'm sorry- what? I waited 20 minutes in line just to be told you have no ice cream? Absolutely ridiculous. I don't write negative reviews often at all, but this was a HUGE disappointment.

It was our family of six's first time here. We had a great day. It was confusing on where to park, that is my only real complaint. We eventually just parked somewhere and walked in. The rides for children were good. It would be helpful if people conducting rides like bumper cars would do a little tutorial prior to starting the rides for small children. Instead they just check you for safety and start the rides. Funnel cake was great! Soak Zone was too. We swam until the rains came and we took cover. We rode rides and then swam and then rode some more rides. I would suggest not going back-and-forth but just doing the one switch.

Love this beautiful park! This is the perfect place to bring your young kiddos. I am in love with the fact that it is situated in nature and while it is an older park, it's been well-maintained with updated facilities throughout. Because it is situated in nature, don't be surprised if you stumble upon some wildlife. While we were eating Potato Patch fries in a seating area near some food options, we saw a baby raccoon stuck in the rafters. The staff hard at work to safely get him down and return him to his natural habitat. It was adorable to witness actually. The storybook forest is exceptional. Idlewild employs staff to pretend to be specific characters from standout Mother Goose rhymes. Any place that promotes literacy and fun for children is top notch. There are a variety of rides and games with varying speeds, heights and stimuli for littles of all ages. In the Raccoon Lagoon, you'll find Daniel Tiger's neighborhood and a variety of other "kiddie" rides and attractions for the younger crowd. My 8-month old loved the trolley ride and the staff made it a fun and interactive experience. The Soak Zone is remarkably fun. We purchased a cabana next to the lazy River which was well worth the extra $100. We were able to put our feet up, set our "stuff" down and relax. There is so much to do in this area. There is a whole pirate ship area for the preschool-school aged children complete with splash pad/slides/etc. Additionally, there's a "baby" water play pool/area with a variety of pipes pouring out water, steering wheels and shallow pool. Lots of slides - body slides, raft slides, mat slides and a wave pool! Lifeguards are very thorough and you'll see them continuously walking along the pool edges checking on the safety of all. The particular day we went, it was a bit rainy in the morning but cleared up and ended up being a wonderful day. To our surprise, it was very easy to get around and there was very little waiting for any rides. On several rides we never had to wait at all and sometimes were the only ones on the ride! My mother, who is currently awaiting a knee replacement surgery, was able to rent a mobilized scooter for $45 for the day which enabled her to be apart of the fun as well. 4/5 stars because #1 they need to sell more merchandise. We were wanting to "shop" but found just a few items in a few little gift shops that were sometimes tucked away and hard to see. I would love to see a bigger selections and overall more "merch" sold. & #2 the quality of the food needs improvement. The chicken tender meal I purchased for $20 along with a bag of chips for my son was cold. The staff warmed it for him when I asked them too thankfully, however, it didn't do much for the overall taste. My husband had a corn dog that was edible but not great. And the pizza we ate was too doughy and perhaps not cooked long enough to get it crispy and good. My mom ordered a turkey sandwich which looked just awful and she basically didn't want to eat more than a couple bites. I will say though that the potato patch fries were fantastic, the funnel cakes were delicious and my son loved his carmel apple! Overall, this is a beautiful, charming amusement park and water park for families with children looking to enjoy some recreational time together. I would recommend it to anyone, except plan to eat lunch before or dinner afterwards as the food could be better!!

I've been to idlewild before. It's a super cute, quaint park with very friendly people and a certain charm about it. The water park is huge and just such a great time. This trip was our first major one during Covid. Upon arriving, besides a rude security guard, I was thrilled to see everyone in masks. There were sanitizing stations at every ride and you were encouraged to use them. Several rides were open and just as fun as I remembered. The water park was clean and the best part of our hot day. Now for the bad. A lot was closed. Some was covid (I.e. storybook forest) but a good chunk was being understaffed. Many food stands didn't open until 2 which meant no drinks on a hot day. Gift shops weren't open, etc. Towards the end of the evening, the park was much more lax. No one was distancing and few were wearing masks on rides or off. My biggest complaint however was the wave pool. There was a large group of adults that didn't know how to swim. They were in the water in regular sweaty clothing, not following any rules. Several were splashing each other, throwing things at one another, screaming, etc. One gentleman was throwing his body into the waves and letting them slam him into others. Since he couldn't swim, he couldn't catch himself. He hit me and my 7 year old niece several times. The lifeguards were blowing their whistles. But that's all they did. No one stopped this group from thrashing around, smashing into people, hitting them in the faces with water or other objects. I was disappointed in the pool staffs lack of concern for everyone else in the pool, especially the little ones. All in all, we had a nice time. If we had paid full price for tickets though (we got a half off deal) my review would be a 1 at best. Hope next season is much improved.

I've been coming to Idlewild and SoakZone for well over 20 years. After my most recent trip, I think I can say with confidence that the park is looking worse for wear. Overall the park is in desperate needs of updates - new paint, updated areas, etc. That being said, I will commend them for all that they are attempting to achieve, but it's just no where near what it used to be. Like most places, Idlewild is facing a severe staff shortage, and whether the park wants to recognize it or not, but that staff shortage makes for a real subpar guest experience. Almost all (if not all) of the attractions in the Hootin Hollar section were closed. There was only ONE place to get food per section of the park. Very few games open. Just really, really disappointing. On top of that the food prices are. Quite honestly, outrageous. $15 for chicken tenders and fries. $7 for a SMALL Dippin Dots. $7 for a pretzel. And that's on top of paying $50 for admission to the park. Honestly, I have zero intentions on returning. Just not worth it, sadly.

I came here every summer as a child and I was thrilled this past summer when I got to take my own children, aged 4 months and 3 years. Many of the rides have been there since I was a kid (some 20+ years ago), but there are some new(er) ones, like Daniel Tigers Neighborhood. There is a "kiddie land"; however, at 36 inches tall, my son could ride most of the rides, with the exception of the coasters. My 4 month old could even go on a couple as a handheld infant. We didn't spend much time in jumpin jungle since most of it was closed due to mud. We did spend a considerable amount of time in soak zone. My suggestion is to hit the rides first and then cool off in the water section. There are some new sections in soak zone (or at least new to me), namely this giant pirate ship with slides and water pipes that is perfect for the 3-8 set. The only drawback here are the food prices; however, you can bring a picnic, which I highly recommend doing.

Overpriced and poorly managed evidenced by the fact that noone was there on a beautiful June afternoon. 20 minutes to load a 3 minute ride. No cash policy but their poorly maintained power grid failed, so half the oark was shut down for over an hout (no compensation for the guests, of course- and no water on a plus 85 degree day). Take a lunch, concessions are terribly priced. Used to be nice. but find anything else to do with your kids.

I have to say, I'm overall severely disappointed with our visit today. The good: the children's rides were pretty great. My two young daughters had plenty of choices, and especially enjoyed the Doodlebug, Carousel, and Daniel Tiger's Trolley. The ride operators were fantastic. They were all very friendly, and as soon as the operators noticed a child crying on a ride, they'd stop the ride and ask the child if they wanted to get off. My own kids took advantage of this twice, and I think that prevented any hesitation to try other rides. The bathrooms were very clean, as was the park overall. The bad: so very many things were closed. There were only 4 games open to play, which was a huge bummer. We love playing games, our daughters are young and enjoy the excitement whether they/we win or not. We had a large chunk of money reserved for that, but there's only so many times you can play in the fishing pond. Probably about half of the restaurants were closed as well. I know it was a weekday, but it felt like more things were shuttered than were open. We got lunch from the Sandwich Shop. Never. Again. Really, bring your own picnic. I ordered the corn dog and fries, my husband got the steak sandwich and fries, both girls got a slice of pizza. The pizza was dry, hard, and had obviously either been reheated many, many times, or had sat under a heat lamp for hours. Like the cheese wasn't recognizable as a food product anymore. Even my garbage disposal toddler wouldn't touch it again after the first bite. I had gotten a side of cheese for my fries, and it tasted like straight plastic. My corndog also seemed to have sat under a heat lamp for who knows how long, and the texture was unpleasant. About halfway through, I noticed that it was becoming a grey-green. My husband said the steak sandwich tasted fine, but he ended up throwing it up an hour later. We made our way to storybook forest around 4pm, I was so excited to share it with my girls, as I hadn't been through it in probably 25 years. It was closed. The signs on the maps said it would be open until 6, and we'd seen other people going through it earlier, so we were extremely disappointed in the random closing time. 45 minutes later, we decided to ride the train, and the operator told us that the park would be closing at 5. The website had said they would be open until 7. I understand that this can change due to weather, but the weather had been clear since 1:30. If it was a staffing issue, I feel like we should have been notified at the gate, we would have chosen to use our pre-purchased tickets another day (by the way, the website touts a $5 savings for buying a weekday pass online, but then hits you with a $9 "processing fee" ) . We drove nearly 2 hours to be there, and didn't even get 4 hours in the park (we had wanted to wait out the rain a bit), let alone the fact that so many things were closed. We had made the commitment of spending $147 for 3 people (and one under 3) plus food, games, and gas, and it legitimately wasn't worth it. Our kids could have had just as much fun at the local playground, and it wouldn't have been as frustrating for us as parents/the people spending the money. The reason the park even gets my 2 star review is for the operators and their dedication to making sure the kids had a good experience, and the handful of rides the girls got to enjoy.

This review is truly given on the fact it is a children's amusement park because if this review was left up to the minions it would be given 5 stars easily. But as someone taller, it's harder to ignore some very evident flaws. As many others have stated, a lot of the park is in need of some major tlc and maybe even some maintenance stuff. This place is nice but it could be soooo much better. Many things look extremely weather and dated in not such deliberate ways. Personally, I have always found amusements parks to be on the romantic side which is hilarious as every time I've been to one it's never been for such purposes. However, I could imagine preteens or even for adults who aren't huge rollercoaster fans who enjoy just dabbling in the world of rollercoasters, this could be a date place for you especially if you get a good deal on ticket prices, have season passes and live nearby. The rollercoasters are very elementary level compared to many other amusement places in the Pittsburgh area. Kennywood is certainly Idlewild's big brother. As the kid zone (Raccoon Lagoon) even boosts some miniature versions of Kennywood rides such as the Turtle. As to why I find places like this romantic is because of the setting and circumstances you're faced with while exploring amusement parks. Pushing yourself to see what's your limit. When I was first really introduced to the rollercoaster scene and all the elements, I was with my best friend. They taught me a lot of life lessons including how in life you really have to put the daily stresses aside at times, really truly enjoy/appreciate life and live it. That's what you can do here. You can be a kid! The workers are mostly teenagers which might not always prove to be the most attentive but you can tell that a lot of them care about their work and doing excellent jobs. The natural scenery is welcoming and the air is filled with the smells of honeysuckle, lemonade, sunscreen and new found anticipation. Since moving further and further away from Pittsburgh in my lifetime, I've noticed the further away you are from the city-the less stressed and irritated everyone is. The whole surrounding area is much more at ease and slower paced. Idlewild has many different parts to it, from stage shows to Daniel Tiger's trolley and shows, to Soak Zone, rollercoasters and a walk through Storybook Forest(you literally walk through a huge book into well known as well some forgotten nursery rhymes). As for the prices...they're a bit steep. If you think that there's at all a chance you'd come more than once-it's in your best interest to get a season pass, which is probably the intentions of the pricing. Groupon sells day passes at discounted prices and there are other coupon websites that have deals as well(2 season passes for $99 vs $45 for a one day pass). They also have buddy days and price per car days(just subscribe to their website). Same again goes for the food. For $90 you get two meals(at designated spots and have to have the meals four hours apart) and a snack(popcorn or cotton candy) per day for the whole season. Which again is a lot. But most meals are $9.99 and that doesn't include a drink. But good news is that they are very kind about giving free cups of water in many locations. Haven't found anything remotely healthy as of yet but that brings up one of the great features of this place is that you can bring your own food and drink to picnic. There are many Yelp approved places nearby! Pros- -you can bring your own food and drink(just keep glass away from Soak Zone) -there's many places to picnic including unreserved pavilions -lots of variety of things to do -surrounded by fresh green nature -laid back atmosphere -the history of the area -FREE parking Cons- -not everything is always open (Wild mouse has yet to open so far this year and shows begin 6/08/19) -they aren't the most daring rides(that could be a good thing too :p ) -there was a lack in knowledge in some of the staff when registering for season passes(we ended up having to do it all over again. But the staff were very courteous about fixing other staff mistakes) -some areas of the park are in need of some loving -prices are high -there's not refunds on rain days...so you have to weather the storm if you're just coming to the park for that one day and are trying to get your moneys worth -some rides have weight limits, so if you and your buddy have a weight total of 265 pounds or more, you'll be sitting in separate rows. But it is for safety purposes.

Idlewild and SoakZone was always one of my favorite places to go as a kid and now as an adult with a kid. We usually arrive when the park opens and try to leave by 3:00 p.m. as it gets crowded later in the day. The best thing to do is to go to the wave pool area early in the morning, then leave SoakZone around lunch time when it starts to get crowded. We usually pack a lunch since the food is expensive. Depending on how much money you plan to spend, you may be better off purchasing the gold annual pass. We go several times throughout the year, and barely spend any money when we go. With each gold pass, you receive a free souvenir refill cup (free refills) and a nice discount on the food venues. This year they discontinued the 99 cent popcorn refill bucket. I spoke to the person selling the popcorn and she said there are a lot of people upset about it, so we are hopeful that they will bring it back. This park is geared for families with smaller children. Our son just became 37" tall this year and can ride most of the rides now. In addition to SoakZone (water park), and the normal rides, there is also a Kiddieland for younger children and Story Book Forrest. These two parts of the park are fun to go to for smaller children and take a lot of time to go through. All in all Idlewild and SoakZone are great places to go, but plan to spend a lot of money.

I will echo what a lot of people have already said ... This park is a local historical landmark, and an iconic destination, but sadly, it has seen better days. It really needs a good scrubbing, landscaping, and some new paint, especially in the Story Book Forest section. It has been around twenty years since my last visit, and now that my child is grown-up, we visited as child-at-heart adults. Sadly, there are no longer as many animals as there used to be, gone are the three little pigs, and chickens, replaced by cartoon-like wooden cutouts of the animals (at least they still have goats and sheep). The old castle is gone, replaced by a new one, so that was one new addition, but they took out the old Jack-in-the-box, in its place, and I really missed seeing that. I also missed the old Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. The Trolley ride is still there, but instead of animatronic characters from the Land of Make Believe, it has been converted to Daniel Tiger's neighborhood, and the characters are all wooden cutouts, instead. Also sad, were that so many things were closed during our visit, including the Wild Mouse Coaster (rumor is, it's been closed all season), most of the game booths, Confusion Hill, The Rotor, and Boardwalk Pizza (the only restaurant in the park, with designated gluten-free menu items). It wasn't all bad, we enjoyed the Daniel Tiger show in Raccoon Lagoon, and the adult hand cars are still our favorite ride in the park. I'm still gonna give the park a "Cheers," but they can do better, and hopefully when we come some time again in the future (maybe with grand-children), things will be improved, and not left continued to slide ... Cheers! P.S. FYI, I had very little cell-phone signal here at the park, and was unable to connect to the internet for most of the day, depending on where I was in the park, so be prepared.

I grew up at Idlewild Park, so it definitely pains me to give a negative review. My nephew enjoyed it for the most part, so if you are a parent/grandparent you'll likely have a better feel given the parks intent. Frankly, I found it both disappointing and mostly depressing. A significant portion of the rides were closed on a Sunday in August without advanced notice (they gave us a free ticket for next year but didn't say why, maybe this had to do with it?). There were very little games open as well. Overall the park is not kept up well... Story Book Forrest needed some serious TLC from landscaping to full blown maintenance. The mens restrooms throughout the park were disgusting. 2 stars goes to the fact that they have corn dogs and still sell Cyclones, which are as tasty as I remember them. Edit: downgrading to a 1 star review as the owners think that I should've known better to check an online operating calendar, when the tickets were purchased at Giant Eagle. Why on Earth I need your response. No mention of the dirty conditions I see.

We had never been or even heard of Idlewild before. I happened across it when I was looking for things to do for our 18 month old. 1 - lots of geese poop on the walkways 2 - be at the gate by 10am, you enter as a car and pay at the gate - it really can get backed up 3 - if you park in lot A you will be near Storybook Forest - there is no signage so when you enter at parking lot A make a left immediately and follow the paved path. We made a right and got trapped in story book forest. It's nice but that isn't where we wanted to go first 4 - pack your own lunch and snacks 5 - if you have a little one like us don't bother with the soak zone, they have a splash pad for kids but lots of big kids were using it. My son got splashed in the face by one of the bigger kids turning on one of these huge sprayers. Lots of kids running around. It just wasn't worth it. 6 - the best parts of the trip for our guy who lives Daniel Tiger and trains was the Loyalhanna Express, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and the Grr-ific Day show. There aren't a ton of rides an 18mo can go on and we knew that, we planned the trip around seeing Daniel which is what happened and he loved every second of it. 7 - you can re-enter the park with your wristband, we left for nap time and then came back 8 - at the sound or sight of a storm everything shuts down - just be prepared if that happens

Idlewild is great for younger kids. I've noticed a lot of the amusement parks only have small areas for toddlers, but Raccoon Lagoon is an entire world for toddlers, with tons of fun kiddie rides, the Daniel Tiger Trolly ride and the Daniel Tiger show. SoakZone is awesome, but the water is always frigid, even in August. My kids don't seem to be bothered by it though. Come here as soon as the park opens to avoid the long lines to get past the entrance gate and get a decent parking spot. I will say this park has gone down hill since the ownership has changed. It isn't maintained as well, and it is poorly staffed. Most of the times we come, some of our favorite rides are closed because they do not have enough staff to run them.

I will give Idlewild a 3, that is I think for a kid park it is closer to a 5, but for anyone over the age of 8 it's pretty boring and really overpriced, especially for the adults having to pay $42.00 a person and usually don't do too much riding if any. I grew up going to Idlewild and Kennywood. Even then Kennywood killed it in the entertaining value, but at least as a kid I found it to be pretty fun. However, they have changed a lot of the park and I don't necessarily think it is for the better. First there is the pool. The highlight of my pre-teen and early teenage years. They used to have three different water slides, and a big pool that you could actually swim in. Now they have one body slide and one tube slide. No swimming pool, but a wave pool that is so packed and no you can't actually swim. They did add a lazy river which honestly is chaotic and they have no sense of structure getting people off and on the inner tubes. No real line just people pushing in front. I rode this but the aggravation and the crowd was not worth the 5 minutes of so-called relaxation. They also used to have an area surrounding the pool that offered volleyball nets and they even at one time had a zip line that after I rode it at age 13, I told the probably only 3 years older than me attendant that the ride was "bitching" to which he told me to watch me mouth. Feeling very embarrassed, I indeed did that. Amazing how times change, good luck telling a kid today to watch their mouth. Lastly, as others put it, they had a lot of rides/games/food stands closed. Why??? The wild mouse, the log jammer, the rafters run, the whip and some more. That was disappointing. Kiddy land is nice if you have small ones, but after the age of 6 or 7 I can't see them enjoying these rides reminiscent of the horsey outside of the grocery store for a quarter rides. And they seriously need to do something about their food selection. Just not diverse in any way, and basically ever stand that was opened offered the same food. Alrighty then.

We read a ton of reviews before coming here. We spent 2 days at this Park. We got a package deal that made our tickets half price or full price for 2 days. That is what made this a 5 star review over a 3. Pros/advice: Great for young kids! 3-10 - At $25/day this Park was totally worth it. It's $49.99 at the gate. Online sells cheaper tickets as well. If your close enough to get a season pass this would be really worth it. We spent our first day going on Rides and towing a cooler around with us. Highly reccomend a cooler with the high food costs. This Park is very unique. It's definitely a mesh of many different ideas. The Park gets newer the farther back you go. -Yes, there are some older places in the Park with bathrooms that could be updated. But they are functional and reasonably clean. Then their are parts of the Park that are newer with very high tech soap, rinse and dry all in one. - you need a full day for the water park. It's the best part of the Park. You don't really need a Cabana rental unless you want to be served food and don't care about the cost. There are so many longe chairs. Just get there s early to snag some. You may even be able to get under a tree for shade. It was the mid 70s when we went so the sun felt good. - lifeguards are on it! The reviews are true. Most responsive Lifeguard team I've ever seen. They do not mess around and respond almost instantly. - bring a bike chain lock for your cooler and a waterproof phone case and your all set. We got amazing pictures while they were in their waterproof cases. The wave pool was so much fun! -make sure to Park towards the middle of the part or park by where you will be staying. Cons: -too expensive at full price. You need 2 days to enjoy everything in the Park. Bees everywhere there is food. -Yes, a few rides have weight limits and you do go in a scale for them but it's not like anyone sees your weight. -rides down= Log ride, roundup (1 out of the 2 days), red baron, some vendor stalls empty. It really wasn't a lot. There is still plenty to do in the Park. Took us an entire day to do everything once in just the dry part. Conclusion: This is a fantastic Park to go to. Just read your reviews and call or message the park if you have questions. I messaged them through Facebook messenger and got some fairly quick responses. Plan accordingly and do your research before you go and you will have a fantastic time like we did. Highly Reccomend! We will be doing a repeat vacation here next year.

My kids and grandkids really enjoy their visit. we needed a couple of days here in order to do every ride that they had that met the height requirements .We stuck mostly to the kiddie rides which are across a small river from the rest of the park. There is a greater variety of little kid rides here than I have ever seen . The Story Book Land here I experienced when I was a kid and I took my children when they were kids Now I have taking my grandchildren.there is a clear path to walk with a designated entrance and exit. You should expect to spend 30-60 minutes in Story Book Land. It is not a play area, but a walk through. Many of the rhymes are being played in the background as you walk through, so if you kids don't stop to let you read to them, they are still hearing the rhymes related to what they are seeing. There are several characters placed around to talk to the children sharing classic nursery rhymes with them As we entered into the Land, we were greeted by Mother Goose. My grandkids had run ahead and We found them chatting with Mother Goose . We enjoyed the play area next to Story Book Land. We ran out of time to go to SoakZone

This is a hidden gem. A well run amusement/water park. Took our grandkids while visiting 7Springs resort. Very reasonable and well maintained. Staff was well trained and very helpful. Kids loved the short lines. Plenty of bathrooms.

I've been coming to this park for over 2 decades now. I love that it's kept many of the traditional rides and attractions I knew as a kid (jumping jungle, story book forest, hootin holler). Helps me get into the fun when my son is there enjoying the park like I did at his age. I also like how this has become an even kid-friendlier park. Not that it wasn't before, but with the addition of Racoon Lagoon, and the fact that most of the main rides in the park have low height limits, kids of 5 or 6 can enjoy almost all aspects of the park. All that being said, this last experience was a real disappointment. Many of the bathrooms were closed. Primarily, the ones in Racoon Lagoon. This would be where the most bathrooms would be needed for frequent potty breaks for little ones. One changing table in the bathroom in the Lagoon??? Kind of ridiculous. Also, just walking around this year, I've really started to notice the lack of water fountains and bathrooms. I know it's a small park, but adding one more bathroom before hitting up the water park would be nice. Lastly, maybe the admission price could be reduced a bit depending on whether you're there to enjoy just the park, both the water park and main park, or water park only. There are many coupons available online, but its still pretty pricey to get in. Yes, bring the kiddos here. It's a great experience. My review is definitely tainted by the fact that I've been a long-time patron and am reviewing in the various declines and general bitches I have about the park.

I was stunned at the lack of maintenance and upkeep just in the last 12 months. My family has been going to Idlewild at least annually for three generations, but after our visit yesterday we are sadly giving up until the park and the rides are kept in a better condition. During our visit, we noticed: -Expired fire extinguishers -Bathrooms with 5 out of 6 and 11 out of 12 stalls closed -Multiple rides closed; WAY more are closed than are listed as closed on the website! -Rude, unhappy staff members -Kiddie and adult rides running at half capacity due to intentional understaffing -Only one of the two water slides were running due to intentional understaffing -Paint on buildings and metal roofing so old it's peeling off in chunks -Shingles on roofs with moss so thick you can't see the shingles any longer -Paint on rides so old it's missing in chunks -The Wild Mouse is missing paint and support beams are starting to rust through, to the point that the entire track sways as the coaster cars run it! -Prices for food and souvenirs have almost doubled over the past 2-3 years While we had a fun day together as a family, Idlewild has fallen into such a state of disrepair that our family will be trying DelGrosso's next summer. It will be the first time since the 1960s that at least one member of my family hasn't visited, but I just don't feel like my family, especially my kiddos, are safe there any longer.

My friend won 2 free tickets so I decided to buy tickets and tag along. This was the first time I remember ever coming to this park. We made it a day trip as we are almost 2 hours away. In the end it was a really fun day! Tickets: are expensive! I tried to use coupon codes but after calling idlewild to ask why there were not working I found they do not accept third party coupons, it has to come from their site directly or Groupon. So we opted for the family 4 pack @ about $25/ticket instead of $45/ticket. We did have an extra ticket left but it was cheaper doing it that way. Parking: (I'd suggest getting there before the park opens for a good spot)however, we got there at noon and thought we were going to be very far away since we had to drive to the very end parking lot but we were actually pretty close to the merry go round (middle of the park) and water park so it wasn't that bad. Wave pool: I loved, loved, loved the wave pool! We came to this part of the park first and spent most of our day here. The pool is huge and clean. The kids loved the waves and stayed busy for hours. There's tons of chairs by the pool and some in the grassy area. You can rent a cabana for the day also but the pool is only open from 12-6. There's a kiddie pool section also but I did not get a good look at that part. If you take a walk across a little bridge you are at a kids play area with a big bucket, slides, etc-good for all ages. There's also a lazy river and big water slides. (Most of the slides were shut down). The bathrooms were perfect when we got there, not too many people in the pool area, however when we were getting changed to leave it was crowded and uncomfortable. Food/drinks: in the pool area-Auntie Anne's pretzels (a little pricey)and a place that sold chicken tenders/fries, also a dipping dots stand. In the park-some different options, they have sort of an outside food court with tacos, pulled pork sandwiches or nachos, a potato patch (like Kennywood) and more Auntie Anne stands and other food places throughout the park. You are allowed to bring coolers in the park and I'm glad we did! We spent way less money bringing our own drinks, next year we are going to pack some sandwiches also. Rides/park hours: the park was very clean. It was really spaced out though, maybe for future updates and new rides? Our kids are older so we did not go through story book forest but would have if we had time, they also close at 5 or 6. We got to ride a few things but with the lines and the park itself closing early (8pm) we did not have the chance to see everything. Some of the rides were closed down also with it being towards the end of the season (that was their reason). They did give us free passes to use next year though because of that! All in all, it would have been nice if the park was open a little later. It was great that you can take a cooler and the water park on a nice day is totally worth the cost of tickets. We can't wait to go back next year.

Good and not so good here. This place is a classic - a longstanding park that is part of just about everyone's youth and personal history. One word - maintenance. Another word - upkeep. The kids that work here are by and large fine. They do the grunt work at the rides, the food booths...and they are to be commended. The facility maintenance staff though? Dirty, leaking bathrooms, broken displays in Storybook Forest, a need for general paint and updates...I mean, if you're going to charge 30 to 40 bucks a pop, and the park is loaded with folks, you gotta spend some of that on the glaring issues and shortcomings. But hey, the little kids don't notice that, they have fun, and by and large it's all good. Nice enough day with the family.

A couple of updates since last year... Food: Lines were long, places were closed, and lots of items were unavailable. I paid nearly $4 for a small soda and $2.50 for a small bag of chips. Ridiculous! And, for a kid's park, there's a couple of food stations that aren't very kid friendly. Games: If you were expecting $1 per game, most everything is now $2. Bah! What I love about the park: If I could get discounted tickets again, I might consider going to spend the entire day at SoakZone. Also, pro tip - If you head to SoakZone later in the day, you may be able to snag a cabana for free. If the rental station is closed, and you find a cabana that is not reserved, it's all yours! What I hate about the park: Wayfinding signage seems to have improved; however, it's still difficult to get around. And, beware - the height requirements have changed for a lot of rides, so you may find that your littlest ones can't ride their favorite rides anymore. Overall, it seems Idlewild & SoakZone are beginning a slow decline into obsolescence. The park is still worth at least one visit in your kid's life - but you really need a good game plan to keep costs down and spirits high.

Way over priced. Almost 50$ per person and literally the park doesn't look like it's received any of those funds to update any part of it. Story book forest is filled with perverted nursery rhymes. The gravel makes it's extremely hard for strollers which makes zero sense considering the size of the park. They barely gave any candy during the trick or treat. Go to kennywood this was just not worth the drive or money.

This place is awful. Service sucks, not all rides and attractions open, long lines because it's poorly staffed. Lots of dirtballs roaming soakzone. The kids had fun, but amusement parks have just gone way downhill, I won't even go to kennywood without being strapped.

Pretty outdated, especially storybook forest. Also very upsetting that my 2 year old was only able to ride maybe 4-5 rides? She didn't meet the height requirements for almost every ride in KIDDIE LAND. And parents aren't allowed to ride with? She's able to ride triple that at Kennywood. Pretty disappointing for the price and the fact that it's supposed to be a park for children. Soakzone was a hit though.

We're from out of state and drove quite a ways to get here with our almost 4 year old. Last season we attempted to go to the park, but it was closed due to weather. We were given rain check tickets and we used them this last week. In summary, the park was disappointing. Very dated. Rides were dirty and the whole place looks like it needs a deep cleaning. Many of the rides were shut down. The rides that were open had short lines..... but they did not move. We waited 45 minutes to get on Daniel Tiger's trolly, and the line was only 50 feet long. They were only running 1 trolley. The roar of kids melting down waiting in a 45 minute line was ridiculous. Kept overhearing the employees talking about people taking breaks. Sad. The kid running the airplane ride was stopping to measure every kid with the stick... even ones who were clearly tall enough to ride. Then running the ride less than half full. The place has serious operational issues. The lack of cellphone signal was also annoying. We will not be returning. Cedar Point's kid area is much better and much closer to us for a comparable price.

Idlewild is still going strong despite COVID! A few attractions have been removed just due to age and some other circumstances, but aside from that the park is still a great place to go with family. The water park is a highlight here, the lifeguards are really attentive and it just feels like a safe place to take your kids.

Read some of the reviews where people were complaining about the price. If you buy your tix at Giant Eagle and pack a cooler, a family of four would pay $140 for an ALL DAY experience at the park and soak zone. C'mon people, buck up and quit your whining. I, personally, am not a huge fan of massive water parks that you must share with the mass public. Sharing water space with that many people and sharing communal areas creeps me out on a biological level. Now, for the park itself. I love it. Lots of shade keeps the park cool. Storybook Forest is a must because nursery rhymes are going out of style and it is such a throwback. The park has an Old West feel which is kind of cool. There is jumping jungle which is huge obstacle courses with netting and places for the kids to play. It entertained the kids for hours. The workers are mostly miserable but that's all amusement parks besides Disney so I won't hold it against them. I've been going here since I was a little kid and will continue doing so. Keep up the good work.

If you have a kid between 3-10 then this is the perfect place to take them. We made a few mistakes with my 3 year old that I would do over. We tried to get her to go on rides in the elementary kid area before taking her to the preschool area. She loved the preschool area but didn't want to go on any rides after being scared in the big kid area. I think we should have started her on the little kid area and she may be willing to go on the big kid rides. A three year old is big enough to go on many rides as long as the adult is with them. My 16 month old could go on a few rides but not many. They both loved the mini teacups and little train. My 3 year old struggled on the bumper cars but it was funny watching her go in circles. The biggest negative was that the funnel cake was burnt to a crisp. I can't wait to go back next year with hopefully a more adventurous 4 year old. Parking is free, food can be brought in from the outside, go when it is slightly overcast because the place is empty, and go to the little kid area earlier, Storybook is a good thing to do right away because the kids are excited and after the rides they might see this as boring.

We visited on Saturday and it seemed like every other attraction/shop was closed, including the trolley to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Need better lighting in the restrooms. There was a water station at Guest Services, which was great, but there weren't anymore that I could find. More water stations throughout the park would be appreciated. On the plus side, the lifeguards at the splash pad were VERY focused.

I honestly had no idea what to expect out of Idlewild, and honestly I didn't really care all that much. I was there for one thing, and one thing only - Daniel Tiger. My two year old is obsessed and when I heard that a ride was opening themed with him I knew I had to get there. Idlewild feels like a small, historic family run operation. That has positives and negatives built in. First of all, there is free parking, but you pay at the vehicle gate for entry. Small children 2 and under are free. We purchased discount tickets at Giant Eagle for $9 off the entry price. We were there later in the season on a weekend and they gave us free tickets to return the next year. We thought that was odd until we got inside. We estimated that about a third of the attractions were closed. This was due to 'staffing challenges' which having worked at an amusement park myself is an absurd excuse. Wake up Idlewild, these challenges are not unique to you. Deal with it and overcome. In addition the gates opened at 1030, but nothing was operating until 1130, including the very popular Daniel Tiger ride which was posted to open at 11. Made for many a toddler meltdown. What was open was nice. A lot of old fashioned and carnival style rides. Tons of kiddie rides so bringing a toddler to your school aged child here is ideal. The park is pretty flat, shaded and very stroller friendly, making it pleasant even on the hot day that we were there. Safety is not a concern here. They offer lockers, but you don't need them. The Storybook Forest really harkened back to yesteryear but was a bit worse for wear. A few animal pens were empty, and much of it was already decorated for Halloween - in August. The decoration was really poor and honestly detracted from the experience. Daniel Tiger did not disappoint. The adorable ride puts you on trolley where you visit all the stops in the Land of Make Believe. There is also a Daniel Tiger show followed by a meet and greet that my toddler loved. The water area was decent. A wave pool, splash area for little ones, a water works area and some slides (many of which again closed). Food was fairly priced, not gauging like one would expect from an amusement park. The award winning pork bbq sandwich was amazing. That said it is easy to bring food into the park and picnicking is encouraged. There are many many picnic pavilions, and people brought huge coolers, covered them with a blanket and left them. They were totally safe. In all we had a full day (we left at 6) and felt we got a good value for $30ish a person, but there is room for improvement.

So much disappointment. My sister had two free passes so we only had to pay for one person, and at $45 I think that was a complete waste of money. I used to come here once a year as a kid when they had the pay-per-car deal. Let me tell you, this place is a dump! The Storybook Forest was our main priority because my nephew is only 18 months, so we thought it would be nice for pictures and interacting with the characters. Mother Goose was so lively and friendly, but the rest was just a collection of closed, unkempt displays and characters just saying a quick hello or nodding at us. The new King Cole castle was very nice, but of course as we showed up, the princess was going on break and wouldn't be back for 20 minutes, which is a lifetime to an infant so we decided to pass on meeting her. The gift shop was small and crowded so it was hard to get the stroller through. You might say, why would you bring a stroller in there then? Well you have to pass through it to get out of the Forest. The food was just plain bad and EXTREMELY OVERPRICED!! I had this conversation with my sister, who was upset we were having a lousy time. I told her that I have absolutely no problem shelling out money for an awesome time with my family, as long as I don't feel as if I'm being robbed. $4.50 for a standard slice of pizza? $12.50 for nachos? $8 for 3 meatballs on a hotdog bun? Come on. And none of it even tasted remotely worth it. The park was in complete disrepair, the same photography people stopped us about 5 times to ask us for a picture after we politely declined the previous 4 times, and there were maybe 4 games open that we saw, thank goodness one of them was the fish pond which my nephew loves. The games were overpriced and the prizes were small pieces of junk. Who still gives out spider rings and Chinese finger traps? *facepalm* Maybe I am biased because I visited Del Grosso's Park 2 months ago and the games were cheap with great toy prizes, the food was affordable and delicious, and the park was clean and tidy. Nevertheless, this park's appearance was just unacceptable to me. As I mentioned before, my nephew is young so we only planned to ride the train or Daniel Tiger ride. We got to the train and the man sitting on it said his conductor hasn't shown up yet so he couldn't start the ride, but could when he showed up. Where in the heck was he?? Couldn't you go and ask the front desk if you could have a substitute? And is the train that hard to operate? The whole thing was very bizarre. We went to eat next door for about 1 hour and had a view of the ride- the 'conductor' never showed up. We decided to cut our losses and go to Daniel Tiger, on the other side of the park. Idlewild decided that they only wanted to run one trolley, so although the line was probably less than 30 people long, the wait was 1.5 hours. I was in complete shock at this lack of appreciation for paying customers. The water park was a nice surprise, and I could see myself there on a hot day, but it was bit cold, so it was an absolute ghost town (I counted less than 10 guests in there, most were getting a tan). It's nice that it is included in admission, I guess. The lounge chairs themselves looked worn and rusty, because I'm sure no one takes the time to cover or put them away each night. The water park oddly enough was well-stocked with employees for customers who didn't exist. They were pretty much just sitting there looking like zombies waiting for anyone to come by. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have to think this is the result of the new owners. I guess Kennywood and Sandcastle has a bigger budget and workforce but this park needs a dramatic rehab. It is a complete waste of money and time. I have not been this disappointed in an establishment, probably ever, but I will not be spending one more dime here. And I suggest you don't either. If you have a vehicle and don't mind the drive, go to Del Grosso's Park; you will be so much happier! By the way, the star that I'm forced to put is for the free parking (which doesn't matter because you are robbed for admission at the entrance gate) and the water park that I thought looked pretty nice but didn't even take advantage of.

Went to Idlewild on Monday for the first time in probably 20 years. This time I took my daughter who is 20 months old. We had a fantastic day. She loved Story Book Forest. True it looks like it hasn't been updated since I've been there last but it was still nice to walk through. There was only one character out: a princess at the castle. She was super cute. I forgot to mention that upon entry into the park we received heavily discounted tickets for next year. They said that some workers had gone back to school so things may be understaffed. I really didn't notice anything understaffed except for story book forest. My daughter LOVED daniel tigers neighborhood both the ride and the show. We did the waterpark around 4pm and it seemed a bit less crowded. The kids lazy river was awesome. I would definitely spend more time here next trip. We ate lunch in the park but opted for dinner at a restaurant down the road. We made the right choice as there aren't a ton of food options in the park. My only real complaint about the day was it was over 90 degrees and we could only locate two water fountains in the park. Would be nice to have one located near every bathroom. We will be back next year with our discounted tickets.