Land of Make Believe (amusement park) facts for kids
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| Location | 354 Great Meadows Road, Hope, New Jersey, United States |
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| Opened | 1954 |
| Operating season | May–September |
| Area | 30 acres (12 ha) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 33 |
| Roller coasters | 2 |
| Water rides | 9 |
| Status | open |
The Land of Make Believe is a family amusement park and water park catering mostly to families and children under 13 years of age. It is designed specifically for parents to participate with their children. Opened in 1954, it is in Hope Township, in Warren County, New Jersey, United States, on County Route 611, two miles from exit 12 off of Interstate 80. It centers itself around "Safe and wholesome recreation", with entertaining rides and attractions that are most appropriate for children under the age of thirteen, but also has many attractions for people of all ages but not so extreme that it scares off young children mixed in.
Some of its most prominent attractions are the civil war train (which loops around most of the park), the Pirate's Wading Pool, largest in America with life size Pirate Ship and the Pirates Escape & Pirates revenge dual racing slides. The Land of Make Believe has many of the standard amusement park rides like a junior sized roller coaster, a Tilt-A-Whirl, Drop & Twist, Tornado, and Scream Machine 360 ultimate upside down thrill ride as well as more specialized attractions like a hay ride and a petting zoo. Some more of the water attractions include the Pirates Plunge, Blackbeard's Pirate Fort, The Sidewinder, Blackbeard's Action River Ride, and eight waterslides.
Initially, the park featured only attractions for small children, adding some water attractions for children in the late 1980s. Beginning in the first decade of the 2000s, the park has begun to add rides that adults can enjoy but yet are not too extreme for children. These included standard intermediate adult flat rides found in carnivals and amusement parks as well as larger waterslides found in major waterparks.
Rides and attractions
| Name | Description | Thrill Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twisted Timbers | Spinning family coaster | High | Manufactured By SBF VISA |
| Scream Machine 360 | Spinning pendulum ride | High | Manufactured By SBF VISA |
| Off Road Safari Adventure | A 4x4 pickup truck that takes guests on an ecotourism adventure. | Moderate | |
| Jump Around Frog | Low | Riders must be under 36 in (91 cm) to ride. | |
| Rockin' Tug | Moderate | Manufactured by Zamperla | |
| Tornado | Ranging from Moderate to High | Manufactured by Wisdom Industries | |
| T-Rex | Ranging from Moderate to High | ||
| Drop’n’Twist | High | This ride was formerly "Free Fallin" | |
| Samba Balloon Ride | Moderate | Manufactured by Zamperla | |
| Ferris Wheel | Low | ||
| Grand Carousel | Low | ||
| Civil War Locomotive and Train Ride | A C.P. Huntington miniature train that represents a steam locomotive in the 1800s during the Civil War. | Low | |
| Thriller | The park's only roller coaster that opened in 1994. | High | Riders must be between 33–36 in (84–91 cm) and accompanied by an adult. |
| Tilt-A-Whirl | High | Manufactured by Sellner Manufacturing Company | |
| Flying Pirate Ship | Low | Manufactured by SBF VISA | |
| Red Baron | A ride where riders ride in miniature airplanes that represented planes used in World War I. | Moderate | |
| Dixie Car | A simple ride featuring miniature police cars and race cars. Riders can control the sounds. | Low | |
| Magic Dragon | Low | ||
| Carnival Midway | Located by the front entrance. This midway has a lot of boardwalk carnival games to choose from that include great prizes. | N/A | N/A |
| Captain Ricky | The park's official mascot. He is a bear who wears a pilot's uniform. | N/A | N/A |
| Middle Earth Theater | A Medieval themed-show where guests can participate by dressing up into different costumes and being the stars of the show. | N/A | On rainy days, a puppet show is given. |
| Santa's Barn | An enchanted Christmas forest which is Santa Claus' summer home. Guests can tell Santa what they want for Christmas ahead of time and get free cookie cutters. There is also a pizza place (Mama Santa's Pizza), gift shop, and ice cream parlor (Rudolph's Ice Cream) inside. | N/A | N/A |
| Arcade | The park also houses an arcade filled with video games where guests can win tickets to redeem for prizes. | N/A | N/A |
| Haunted House & Cemetery | A haunted house full of scary things inside of it. Next to the haunted house is a cemetery. | N/A | N/A |
| Hay Ride | An authentic old-fashioned hay ride pulled by a tractor. | Low | |
| World War II Airplane Cockpit | Guests can view and play with the controls in a replica World War II Airplane | N/A | N/A |
| Jenny Jump House | A historic house complete with an audio history about the legend of Jenny Jump. | N/A | N/A |
| Old MacDonald's Farm | A petting zoo complete with live farm animals. | N/A | N/A |
| Colonel Corn, Famous Talking Scarecrow | Guests can interact with a scarecrow that talks. | N/A | N/A |
| Maze and Candy Cane Forest | A forest that is full of giant-sized candy canes and a maze that is located next to it. Both are located directly across from Santa's Barn. | N/A | N/A |
| Family Picnic Grove | An area full of picnic tables where guests eat. | N/A | N/A |
| Land of Make Believe Mining Company | N/A | N/A | |
| Pirate's Cove | The park's waterpark that is pirate themed. | Water rides ranging from low to high | N/A |
| Cookie House | The park's gift shop. | N/A | N/A |
Former rides and attractions
| Name | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Obstacle Course | A play obstacle course that featured cargo nets and a ball pit. | N/A |
| Frogger | This moderate ride was replaced by Free Fallin'. | |
| Little Dipper | A former roller coaster in the park. | |
| Worm Ride |
Water rides and attractions
| Name | Description | Thrill Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pirate's Plunge and Pirate's Cannonball | Pirate's Plunge is a water ride where guests are taken down a slide, then down a huge plunge hole. Pirate's Cannonball, on the other hand, is a water slide ride. | High | Tubes are required for Pirate's Plunge, but not for Pirate's Cannonball |
| Wading Pool | The wading pool is equipped with a pirate ship and small slides. | N/A | N/A |
| Blackbeard's Action River Ride | A popular lazy river tube rafting ride. | Low | N/A |
| Pirate's Escape and Pirate's Revenge | Guests are put inside a launch tube and then race down | High | N/A |
| Sidewinder | Guests slide down a waterspray halfpipe. | High | This is the first Sidewinder water ride in the entire state of New Jersey. |
| The Black Hole | A tunnel like water slide. | High | Recommended for guests 8 and up. |
| Water Slides | Other water slides in the park include a blue waterslide and two white waterslides. | High | |
| Blackbeard's Pirate Fort | Another part of the waterpark that has a water play area and a water bucket. | N/A | N/A |
- Land of Make Believe at the Roller Coaster DataBase
