Wild West City

Pros: Great children/visitor participation. Not crowded.
Cons: Gun noise can scare little kids.

On my visit back to New Jersey this past week, I decided to take my kids over to Wild West City for their first time. I was there a few times when I was growing up, and I knew my kids would enjoy it just as I always have in the past.

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Pros: Western theme, fun day out, inexpensive, free parking.
Cons: none.

Most days my daily planner has at least one thing that I have to do or be aware of, and most days, the little box is filled to capacity.  It is a rarity that we have a day with absolutely nothing written on it, so when I see one of those days coming ...

Pros: Live shows
Cons: Don't go after it rains.

We took our three-year-old son to Wild West City one August Saturday afternoon.
Located in Netcong, Northwest Jersey, it’s about an hour and half drive from the
City, an hour or so from central Jersey.

Admission for adults and...

Pros: Feeds childhood imagination
Cons: Needs some upkeep

I will begin by saying my three children (two boys 7 and 5 and my daughter almost 2) had fun. They enjoyed the train ride, old mechanical 25 cent rides, buying guns at the general store, and getting "gold mine" gum at the candy shop. They also liked ...

Pros: Great skills of performers;
Unique entertainment compared to today's amusement parks;
Picnic area  
Cons: None I can think of.

I really like this place.  I like to go every other year or so, and my three daughters absolutely love the place.  It's a throwback to the past in both the theme, and the park itself, when things weren't so cleanly packaged like today's amusement parks.  Seeing the live horses, the guest Indian lectures and demonstrations, riding the stagecoach and the train and having hold ups by 'armed" bandits, having an all-day "story" that ties each of the shows together that continues throughout the day, it all comes together for a really good, fun day.

Lots of antiques from the old west make this like a living museum.