The excitement and charm of the Old West come alive. Experience life in the style of the Wild West where gunslingers have showdowns, and a train whistles past the Blacksmith's Shop, Print Shop, Jail, Saloon and Sweet Phyllis Gold Mine.
Categories
Seasonal Kids Activities:
SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN
Other Details
Advance Arrangements:
Open May through October
Closed during the winter so call ahead or check website for days and hours of operation.
We've gone to Donley's a couple of times and we had a blast there. Our kids just loved it and my husband and I did too. I like the people in costume walking around and talking to the kids. The boys loved throwing a hatchet at a target and the blacksmith. We now have 5 kids so it's a bit pricey for us, but we'd love to go back.
It is pricey, but once you pay for admission they give each person a punch card, and the kids can use the adults punch card too. There were enough activities to keep them busy all day long, including pony rides, shows, panning for gold, canoe rides, bow shooting, petting zoo, and more. We dined at the restaurant next door afterwards and the food was good, but quite expensive. This is not something you go to all the time, but it's a great way to spend a day!
Donley's Wild West Town has a great Fall celebration. Take a train ride and they stop in the back field where you meet a fully dressed American Indian and learn about their customes. Pick a pumpkin (Extremely large) and get back on the train to enjoy the park. Sign up for their emails to get special offers.
We got free tickets from Kidwinks (thanks Kidwinks!) and went on a weekday at the end of August after school had started. We didn't realize they were only open on weekends at that point, and our tickets were going to expire very quickly. We were disappointed, but the restaurant doors were open and we talked to someone who extended our free tickets for another month! She was very accommodating. We came back on Labor Day and had a blast. Our kids enjoyed everything, and we will definitely go back again!
My boys absolutely love this place! Remember to have your children dress up in Wild West gear. They won't feel left out when visitng. It also adds to the fun and experience. My youngest son has never parted with his 'gold' that he mined. He has quite a collection. I only gave it 4 stars, because the new roller coaster is very shaky and will definitely give you some bumps and bruises. Neverless, they keep improving and adding more activities every year.
My 5 and 2 year old had a blast there, since they're so much into Woody (cowboys) this was the perfect place to take them, I loved the museum but my boys were a little scared of it so we had to go fast by there. The stunt show was so much fun and my kids were able to ride in every single attraction and try all the activities. We ate at the restaurant and I was so impressed of this place, it was like another museum right there, such a cozy place and the food was delicious. I don't think we spent that much money that day, for the great day we had it was worth every penny.
I went here at the end of the summer and loved it!!! I had only heard about it but had never gone before. It was sooo worth it. The kids had fun on the rides and my daughter loved shooting a bow and arrow and using a sling-shot. She could not get enough of this place. They have something for every age group. You can ride the carousel, sit back and watch their Wild West show, go on a pony ride or "pan for gold". The kids just loved panning for gold. I think we "panned for gold" three times. They give you an activity card for the rides/activities. It is suppose to be two times per activity. But, they let you mix and match. So if you child does not like the roller coaster, they can do something else two more times.
This place was very nice. The price is high but if you look at all the freebies you get its worth it. The kids loved the roller coaster which was free and unlimited, the train cars unlimited, the gold, train ride, the shows. My kids loved it. Everyone had fun we spent all day there. The drive there isnt that bad either. I would recommend going at least once.
I went there with my 2 and a half year old, my girlfriend and her 20 months old. I had 2 tickets, thanks to Kidwinks! We loved the place, our girls loved it too. The show is for older kids, all of the babies were crying during the gun shots because they are very loud. If your kid is older then 3 they would probably love it :) We went on a very hot Sunday, but it is nice that gift shops are air conditioned so we would spend time there to cool of. We absolutely did not like the food. My girlfriend ordered tacos and they came barely warm. My quesadillas were hot but nasty :( I paid extra $2.00 for chicken, that's obviously been precooked and extra $2.00 for brown guacamole that tasted sour and even visually not freshly made. I would definitely not recommend eating there especially feeding your kids. We also went to take old pictures but the girl there did not know how to deal with kids at all. I've been to many photo studios before and I've never seen a photographer just standing there. We didn't have a single good picture. I bought one because I didn't want to dress up my baby for nothing :) Otherwise the park is great. My girl loved canoes and train ride. Nobody ever asked us for the punch cards, and we took like 10 canoe rides but there weren't any people. I will definitely come back in a couple of years when my baby is not scared of gun shots and horses :)
So my mother took our 4 year old recently and used the tickets that we had won on Kidwinks, so when our son asked for us to take him one more time before summer was officially over and before school started, we said yes:) When we got there it was so funny because we hadn't remembered that it was right next to the The Illinois Railroad Museum. There were very few people there which made it great for short lines. The only thing we had to contend with on the Sunday we went was the extreme heat. This park was as easy to get around as Pirates' Cove and reminded me of a part of The Magic Kingdom at Disney--sooo perfect for my son and very well done for the theme. The staff stayed very much in character and we thought that the actors that did the mock gunfight telling the story of Doc Holiday were just great--especially the marshall--he was very funny. I enjoyed panning for gold--actually one of the staff members felt bad that I had been looking so long for little pebbles of fool's gold, that he offered to give me a handful so that I could just be done with it, but I kept going anyway! I really liked that the girls that were manning the ponies were really caring and nurturing with them--that was nice to see. On the way out we saw these really cool antique car and train pencil sharpeners in the gift shop for only $2.50 each and we bought several of them as souvenirs--it was a nice mellow crowd and a full day of fun--all the adults there were pooped by 5 p.m. I think I am a little sore from the roller coaster thougt--it was a pretty rocky ride!
I love this place, and so do my daughters and their friends. This visit was with 4 girls (ages 7 & 9) and 2 boys (ages 9 & 11), and they all had an absolute blast. The staff is so helpful and friendly - the kids enjoyed interacting with these Wild West characters. The favorite activities were panning for gold, the hand cars (which surprised me, given their ages), pony rides for the younger girls, and the Wild West play town, where they played hide & seek and pretended to be outlaws & sheriffs. We dined at the Steakhouse and it was great food. Another nice thing about this place is that they expect and allow the kids to climb on things, like the life-sized buffalo in the restaurant. They provide stairs and encourage the kids to climb on. The museum was really interesting for the kids; if we all weren't so tired after our 7 hour day there, we probably would've spent more time browsing. We went on a Saturday, and it was surprisingly uncrowded with no waiting. We waited to ride the ponies until about 5pm, and there was no one else there, so the girls just stayed on and enjoyed all of their rides at once. Since the older kids didn't want to ride the ponies, the younger ones got to use their punch cards for extra rides. I highly recommend you take your kids here. If you'd like to see some pictures of the place, I posted a bunch of photos on the kidwinks facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=482534&id=149430960592&saved#!/kidwinks1?ref=ts
My kids loved this place. We went with a group of 12 and all the kids had fun. My kids really liked the canoe ride and the train ride. We did not bring food but there is a little place to get a quick hot dog so you don't have to sit-down at the steakhouse restaurant. The whole day was great.
I am really glad that I had read the review about food not being allowed in the park--the glowing reviews about the restaurant were great to know too. My mother took my son and I was happy to be able to pass on this info to her!
