I told you all about my family vacation to Maine last week. I also mentioned a place called York’s Wild Kingdom & Amusement Park in York Beach, ME. Well I really wanted to take a moment to tell you much more about it! From either direction you enter (zoo side/park side) you’ll never believe how amazingly huge it is until you get inside.
My family has visited the Amusement Park side every year since Gavin was small. For $10 a child you really can’t find a better attraction that’s better priced. I live near an amusement park back home and $10 wouldn’t even buy you lunch!
Attractions:
- Bear and monkey exhibits
- Wings over Maine walk through Aviary
- 90ft. Super Slide
- Kiddie Bumper Boats
- Skeeballs, state of the art Video Games and Batting Cages
- Double Seat Go-Karts
- Hundreds of exotic animals from around the world
- Australia Collection
- Petting Zoo for all ages
- Educational learning sessions, featuring our Wildlife Theatre
- Elephant shows
- Paddle boats
- Snack bars with traditional “midway treats”
- Family Rides—includes Bumper Cars, Go-Karts, Ferris Wheel, A Merry-Go-Round, Electric Train—and much more!
- THE HAUNTED HOUSE (only if you dare!)
- Arcade games and games of skill offering chances to win quality prizes
- Gift Shop with hundreds of souvenirs on display
- The scenic sandy beach of York within walking distance with lovely shops and fine dining along the path.
As you can see for just $19.75 per person you’ll be able to enjoy all the things that both the park and zoo offer! It’s a great deal! It will be a day long event and I don’t know anywhere else you can entertain a family of four for less then $70.
Of course the first thing we had to do was the large slide. We did this slide over and over and over again. That’s the great thing about purchasing the bracelet price is that you can just get off and get right back on! I think we must have done this slide about ten times before the day was over. It was one of Gavin’s favorites! Plus, it is a great one for all family members to do together!
Another favorite of ours in The Haunted House. They did a great job with it but with smaller kids I do recommend that a parent at least walk through with them the first time. It gets incredibly dark and has loud noises that can startle you.
There are several different fun houses for the kids to go through. Personally these are always my favorite. Yes, I go on all of these with the boys over and over again. We had to go back and them again even after the zoo.
The kids like how they all have a part that comes out on the second level. They like to come out and wave down at whichever parent took a breather down below with the camera.
I know I look silly in the photo below but this fun house is a mirror house and you need to keep your hands up at all times or you’ll be walking into walls. Some are clear plexi glass, others are mirrors, and some let you through. Surprisingly, Gavin was the first one out.
Johnny even went on some of the more thrilling options. I use to love these types of rides when I was younger but for some reason can’t bring myself to do them now. I got dizzy just watching Johnny do the Super Spiral!
I love that The York Amusement Park has an entire row of rides just for little kids! Gavin had a field day going on all the different rides!
This ride was his favorite!
For some reason Gavin loved going around the kid sized ferris wheel but couldn’t wait to get off it. We actually had to pull him off early. The great thing I love about this place is that the workers are great about stopping a ride if your child isn’t into it and wants to get off in this section. They watch the ride the entire time and are aware of what is going on at all times!
One ride we all participated in several times were the fun bumper cars!
We even all took a turn on the carousal.
Of course Johnny couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play a few games and win a few prizes. These games are fun, but you will have to pay extra. The games are only a dollar or two so its still affordable if you limit it.
If it rains or you need a break in the shade stop into the arcade for a moment.
There is a great gift shop in the center of it all. Make sure to stop in and grab some great memorabilia ans souvenirs!
After we got a few rides out of the kids system we headed over to the Zoo side of the park. After all the years we have gone to the York Amusement Park we had never venhttp://www.yorkzoo.com/index.htmltured over to the Wild Kingdom Zoo. I don’t know why but we were definitely missing out! It is huge and has so many animals I have never seen before!
My favorite was the Butterly area! They were everywhere!
You can’t tell from the photo but this butterfly was as big -if not bigger- then my fist!
The boys really enjoyed feeding all the goats! They even struggled to fight the big ones to be able to feed the baby ones!
There were so many different kinds of monkeys it was crazy!
They even had Tigers, Lions, and Bears! Oh my!
The zebras were busy eating so they didn’t come over to see us. They are such beautiful animals!
The paddle boat rides are included and they looked like fun! Everyone must wear a life jacket regardless of the age. The hubby didn’t want to wear one and didn’t want to wait for us so we sadly skipped this.
You could even do elephant and pony rides! But that was an additional charge.
Hubs and Johnny always go on the Go Karts before we leave. It’s a reward for Johnny to stay on best behavior throughout the day. It’s $10 for four rides so they get to do them twice since Gavin and I sit out and hit up the lane of smaller kid rides one more time!
I highly recommend going to the York’s Wild Kingdom Zoo & Amusement Park in Your Beach, ME if you are in the area. It will bring you a day of fun, photos, and great memories! I know we have never been let down when we visit and we’ll continue to visit every summer!
I’m so jealous! There is nothing near our home that is half that cool, not even for a LOT more money. It looks like you all had such a great time! 🙂
My husband would go crazy for this place. He just loves amusement parks. Definitely going to have to tell him about this place. We have traveled all over to amusement parks since I met him. We’ve been to Cedar Point, Kings Island, Bush Gardens, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure in Orland just to name a few. Thanks for sharing and those are wonderful pictures. Looks like everyone had a blast.
definitely looks like a fun place to go….our family has been looking for places to visit this summer. and it combines the zoo outing with an amusement park outing….two birds with one stone 🙂
Wow, looks like a good deal for the money! Like you said, other parks wouldn’t even serve lunch for that! Sounds & looks like a fun place too! I wish there were more of those around where parents could actually afford to take their kids without taking out a second mortgage! Thanks for the review, doubt if I will ever get to Maine, but it is nice to know about it anyway!
Thanks for posting this! When my youngest is a couple of years older we are planning to take a “real” family vacation. of course it will have to be kid-centered. I will definitely keep this place in mind. It sounds great!
With gas prices soaring we have decided to stay close to home. This is one of the places we plan on going back to this year. I live in Maine and haven’t visited the York Zoo in a few years. We figure by staying a little closer to home maybe we can spend more fun day trips instead of one out of state trips. Glad you liked it and by the way Welcome to Maine 🙂