PA amusement parks take home major awards — including best food and best wooden coaster

Matt DiSanto
·7 min read

As summer draws to a close, several Pennsylvania amusement parks are receiving acclaim from one of the industry’s leading publications.

Dutch Wonderland, Knoebels Amusement Resort and Waldameer Park and Water World all won major categories in this year’s Golden Ticket Awards, which are presented by Amusement Today. Each year, the honors recognize the best of primarily the U.S. theme park industry, including top attractions, experiences and innovations. A few international sites sometimes make the cut, too.

Although school is back in session, it’s never too late to start planning next summer’s vacations. Here’s what you need to know about Pennsylvania’s award-winning amusement parks.

Dutch Wonderland

Known as “a kingdom for kids,” Dutch Wonderland checked in as the Best Family Park of 2023, according to Amusement Today. The Lancaster-based theme park offers more than 30 attractions primarily catered toward children and families, plus Duke’s Lagoon, a tropical-themed water park named after the park’s purple dragon mascot.

Dutch Wonderland previously earned the honor of Best Family Park in 2019, 2021 and 2022, though awards were not presented in 2020. The park opened in 1963 and now features live entertainment, animatronic dinosaur attractions and three roller coasters spread across 48 acres.

Though Dutch Wonderland’s summer weekday hours have concluded for the year, the park will offer themed events for Halloween and the winter holidays. The former, known as “Happy Hauntings,” begins in late September as a non-scary event organized to provide a fun Halloween experience for children.

Happy Hauntings tickets start at $69.99 at dutchwonderland.com/tickets-and-passes, but advance purchases can bring that bill down to as low as $29.99 each. Guests 2 years old and younger receive free admission.

Knoebels Amusement Resort

Out in Elysburg, Knoebels took home two major honors in this year’s Golden Ticket Awards. The Northumberland County-based park received recognition for Best Food of 2023 and Best Wooden Coaster.

Knoebels has received honors for Best Park Food nearly 20 times over the past 25 years, perhaps thanks to its wide variety of options throughout the park. Guests can enjoy sit-down restaurants, snack stands, quick-service and even a few all-you-can-eat options. In addition to traditional theme park fare like funnel cakes and fresh-cut french fries, Knoebels cuisine includes barbecue, potato cakes, pierogies and homemade fudge.

Knoebels guests won’t be shocked to learn the park received a top honor for Phoenix, its historic wooden coaster. The attraction has remained a perennial fixture among the Golden Ticket Awards’ top 10 for more than 20 years and received consistent praise in the roller coaster community, which ranked it the second-best wooden roller coaster in the world back in 2016.

According to Knoebels’ website, Phoenix was first built in San Antonio, Texas, in the 1940s and relocated to Knoebels in the 1980s. The coaster features a 72-foot drop and reaches a top speed of 45 miles per hour during its two-minute run time.

Knoebels offers more than 60 rides and attractions, including several roller coasters, plus a nearly 900,000-gallon swimming pool and water slides, which are available for an additional charge. The park is particularly unique thanks to its structure as the nation’s largest free-admission amusement park. Instead of paying to enter, guests can purchase never-expiring ride tickets to experience individual attractions, though costs vary between attractions.

Though its summer hours are nearly finished, Knoebels will offer themed events for Halloween and Christmas on weekends later this year. Head to knoebels.com/plan/pricing to learn more about ride ticket books, all-day passes, upcoming hours and more.

Kennywood

While this Pittsburgh-area park didn’t take home any hardware at this year’s Golden Ticket Awards, it did receive recognition from the annual industry celebration.

Kennywood received this year’s Renaissance Award, which is personally chosen by Amusement Today publisher and editor-in-chief Gary Slade. According to its description, the honor is presented to a park that brings “renewed energy to the park experience.”

While celebrating its 125th anniversary, the West Mifflin amusement park recently embarked on a two-year project aiming to modernize and enhance its grounds. Key renovations include the full refurbishment of its beloved Kangaroo attraction and the new Area 412, an alien-themed area of the park that subtly references the famed western Pennsylvania area code.

Kennywood will offer its signature Halloween season event, Phantom Fall Fest, throughout late September and October. The park offers its attractions and rides during the day before transitioning to a more frightening atmosphere after sundown, complete with six haunted houses and designated “scare zones.”

The park’s Phantom Fall Fest will stretch from Sept. 22 to Oct. 29 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. One-day admission starts at $74.99, but purchases through kennywood.com can offer up to a 50% discount.

PA pasta sauce factory turned amusement park is also the US’ only Italian-themed water park

Additional honors for Pennsylvania parks

Waldameer Park and Water World, located in Erie, took home Best New Water Park Ride of 2023 after introducing Rocket Blast, an attraction that combines a water slide and a roller coaster. The ride reaches a height of 60 feet and offers a track 800 feet long, making it the largest attraction in the water park.

The Golden Ticket Awards also include annual rankings for the country’s best steel and wooden roller coasters, and a few attractions throughout the Keystone State made the cut.

Kennywood’s Phantom’s Revenge (No. 12), Hersheypark’s Candymonium (No. 24) and Skyrush (No. 29), Kennywood’s Steel Curtain (No. 36) and Hersheypark’s Wildcat’s Revenge (No. 40) landed among the best steel coasters in the country for 2023. The top spot went to Fury 325 at Carowinds in Charlotte, N.C.

Phoenix at Knoebels, of course, took the top spot among this year’s wooden roller coasters. Other Pennsylvania attractions in the rankings include Ravine Flyer 2 at Waldameer Park (No. 8), Jack Rabbit (No. 15) and Thunderbolt (No. 18) at Kennywood, Lightning Racer at Hersheypark (No. 22), Flying Turns (No. 23) and Twister (No. 27-tie) at Knoebels, Racer at Kennywood (No. 41) and Comet at Hersheypark (No. 49).

This year’s Golden Ticket Awards mark the latest accolades for Pennsylvania’s amusement parks. The Themed Entertainment Association’s 2022 Global Attractions Attendance Report, released in June, found Hersheypark and Camelbeach Outdoor Waterpark both landed among North America’s 20 most-attended amusement and water parks last year. Additionally, U.S. News and World Report recognized Hersheypark, Kennywood and Knoebels Amusement Resort as three of the top 17 U.S. amusement parks in 2023.

2023 Golden Ticket Award winners

Here’s a full look at this year’s major category winners, as named by Amusement Today:

  • Best Amusement Park — Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

  • Best Water Park — Schlitterbahn Waterpark Restor in New Braunfels, Texas

  • Best Family Park of 2023 — Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, Pa.

  • Best Family Coaster of 2023 — Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

  • Best Water Park Ride — Mammoth at Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Ind.

  • Best Wooden Coaster — Phoenix at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pa.

  • Best Steel Coaster — Fury 325 at Carowinds in Charlotte, N.C.

  • Best Kids’ Area — Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

  • Best Guest Experience — Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

  • Breakout Family Entertainment Center of 2023 — Fun Land of Fredericksburg in Fredericksburg, Va.

  • Best Halloween Event of 2022 — Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando in Orlando, Fla.

  • Most Beautiful Park — Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Va.

  • Best Christmas Event of 2022 — Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

  • Best Food of 2023 — Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pa.

  • Best New Show of 2023 —“Le Mime et l’Étoile” at Puy du Fou France in Les Epesses, France

  • Best Water Ride — Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Blackpool, England

  • Best Dark Ride — Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Bay Lake, Fla.

  • Best New Attraction Installation of 2023 — Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT in Orlando, Fla.

  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2023 — ArieForce One at Fun Spot America Atlanta in Fayetteville, Ga.

  • Best New Family Attraction of 2023 — Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, Calif.

  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2023 — Rocket Blast at Waldameer and Water World in Erie, Pa.

  • Leadership Award — Eric Anderson at Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury, Conn.