arnolds park amusement park

The title says it all. The rides were old and rickity. And we thought it was a bit over priced.I wouldn't recommend

Classic vintage amusement park experience! Loved the wooden roller coaster! Great for families with younger or older kids!

Nothing like the new big amusement parks, this one has HISTORY. So interesting, so glad we got to go.

I took my grandkids, and they loved the rides. This is not an amusement park like Six Flags, but is a small carnival type park. I got the grandkids wrist bands, so they could ride unlimited rides. Also, I could get a chaperone wrist band for $7 and go on several of the rides with my 3 year old grand daughter. You do not need to pay to get in, and there are several free attractions including the Tipsy House, the House of Mirrors, and a play ground that the kids really enjoyed. It had one large piece of equipment that I would describe as an obstacle course, and I have seen carnivals that charge for it. At Arnolds Park, it was free. There are lots of rides for little kids, an old fashioned wooden roller coaster, and the traditional carnival rides. There is also a go cart course for an additional charge. It was clean and the ride operators were polite.

They had quite a few rides that averaged 7.00 per ride but you can buy an all day bracelet for 25.00

I grew up around the "Iowa great lakes" area and the highlight as a kid and now as an adult is always Arnolds Park. If you are near the area you HAVE TO RIDE the old school roller coaster. All wood and none of the safety features of today. It is AWESOME!Also, you must go to the Nutty Bar stand for a Nutty Bar and they also have the BEST root beer EVER! No joke!Wait.....there's more. Have lunch at Bob's Hot Dog Stand.....it is the shiz!This is the perfect day this is the perfect trifecta!GO NOW....GO OFTEN!

Come on down and ride the Legend rollercoaster! It's pretty tame for a coaster, but it is a piece of history, being the 13th oldest rollercoaster in the world. Little kids will enjoy it as much as adults. The whole park is terrific, with signature goodies such as the Nutty Bar (delicious!), and very nice people running the rides. It's as if time forgot this place. Well worth the trip. One other thing: the pricing structure of this park is perfect, and should be followed by other amusement parks. Entry is free for those who don't want to ride. Those who do can choose to pay for a number of rides OR buy a daily pass for unlimited rides. That makes the day much more reasonably priced.

Used to come here as a child. I brought my kids thinking they'd have a great time like I used to have. Boy was I wrong!!! Place is very run down. Pretty sure nothing has been updated since I was a kid. I inquired about the $130 family deal. Thankfully I asked about the "meal deal" it's just a hotdog or brat a bag of chips and a pop. It was almost $100 for my 3 kids 2, 6 & 10, plus my husbands band to ride with my youngest that only works for 4 rides. One of the ride the wrecking ball is a ride just plopped on some rocks in an open space. No sign on height requirement, they might have let my 2 year old go?!? Staff was not friendly & park was dirty. Some "rides" had no employee so anyone could go on, I guess it was ok cause they were free. I wanted my 2 year old to ride the El Paso train but the guy working there ignored my child & husband( he tried 3 times to go up ) I watched other families go up and the guy got up and let their kids ride?!? I'm not sure if it's because my husbands Mexican or what, there was no height restriction or rules about riding alone, which I saw only 1 child on the ride at one point.Overall I would never return.

We haven't been here for decades and were shocked (in a good way) at how nicely renovated and pleasant the Park is. Kudo's to the designers and managers.Clean, freshly painted, and much more stuff than we expected. Really nice that old favorites like the Tipsy House are both there intact, and also free for visitors to enjoy.The free museum adjacent to the Park was unexpectedly good as well. Although it has a water theme, there are some great old Arnolds Park memorabilia (e.g. the scary fun house clown) in there as well.if you are in the area, this is a must stop.

If the kids were a little older, we could find other things to do than waste our money on this small, overpriced, amusement park throwback.

Ride the wooden roller coaster and look at the beautiful lake from the top! It's a small size park with lots of fun. It has everything you want to do but is still small enough to easy do in a day at the lake!

This is a fun little amusement park, looks like it is out of the past. Not very crowded, but lots of things to do for most ages. It is nice you can enter the park and not have to pay. You can get a pass or pay by the ride. Either way it was a bit expensive if you ask me. The kids day pass was a little more worth it cuz the lines weren't long and you can get in a lot of rides in a short time. We rode on the Queen 2 which was very nice and informative. A good length and fun for all ages. Glad we did it.

A small amusement park, but there's something fun for all ages. I went here as a child, so I basically come back for nostalgic reasons, but my kids - 2 and 13 both had a blast here. We only spent a couple of hours here, and they rode everything they wanted multiple times (spending the afternoon is ample time). Lots of options for little kids to ride on - the colorful fish was my 2 y/o's favorite. 13 y/o loved the roller coaster - it only takes a few seconds to ride it, but it's pure fun and it's a tradition (I think any teen or adult can ride this, because it doesn't go so fast you feel sick, and it's an old coaster, and not extreme like the new ones). There's not really any other "thrill" rides besides maybe the log ride, but there are fun things for the older kids too. Giant ferris wheel is a nice break to relax and look out over the blue water, especially as the sun is going down. The Bug House ride is cool, as is the Tipsy House. And as others have said - it's awesome that I didn't have to pay to get in when I'm not riding rides, but need to be present to watch my kids ride the rides. 2 wristbands for them was under $50 total. Worth it - they both left with big smiles :)

When you are in the Iowa Great Lakes region, particularly for the 1st time, you really need to stop by the amusement park. As another reviewer mentioned, this is no 6 Flags-caliber amusement park, and it doesn't want to be. Families have been coming here for generations and hopefully, those traditions will continue as more and more options for fun are added. If you aren't an amusement park person, there are great local gift and t-shirt shops just across the street from the actual park itself. All places have decent prices on the items they sell. If you like a view, one of Okoboji's lake best views in right here. If you like museums, the Rock and Roll Museum and a Maritime Museum is right here. If you want to take a boat tour of West Lake, you can catch a boat here. If you want to walk about a block away, the Central Emporium is just down the street and most people will find something of interest there. (shops. restaurants) Note - The Emporium is a seasonal shopping venue which opens near Memorial Day and closes near Labor Day. However, Arnold's Park Amusement Park has similar hours as well. Nearby is also an additional area with other small shops and cafes. So when you come to the Iowa Great Lakes, you really do need to stop at the amusement park area. You aren't going to get huge thrills and chills on its roller coaster. There is no upside down action here. You will be greeted by friendly folks having fun in one of the area's favorite places. For the most part, this is a family venue.

This is no 6 flags or valley fair but it is not priced that way either. We went at an off peak time and they just basically let the kids ride non stop on the roller coaster. It's a wonderful historic park that is really charming. The rides are simple and won't make most people puke. I liked the train the best...:-) Just a great place to spend the day especially with younger teens and pre teens.