Affordable Family Fun Is Endless At A Thrilling Amusement Park In Pennsylvania With Famous Food
Looking for a family adventure this summer? DelGrosso's Park & Laguna Splash guarantees adrenaline, laughter, and leisure for every age in the heart of Pennsylvania. Bought by the DelGrosso family in 1946, this budget-friendly amusement park reopens for the season this May. Whether you're a thrill-seeker or a chill-seeker, the park has a ride or slide for you. Start your day with timeless attractions such as its Crazy Mouse roller coaster or its antique carousel, then cool off in the afternoon with water slides, a wave pool, and a lazy river at Laguna Splash Water Park, a $12.5 million expansion added in 2016.
Affordability is a major draw for DelGrosso's Park. Admission to the park is free, with the primary expense being the individual ride tickets. These cost $1 apiece, with some attractions requiring up to four tickets per person. Depending on the number of rides you want to experience, a better deal might be DelGrosso's All-Day Fun Pass, which ranges from $26 to $38, depending on the month. If you're certain you'll be back again before it closes in the fall, DelGrosso's Season Pass allows you to visit the park as many times as you want for $80 to $90 per person. Compared to season passes for other amusement parks in the area — such as Pennsylvania's largest amusement park, Hersheypark, where passes start at $195 – this one's a steal. Also, group packages are offered to host the likes of birthday parties or school groups.
Enjoy more than rides and slides at DelGrosso's
If the DelGrosso name sounds familiar to you, that's because you may have seen it on a pasta sauce label at your local supermarket. DelGrosso is a staple in American households thanks to its reputation as the nation's oldest major family-owned pasta sauce company, dating back to 1914. It should come as no surprise that, in addition to its attractions, it's the mouthwatering Italian-American dishes that set DelGrosso's Park & Laguna Splash apart from other amusement parks in the region.
You can find everything from oven-fresh pizza and juicy burgers to Italian classics drenched in signature sauces, all freshly made and generously portioned. Murf's Famous Potato Salad is particularly popular with visitors, while the profits from its Marianna's Junior Hoagies support various non-profit organizations, schools, churches, and other causes.
But wait, there's more! The park also offers free concerts – mainly country and Christian contemporary music — on its stage. In September, it hosts its Italian Food & Heritage Festival, followed by Harvestfest, which acts as the season finale before it closes its doors until the following year. This annual festival is a showcase for food, crafts, and free entertainment. If you have a small business, you can even apply to be a vendor on its website. Before fall rolls around, you may want to mark your calendar for the Fourth of July. The DelGrosso family has a decades-long relationship with the family behind Rozzi Pyrotechnics for a fireworks show every Independence Day. It's wholesome details like this that prove that amusement parks in America are more than just Disney World.
Where to stay and what to do beyond the park
DelGrosso's Park is located roughly a 15-minute car ride away from the city of Altoona. Its closest airports include Altoona–Blair County Airport and State College Regional Airport, and both hotels and bed and breakfasts are widely available in Altoona. Popular franchises like Hampton Inn are available for around $120 a night, and Super 8 by Wyndham for around $60. Airbnbs aren't overly abundant and vary in price, but full apartments in the area typically range from $110 to $300 a night.
If you're staying in Altoona, take time out of the thrills for an extra day of museum-hopping. The city is home to the Castle Halloween Museum. For a $20 admission fee, check out an exhibition of thousands of Halloween-related antiques, toys, advertisements, and even artworks by pop art legend Andy Warhol. It doesn't have to be October to explore the creative ways in which Americans have celebrated the spooky season throughout history.
Beyond the Castle Halloween Museum, Altoona's Railroaders Memorial Museum and Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark make the perfect educational combo, demonstrating how 19th-century engineers and builders went out of their way to construct the Pennsylvania Railroad and the famous curved track. Tickets are $28 for adults and $23 for kids under 17, covering admission to both. If you'd rather pop into a free museum, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art is another good choice, boasting over 7,500 artworks from local and international artists.