Story Land in Glen, New Hampshire is one of the best theme parks in the world for kids.
For many children growing up in New England, this is our Disneyland.
Story Land- per the motto- is where fantasy lives.
And it’s hard to argue with that.
This is a stunningly beautiful park with some underrated theming throughout.
And the park has a unique ride lineup that is now anchored by one of the most underrated
roller coasters in the world in Roar-O-Saurus.
So in this video, I will explain why Story Land is a must visit for young kids and roller
coaster enthusiasts alike.
Bob and Ruth Morrell founded and opened Story Land in 1954.
The park only had one mechanical ride in its opening year, but the park slowly expanded
over the next 50 years adding more rides and different realms to the park.
But whatever was added, the focus was always on kids and the young at heart.
In 2008, the daughter of the original owners sold the park to the Kennywood Entertainment
Company and then in 2009, the Kennywood Entertainment Company was purchased by Parques Reunidos,
who has operated the park ever since.
One of my greatest fears when Story Land was sold was that the park would lose its magic
and charm.
I’m glad to say that wasn’t the case.
The park has many of the same rides and attractions I grew up loving.
The new owners have kept what made Story Land special in tact while also investing in some
new additions.
Story Land is located in Glen, New Hamsphire, which is located in the heart of the White
Mountains.
The park doesn’t have many tall attractions- Roar-O-Saurus is the tallest at just 40 feet
or 12 meters- but the largest rides still some breathtaking views of the mountains.
That’s how close you are!
Story Land has a small parking lot adjacent to the main entrance and a larger lot across
the street, serviced by an underground tunnel.
Despite being owned by a chain, parking is still free after all these years.
Admission has gone up though.
It costs almost $40 now for adults, but recently I’ve been getting the Palace Entertainment
season pass since it also gets me admission to several nearby parks like Lake Compounce.
Because of this park’s reputation and location in a touristy spot, Story Land gets decent-sized
crowds most summer days.
Most rides will have modest waits, but a few can have waits hovering around 30 minutes
mid-day.
The ride operators do a good job loading the rides quickly, but a lot of rides have inherently
low capacities.
Therefore, here is my recommended touring plan.
This assumes you arrive at opening, which I highly recommend.
Story Land is only open until 5 or 6 pm daily.
Most people tend to start by heading right towards play areas.
These areas are cute, but because they don’t have queue lines, I would advise saving them
for later in the day.
Instead, you should go left.
If you want to ride the Antique Cars, ride them immediately.
Next I climb up-and-over the hill in the middle of the park to ride the Polar Coaster.
Then I usually take a lap or two on Dr. Geyser’s Remarkable Raft Ride.
The back section of the park with Roar-O-Saurus opens a half hour after the rest of the park.
By this point, this area should be about to open.
I always try to get to Roar-O-Saurus for rope drop.
Not only is this wood coaster easily the best ride in the park, but it’s a miserable line
to get stuck in.
It only runs a single 12 person train and the queue line has zero shade.
On most days, you can have a marathon on Roar-O-Saurus if you head there right after it opens.
With this plan, you knock out four of the busiest rides at Story Land in the first 45ish
minutes.
You can then save the higher capacity rides and playgrounds for the middle of the day
while the aforementioned four rides have their peak waits.
Story Land’s biggest strengths are its theming and atmosphere.
From the moment you pass through the colorful crooked house main entrance, you’re in a
wonderland.
The front half of the park is extremely well-shaded, giving it a relaxing feel.
As you progress further into the park, you find more theming.
This ranges from small themed lands or individually themed rides.
I love how each section combines the usual mechanical rides with an abundance of playgrounds
and play structures for kids.
One underrated touch you rarely see from a small park like Story Land is the audio.
Many rides and lands have their own custom soundtracks.
The scores are simple, but when paired with the top notch visuals, they really heighten
the overall experience.
And the park also has super friendly staff members which further feeds into the cheery
atmosphere.
Story Land has an excellent ride lineup for younger guests.
Most rides have no height limit.
A few have 36 inch height restrictions.
And then Roar-O-Saurus maxes out with a 42” height requirement, which is quite understandable
given the tenacity of that little ride.
That’s the only real thrill ride in this park.
A majority of the rides are designed so adults can ride comfortably with their kids.
These two factors are some of the biggest reasons why Story Land is one of the best
children’s parks in the world.
Because of all the little details at Story Land, I think it’s best if my review gives
a full tour of the park.
Story Land’s layout primarily a circle with 2 exceptions.
You have a steep pathway that goes up-and-over the hill in the center of the park.
And then the park’s newest areas are in this dead-end pathway in the very back of
the park.
Going counterclockwise from the main entrance, one of your first stops is the Little Old
Lady in the Shoe.
Make sure to say hello and you’ll get a free sticker.
After that, you hit a series of playgrounds.
For parents who need a break, this section will be one of your best friends.
As a kid, I used to spend hours here.
My favorite as a child was the Talking Treehouse.
I used to spend hours speaking to the almighty tree, listening to the catchy music, and zipping
down those two slides.
Then Little Dreamers has a bunch of oversized objects for kids to interact with and climb
over.
You then hit your first mechanical ride, Alice’s Tea Party.
What would be an ordinary PTC Crazy Daisy tea cup ride is elevated by some familiar
characters from Alice in Wonderland.
And the plaza in front of the ride event includes a small tunnel for kids to climb through that
takes them to “Wonderland”.
The next area features a series of animal exhibits re-enacting popular stories such
as the Three Little Pigs and the Three Billy Goats Gruff.
The animals are usually resting during Story Land’s operating hours, but it’s neat
the park has this little zoo area.
You then enter Cinderella’s courtyard, which is probably the park’s biggest land.
The centerpiece is Cinderella’s Castle.
You can either walk up the hill or take a pumpkin coach.
While the latter is a cool idea, it has a pitifully low capacity so 9 times out of 10,
it’s much faster just to walk.
The castle has a fun and goofy feel to it and you are able to meet Cinderella herself
inside.
Back at the base, you have the unique Antique German Carousel.
Unlike most carousels featuring horses that go up-and-down, this one features horses that
guests manually rock back-and-forth.
It feels like a mini workout and it’s a different experience than most other carousels.
Then you have some boat rides using the waterways.
Until 2018, you used to have the iconic Story Land Queen.
Now, you just have the individual little Swan Boats and the Buccaneer Pirate Ship.
The latter is a lot of fun if you get an animated employee.
Plus, this is one of several rides that has its own playground by the exit for kids.
You then can travel the world in the next few areas.
Right next door is a small Mexican themed plaza with several great photo opportunities
and the unique Los Bravos Silver Mine Tour walkthrough.
This is a guided tour combining elements of crooked houses and haunted houses into one
complete experience.
Like Buccaneer, how much you enjoy this experience depends on the quality of your guide.
After passing through a really small Arbian area, you will see the igloo themed entrance
for the appropriately named Polar Coaster.
And this is- pun intended- a cool little coaster.
This is the definition of a terrain coaster.
This Hopkins creation winds its way down the hillside before the finale- where you navigate
a 360 degree downwards helix and a speed hill over the water.
And you get to ride in these adorable walrus themed trains.
This is a great first coaster for younger guests and like Buccaneer, there is also a
playground by the ride’s exit for kids to burn off some energy.
Next is the Dutch area.
You have a great looking shop-front and a cow statue that guests can milk.
And there also is a ride, the Dutch Shoes dumbo-style attraction set over the water.
Speaking of water, you can travel to Egypt on Splash Battle: Pharaoh’s Reign.
This is a compact splash battle, but you are guaranteed to come off soaked.
Kids have zero qualms about getting wet, so they excitedly man all the water cannons on
the perimeter of the attraction.
Then you have the Rap Tour Safari.
This narrated safari adventure got some dinosaur theming to tie into Roar-O-Saurus, but it
used to be a small-scale version of the Jungle Cruise on wheels.
The experience isn’t quite as good as it used to be, but it’s still a unique attraction
and after all these years, Story Land still has the infamous cage cars in use.
Last but not least, you have oriental themed area with the Bamboo Chutes log flume.
This Hopkins flume has some of the most adorable vehicles in the world.
The pandas on the front of the logs always bring a smile to my face.
This is among the shortest flumes out there, but it’s well-landscaped and the final plunge-
while small- is built onto the side of a hill.
Across from the flume is the park’s best water ride in Dr. Geyser’s Remarkable Raft
Ride.
Unlike most rapids rides that focus on giant, soaking rapids, Dr. Geyser’s instead has
a series of thematic sprayers that creatively get guests wet.
And then you of course have 6 giant geysers.
4 of them miss you, but there are 2 towards the end that are capable of soaking you.
I have a separate review going into more detail, but this is a super fun attraction that’s
a neat twist on the usual rapids ride.
And if that isn’t enough for kids, there is a water sprayground by the ride’s exit.
Completing the loop, you will find yourself at the front of the park by the Antique Cars.
I usually skip these due to the line, but they’re some of the best cars out there
because of the landscaping.
Near the Antique Cars is one of two stations for the Huff Puff & Whistle Railroad, which
will take you towards the back of the park.
You have the Great Balloon Chase, which is a small ferris wheel.
It looks cute, but it doesn’t have much of a view due to the ride’s size and the
nearby trees.
Then you have the Loopy Lab.
This is a giant indoor play area with hundreds of foam balls.
Kids can suck them up with vacuums or launch them with cannons or slingshots.
This is another place for parents to take a break and watch their kids run wild.
However, I look at this attraction with bitterness, as this giant white dome used to house the
unique Voyage to the Moon dark ride.
The ride’s iconic cannon was one of the park’s landmarks and it was highly popular.
In fact, it was too popular.
The ride’s dreadfully low capacity caused the longest lines in the park.
When paired with increasing downtime and maintenance costs, the park made the hard decision to
close it in 1998.
ThemeParks&Me has a great video on the history of this quirky dark ride, but I’m sad it
left before I built up the courage to ride it.
That imposing cannon scared me away as a child.
I really wish Story Land still had a dark ride.
The next themed area is an oceanic themed area.
You have a colorful water sprayground and a few rides.
Flying Fish is a colorful set of flying scooters, but they’re understandably slow and on the
tamer side given the park’s audience.
Then you have the Turtle Twirl tilt-a-whirl, which can spin you silly.
If you keep heading back, you will then reach the farm area.
You have Crazy Barn, which is a relatively rare elevated spinning ride.
And then you also have the Eggs-traordinary Farm Tractors, which is a car ride past some
farm theming and set-pieces.
This ride has a similar feel to the Antique Cars, but it often has a much shorter wait.
There is also the whimsicle Farm Follies musical show in this area.
The final area is the dinosaur themed area.
You have a small digging sandbox for young kids, but the anchor of this section is undeniably
Roar-O-Saurus.
This small scale Gravity Group wood coaster packs a serious punch.
This is an aggressive little ride with tons of airtime.
The finale has strong and abrupt ejector airtime on par with the final sequence on Steel Vengeance.
I’m stunned Story Land added a coaster this wild, but as a thrill-seeker, I’m certainly
not complaining.
I have a separate review going into more detail, but this is the main reason I visit Story
Land annually now and it’s the biggest reason I’d recommend a coaster enthusiast to visit
this theme park.
Now remember that hill in the middle of the park?
If you’re a fan of spinning rides, you will want to head up there for Cuckoo Clockenspiel,
which is a gorgeous tubs of fun ride.
The grandfather clock theming is stunning.
It’s one of the best looking flat rides out there.
And the ride itself is really fun too since you can really get the tubs spinning fast.
The only other attraction atop the hill is Heidi’s Grandfather’s Mountain Hut, which
is an ok meet and greet.
While I have visited Story Land for almost 3 decades, I oddly have never gotten a meal
there.
Because of Story Land’s hours, I always get a hefty breakfast at the nearby Glen Junction
train restaurant and then eat dinner after the park closes.
So do I recommend Story Land?
If you have young kids, 100%.
This is the best theme park in New England for kids.
In fact, I’d say this park has a case as the world’s best park for children.
Between the amazing atmosphere, ride lineup, and interactive exhibits, Story Land is a
wonderland for kids.
I say that from experience.
Of the two children’s parks in New Hampshire, I prefer Story Land for the better ride lineup
and superior theming, but Santa’s Village is worth visiting as well since it’s just
an hour away so you can decide for yourself.
For adults and coaster enthusiasts, Story Land can still be a good time.
Roar-O-Saurus is an airtime machine.
You won’t find any major thrills through the rest of the park, but I have an absolute
blast just walking around this park because of how much love and attention goes into each
area from the sights and sounds.
So those are my thoughts on Story Land, the incredible children’s park nestled in the
White Mountains.
What are your thoughts on this park?
Do you have fond memories visiting this park as a child?
I would love to hear what you think about Story Land down in the comments.
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