Small Beginnings:
.....Just recently, on Epinions, I've looked up some amusement parks. I was unaware that they listed them here. I found the ones I was searching for and decided to look for smaller ones. I typed in Bland's Park and, to my surprise, it was listed. I didn't really think that a small park would be in the listing, but ya never know. I, myself, am from Tyrone, PA, about 5 minutes north of the park.
…..Bland's Park originally began around 1919 on the Bland family farm, thus giving it the name of Bland's Park. It consisted of three rides and prospered greatly during the roaring twenties. In 1928, it was sold to the Rinard's, who later suffered from the depression, leaving the park in disrepair. With no hope, he sold the park to Fred Delgrosso in 1946. Delgrosso was the Family name that owned the Delgrosso's Sauce factory across the street. Over the Delgrosso generations, the family all joined in to run the park, from cooking to running rides. After more than half a century of owning the park, the family decided on changing the park name to Delgrosso's Amusement Park. Therefore, the Epinion's listing is incorrect.

The Rides:
…..The Park doesn't have as many rides as Busch Gardens or Disney World, but there is a fine selection with few long lines. The park is divided into two sections; the Kiddie Kingdom, and the………….um……big rides. The kiddie kingdom provides eleven rides for the young'uns, from airplanes to fire trucks. The regular rides are of every sort. The pride of the park, the carousel, was built in the 1920's and is still in operation, though considered to be an antique. The Zyklon roller coaster, which may cease to be now, is a small roller coaster with two butterflying dips. They have the Round Up, a wheel that spins while you stand and lifts vertically. The other rides include: Sea Dragon, Paratroopers, Flying Bobs, Tilt-a-Whirl, Space Odyssey, Balloon Race, Scrambler, Ferris Wheel, Casino, Live Ponies, Dodgem Bumper Cars, Tipton Creek Railroad, and new rides for 2004 expansion. That may not seem to be much, but the lines are short, and all rides are fun. One day, I rode the roller coaster 36 times in a row. I was the only one in line for all of them. The Scrambler has three groups of three seatings. Each group spins independently in the same direction as the entire unit spins in the opposite direction. I won't go into detail on every ride, but you can take a look at all of the rides at www.delgrossos.com.

The 2004 Expansion:
…..As I went to their site, I found that they had made plans and purchased three new rides for the park. The first, the CRAZY MOUSE, is a spinning roller coaster that is supposedly being placed in the same spot as the Zyklon. The Crazy Mouse is 1256 feet long and lasts a whooping two and a half minutes. Next up, the FREE FALL, is a 50-foot tower that drops passengers to 4 G's and a tingly stomach. This ride was bought over in Italy and shipped way over here this spring. I can't wait to go just to ride that. And last, they purchased a WACKY WORM kid coaster for the kiddies. It allows parents to ride with their kids if they want.

The Nourishment:
…..Delgrosso's offers a fine variety of food stands to fill anyone's gut. My personal favorite belongs to good ol' Murf's hoagies located in the Murf's kitchen concession. From that stand, you can get their famous potato salad, fries, sandwiches and more. They have large seating area with umbrella tables. 156 feet away is the pizza stand, serving up some pizza and soft drinks, and with an all-shaded eating area. In the center of the park is the five-window concession stand with ice cream, cotton candy, sno-cones, funnel cakes and a gift shop on the end. And last, there's the Tipton Creek Char-grill. Some people complain that food prices are a bit high, but you're at a Park, what do you expect?
…..I almost forgot. On the water park side of the road is TEXAS HOTDOGS that is not owned by the park. They have good hotdogs (most of the time). Along with the dogs, you get a cup full of boardwalk fries. They also serve soft-serve ice cream of many flavors. I chose this place to eat as second, behind Murf's hoagies.

The Speeding Speedway:
…..On the other side a 220 is the Go-kart track. The speedway provides one and two-passenger go-karts for traveling the twisted course. In the nineties, there was a second track next to this one, one that required you to have a license to ride. They eventually tore it down and today, in its place, is the water park. The go-karts are fun to ride, going around the sharp turns, under the bridge, and passing up all those slow drivers. Anyone over 54" can ride alone, or you can ride double, the passenger between 42" and 54" with the driver over 54".

Putt, Putt, Oh Crap, I Hit The Water:
…..On the side of the speedway track is the Championship Miniature Golf. The course offers an 18-hole game that covers a beautiful scenery. There are three small lakes, a swinging bridge, five waterfalls, and a mini mountain to shape it all. The miniature golf gives lots of family fun, lasting for over an hour. You may find your ball in one of the many water hazards throughout the course. If that happens, then you will be fishing out your own ball, no one else will get it for you, adding in the fun. Especially the last hole where you have to hit the ball over a water inlet, jumping the area, without it falling in.

Slippin' 'n' Slidin':
…..Until 1997, DelGrosso's has been without a water park of some sort. after tearing down the one go-kart track, they started building the Waterworks. The Waterworks is a big one-foot pool that has two small slides, tunnels and waterfalls. Every ten minutes, a large bucket dumps hundreds of gallons of water upon the waiting crowd. The Waterworks isn't just for the kids, many adults enjoy the fun as well. There are male and female restrooms / changing rooms. The men's room is always empty, whereas, women may have to wait to enter (making us wonder what goes on in there). The water park concession has pizza, fries and other quick fixes along with drinks and mountain dew slushies. In the water park, you can rent a locker if you can't trust us Pennsylvanians around y'all's stuff. Then, in 1999, the park introduced the five Tipton Rapids waterslides into the park. There is Gravity Groove, a waterslide that you go down and then go UP on, sometimes leaving people stuck. In the middle, the Great White, is a short slide that is ten feet wide and you can spin on it and stuff. On the end of the platform is the Midnight Express. It is a long, black tunnel that leaves you in the dark until the light at the end ("I can see the light, oh praise the lord." lol). These three slides use large two-people tubes. Then there are the Twin Twisters. These two slides are much taller than the others are and mirror each other (giving them the TWIN name). These slides use mats as opposed to tubes. They usually race people on them. If you chose to race, go on the slide on the right of the platform because it has a slight down grade that gives a quick boost of speed.

Gaming:
…..In the park, beside the Murf's Kitchen, is the arcade. The arcade is lined with games on both sides and down the center. Play for fun or for tickets. When you are done, put all your tickets together, including ones you took from some little kid, and cash in at the display case full of goodies. If you plan on visiting the park in the future, save up your tickets. One area uses tokens that you need to put in a thing and you may get big blue chips out of it. These chips are valuable when enough are saved up.

Picnicking:
…..Lining the back of the park are the 17 picnic pavilions. These pavilions were the basis of the park back in the early 1900's. There are regular pavilions for most any size family, along with two large pavilions for hosting events in. In the average ones, I'm guessing that there were about 16 to 20 tables. So the small ones are enough for even a large family. Each pavilion provides several outlets for cookers or such, along with lighting and a garbage receptacle.
…..On the Fourth of July, Delgrosso's overflows with people. And as for being a holiday, many people want to set up picnic areas of there own. So you can imagine what it's like to get a pavilion on that day, with only 15 available. Well, every fourth of July, our family gets an entire pavilion to ourselves, meaning that someone goes up at six in the morning to claim one. Make sure you are in top shape, cause once that gate opens, people are running back to redeem their space, putting up fights for them. You may find it useful to bring a double barrel sawed off shotgun with you, incase your pavilion comes under attack for the area availability. It's a fierce battle getting a pavilion to yourself on July fourth, but worth the effort.

B-14, I-17, N-40, G-52, O-66:
…..Oh yes, the BINGO pavilion. Bingo is played in the pavilion between pavilions 12 and 13. You can just walk up, sit down and play. Each round, someone comes around and collects the money form everyone. I think it's a quarter for every four cards. Half of the money collected each round gets divided among the winners, or just one person if you're lucky. My gram can always be found playing at the bingo hut.

Hours And Prices (2004):

Open Weekends & Memorial Day: May 2nd - June 6th
Open Seven Days A Week: June 7th - Aug 22nd
Open Weekends & Labor Day: Sep 4th - 26th
Waterworks & Rapids open: May 29th - Sep 6th
Rides and attractions open at 11:00 a.m.
Picnic grounds open at 8:00 a.m.

The park has now limited the passes down to two types:

Pass #1
All-Day Rides
(Includes Waterworks in season)
$10.95

Pass #2
All-Day Rides, Waterworks & Rapids
$13.95

Individual tickets are 50 cents apiece. One-Ticket Rides: Antique Carousel, Boats, Combination, Corvette, Elephant, Helicopter, Kiddie Carousel, Train, Turtles & Whale
Two-Ticket Rides: Balloon Race, Casino, Dodgems, Ferris Wheel, Flying Bobs, Free Fall, Live Ponies, Paratroopers, Round-Up, Scrambler, Sea Dragon, Space Odessey, Tilt-A-Whirl & Wacky Worm
Four-Ticket Ride: Crazy Mouse

Championship Miniature Golf: $3.50 / per person
Tipton Speedway: $3.00 a ride, same price for two-rider rides

If you plan on visiting the park several times in the same summer, then you may wish to purchase a summer pass for $69.95. With that, you get unlimited visits for the park and water park.

Summer Thunder:
…..Every year, on the fourth of July, is the Summer Thunder 200? fireworks show. At the show, music is played on a massive sound system heard throughout the park, about 4000 watts and more. Spotlights fill the sky, people crowd the roads, and the show starts at 10pm. Fireworks of large proportions are blown in harmony with the song in which it is playing with. If you are special and have connections, then you can get a factory pass and sit in the front lawn of the Sauce factory and watch the show close up. Or you can sit anywhere in the park or tailgate it in your pickup in the parking lot. The Rozzi fireworks family works with Delgrosso family in making a show that will shake the town. The fireworks are set up atop the Delgrosso's Sauce plant's roof. Fifteen-inch shells line the many rows of tubes. After the show, the park opens up again until midnight. Most people leave after the show, but I highly bid against it. You won't get far. There are accidents every year from the congested parking lots after the fireworks. So it's best to stay in the park for the remaining of the day.

Closing Time:
…..And with that, I spilled all of my knowledge on Delgrosso's (Bland's) Park. I have gone hundreds of times, and will go many more times in the future. There are many things to do there. The fourth of July is bound to leave you with memories. The food is great, especially them good hoagies. Go-karts, golf, waterslides, new rides coming in every year, and so much more. This is the perfect place to visit for a day of family packed fun.


Recommended: Yes