donley's wild west town

We love going to Wild West Town, especially taking our four boys. At least, until the older two started getting a little ... older. Here are our kids' favorite things to do here: get locked in a jail cell, ride hand-powered train cars, pretend to drive a covered wagon, throw an ax, shoot a bow and arrow, ride ponies, get root beer at the old time bar, riding the train around the park, shooting cork guns, panning for gold, playing at the playground, and watching the show. So pretty much everything! I will warn you, you do NOT want to go to the show on a hot, sunny day. No shade, just roasting in the heat. Otherwise you can pretty much find enough shade. Also, the kids love eating ice cream and shopping in the candy store. I'd say it's great for anyone with kids ages 3 - 10. Enjoy!

We have visited this location a few times, and loved it each time. The price seems a little high, but it is well worth it. There is pony rides, mining for gold, little boats, bow and arrow, and many other things. I highly recommend this place.

My sister and I took her grandsons (4 and 5) in May. It was during the week so there were not a lot of people and the weather was great. Your admission gets you a punch card for each attraction, which worked out well for the boys since they could use our cards for the shooting gallery, slingshot and archery (+ others). They were a little young for the suction cup archery but they loved it and the attendant was very patient and told them what to do. They loved the show, panning for gold, and the lasso lessons. The sheriff put them in jail and they had to sing a song to get out. He really had us laughing. The train ride was ok but you could see the park was in need of some attention. It's not like six flags but the boys didn't care one bit. I loved the museum part, but my favorite part was watching the kids have so much fun!

This was a great day trip for us. Family of four, kids age 7 and 12. At first it appears small and leaves you thinking what will we do here with all this time but what a surprise! My kids really enjoyed going here,as did my husband and I. There were lots of activities included in the price of admission ($16 or $15 with coupon from their website) It was a very affordable day trip, we had lunch in the saloon which was tasty and reasonably priced. Every employee we encountered was extremely friendly and had a smile for us. We even met Mr. Donley himself which was a nice surprise, we didn't realize who we were talking to at first. The show was fun, the rides and park clean and well maintained. My kids have been asking to go again, we will definitely return. My -only- recommendation would be not to use the trailer washrooms that are in the main activity area, but rather use the ones in the restaurant. Other than that... Loved it! Kept our kids busy for hours.

Firs tof all- the museum in the front is SUPERB! Didnt even know it was there- even a wall of toy pistols from a hundred years ago. I stayed for 5-6 hours with my 5 and 8 year old and they had a blast! We didnt even eat or stop for lunch. Panning for gold, pony rides, pop guns (cork), throw a real tomahawk, even a wild west show and train ride! It was a lot of fun!

Overall I think this was a fun outing...lots of things for the kids to do and try. We have a cowboy on our hands so he was in heaven. Neat activities like panning for gold, pony ride, bow/arrow, slingshot, cork gun etc. I do NOT recommend the roller coaster... very herky jerky, way too fast and we really didn't like seeing our little kids heads whipping back and forth like that. I do think they should get rid of it (or slow it WAY down). Also, this time, the western show was kind of lame, thankfully the kids didn't notice. Lastly, though entertaining for the little kids, $16 each was a little high for a family. With grandma and grandpa with us it was $90+. They should have an option for parents who won't be 'partaking' in lots of the activities (like $10 or something). Great if you have little kids in the cowboy phase (but maybe only go the one time).

I took my 8-yr-old twin grandchildren (boy and girl) to Wild West Town as a birthday present. Their 10-year-old girl cousin came along and a great time was had by all. I also invited my daughter and her 15-yr-old daughter to help me keep up. That was a big help in keeping up with the kids who kept running from one event to another. The show was also a big hit with the kids. This is a fairly small venue which is great for grandparents with bad knees. The gold panning was a much bigger thrill than I expected. We had lunch at the restaurant next door and the food and service were both great.This venue perfectly fits the 3 -11 age group.

We arrived at 11 and stayed til 4pm. Lots to do especially for kids. We couldn't get them to leave. They really loved the activities and the feel of being in the wild west. I liked that you paid one fee to get in and then all rides/games were included. We ate at the restaurant through the jail and the food was very good and reasonably priced.

First off It was VERY expensive for not much to do. The website and brochure promote a "picnic grove" but yet they stress no outside food allowed in park which we did not know until we walked in the front door. Museum has some nice exhibits but not interesting for kids. The activities are limited to a punch card, although each paying admission gets a card, for $16 per person why are they limited to 2 of each activity. Gunfight show made my kids laugh and was entertaining. However there were no staff members in costume walking around, helping kids or promoting the wild west theme. The young staff that was stationed at the games and shops had no personality and seemed bored silly to be there. We found very little gold in the gold panning area at noon seems like it had already been cleaned out. Train ride took you around the outskirts of the property that looked like a field full of weeds. Snack food was not much to choose from and expensive the cooler weren't even filled with pop that they were charing $2 a bottle. I wouldn't was my money here again there is so much more to do in the Chicago area for less money. Grounds were also run down and had weeds growing everywhere I expected so much more. Kids did have fun but they are 5 and 7.

It might seem like it is small amusement park with only few attractions but it still took as 5 hours to do all the activities only once with exception of few. Park itself was very well kept, species parking lot (its free) and very friendly and young staff. All attractions offer by the park are included in the admission fee. There are few (example: pony ride, slingshot range, pop gun range, archery ranch) for which you will have to use a punch card provided with your entry fee. Each punch card give you access to those attractions twice during the day. At first I thought that this is not enough but believe me we only had the time to use one punch per attraction plus remember as a paying adult you will also receive a card that can be used by your child so you will end up with 4 turns per attraction. Before going make sure to Google for coupons. I was able to find a coupon (Chicago Fun Coupons) for $4 off per admission up to 6 people while most of the web sites offered from $1 to $2 off. The one attraction that the kids (3 and 6 years old) loved and I would not go on again was the Runaway Car Roller Coaster. It was too bumpy and I think I was too big for it because during the ride I was trying to hold on not only with my hands but also my legs and end up with a bruised knee. Nothing major plus I do not like roller coasters in general. There was only one attraction for which there was a height requirement and it was the Tomahawk Throw for which you had to be 60" tall. Don't skip the Wild West Show because it is well played, funny and very entertaining. In order to make our outing even more fun and get kids into the Wild West spirit we dressed them up as cowboy/cowgirls. I did not find a one thing that I did not like, lots of great memories and photos.

First of all we had a $1 off coupon. So for a family of 4 we paid $60. You can walk around the entire park without stopping in about 8 minutes. The front of the town is much more attractive that the inside. You walk into a store with above average prices. That leads you into the park. They have a bunch of very small activities/games. They get boring really fast. The train ride was the first highlight. Unfortunately the speaker was not working properly and you could only hear half of what the guide was saying. The pony rides were awesome do to the extreme boring experience. It took maybe one and a half minutes for the pony ride.the "show" was just as bad as anything else. The actors are less than entertaining and it's just silly and boring. I heard many comments in the audience with a similar feeling. All of the other activities were half done and just cheesy. If the price were about $5 per person I would not be as disappointed. Stay away!!!!

I was skeptical at first but decided to go with my kids. I set my expectations low and I was not disappointed. It was average to me but the kids had a blast. The only thing that drew my attention was the wild west museum at the entrance. Kids enjoyed all attractions. The little roller coaster was the most popular. The good thing is that you can mix-and-match games on your coupons so you can enjoy your favorite ride more than the rest. No outside food is allowed but at the same time their selection of food is very small.The wild west show was funny for the kids but do not bring toddlers to watch the show. They will most likely get scared with all the shooting.

Family oriented, there are many interesting activities to experience at the wild west town, including tommyhawk throwing, rides for the kids, a family train ride around the town. A restaurant which was attached that served great food at reasonable prices

My 6 yr old really enjoyed this place; he didn't want to leave.They have pony rides, a train ride, a small roller coaster etc. The employees are super friendly.The restaurant was really good too.I would definitely go back; I think my son will enjoy this attraction for atleast a couple more years. Once kids are close to 9 or 10 they may feel that it is a little babyish.

A good time for a family with kids. Lots of things to do (like panning for gold) and shows, like a shootout.