Thanks to everyone who gave input on my vacation. We went to the crayola factory (easton, nj, i think) and to dutch wonderland (lancaster, pa). I've come back to give my reviews in case anyone else is thinking of going there. dcs are 3, 4, and 6. they loved crayola. there are some exhibits/info there about how crayons are made but most of the place is set aside for letting you do arts and crafts projects. they have modeling clay with the rolling pins and shapes, they have a fingerpaint area, small projects, regular coloring, coloring with markers, etc. we easily spent 3 hours there and could've stayed for longer. it's just under $10/person but adults have to pay as well. upstairs from crayola is a canal museum which i thought would be so boring but it wasn't. each kid gets a boat and you can put it through the canal. was not for the 3yo but the older kids had fun, even though they didn't quite "get it" either. then there's a play area that was great for all my dc's ages. we could've easily spent another hour there but we didn't have time. as for dutch wonderland, it's fantastic in certain ways. it's an amusement park geared for younger kids and maybe even pre-teens. it's very clean, very family friendly. great bathrooms and some even have toddler sized toilets and sinks (it was cute). they have a nursing mom's station. they have plenty of rides that little kids (even my 3yo) can go on. lots of hokey shows and plays which my kids didn't really care for. i didn't love it b/c it was really hot outside and imo, an amusement park for little kids is overkill. but they did have a good time. we stayed for about 5 hours and it was exhausting.