Mid-Summer Fun Guide: Diggerland USA
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
As much as children of the modern era are glued to their iPads and Xboxes, they still seem to wanna get their hands dirty, too. Take Bob the Builder. And take the New York Times best-selling Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site series, wherein dump trucks, bulldozers, cement mixers and derricks get their claws into kids' imaginations and their parents' wallets.
$29.95-$34.95 | 22.5 miles/35 min. away | Diggerland USA, 100 Pinedge dr., West Berlin, N.J., 856-768-1110, diggerlandusa.com.
As much as children of the modern era are glued to their iPads and Xboxes, they still seem to wanna get their hands dirty, too. Take Bob the Builder. And take the New York Times best-selling Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site series, wherein dump trucks, bulldozers, cement mixers and derricks get their claws into kids’ imaginations and their parents’ wallets.
There’s democratization to be found on a construction site, a glorification of hard work and blue-collar values. Not every kid will someday work in Silicon Valley, go to medical school or become a blogging journalist. Some youngsters will have to get their hands filthy-dirty right through adulthood.
That’s where a day at the new Diggerland USA in West Berlin, N.J., comes in.
Set within 14 dusty acres in Camden County, the United States’ first and only (so far) Diggerland is based upon the construction theme-park concept started in the U.K. There are four Diggerlands up and running in Great Britain. (I know it sounds like it should’ve been a ’murrican idea, but don’t forget that the aforementioned builder Bob is a fish-and-chips-chomping bloke who drives his dozer on the left side of the road.)
Diggerland’s concept is simple: Children and parents get to drive and operate heavy machinery, from skid-steer loaders and diggers, to mini-dumpers and more, when they’re not busy sitting in fast-spinning amusement rides built out of old rigs.
One look at the 20-ton Spin Dizzy ride and the 7-ton Giant Digger where you scoop and dump dirt, and you know: This isn’t Sesame Place. Diggerland resembles Jurassic Park with a work permit and a palette that ranges from yellow to yellower (JCB, the construction equipment brand, is fond of that sunshiny tone). You can stand or sit in the Dig-A-Round carousel, or swing 50 feet into the air on the hydraulic Sky Shuttle.
Obviously, the main attraction is the diggers; guests can get behind the wheels of three sizes of construction equipment. Not only can you claw and scoop loads of dirt and look for pretend buried treasure (then dump it), the massive boom arms can be used to knock down bowling pins. Cube-dwellers might not get the point, but trust me: There’s nothing like having 4,000 pounds of heavy metal at your command.
