About 18 months ago the well known Happy Hallow Park and Zoo located in San Jose CA closed for remodeling. The “old” Happy Hallow was nice because it was fairly inexpensive, had something for everyone and was a good spur of the moment fun day. Plus, because it was small and “old” it was never very crowded (don’t get me wrong, it could get crowded, but in the middle of the day in the middle of the week, it was the perfect place). Now that you have the history I’ll tell you about our adventure to the new Happy Hallow Park and Zoo.
They had a special week for members only. I really wanted to go figuring that would be the least crowded time to go. However that week ended up being very crazy and I was concerned we wouldn’t get the chance. But on Friday March 19 I woke up and decided we were going to go. So I packed some simple snacks and LOTS of water and we headed out. I was a little disappointed that the parking area we used to use was no longer free parking. That’s ok, we Thompson’s like to walk. We made it to what used to be the entrance and we were guided down another path to the new entrance. Boy was I surprised. The new entrance was about as big as what the zoo used to be. I realized then that we were in for a big treat. We got in, took some pictures, lost Keri, found Keri, went to the bathroom and then finally headed into the park (that took a good 40 minutes!!).
[At the entrance of the new Happy Hallow and right before we lost Keri.]
[The carousel at the entrance. Everyone seemed to enjoy it except for Keri and Milo….]
[Ok, this was a SERIOUSLY fun swing!!]
[The Maze: not as great as the old one, but the kids still had fun!]
[Jaime wasn’t so sure about the roller coaster. The other kids were so excited to try it out. In the end I think they all had fun.]
[Looks like fun huh??]
[The Froggie ride seemed like such a good idea….]
[Poor Afton!! She ended up fine but would NOT go near the ride again!]
[More Afton’s style!!]
[Unfortunately, this cutie was a little too small for most of the rides!]
[Niah seemed to really like the swings.]
[Yep, I was there!]
[On the way back to the car we walked through the Japanese Friendship Garden. It was so beautiful and the kids loved it. I snapped this photo of Afton and I thought it came out so nice!]
All in all we had a GREAT time. We never did make it to the zoo part. I figured we’d focus on the rides because those are the things that are going to have long lines and we could go to the zoo the next time. I was glad we did. The longest we waited in a line was 30 minutes and that was for the new roller coaster and the Danny the Dragon ride.
The kids had a FABULOUS time. I think Jaime is borderline too big for the park. For sure in another year she will be there for the shear purpose of crowd control. I was a little disappointed by the maze. The one they had before was AMAZING!! But other than that it was fun. I’m glad the entrance fee still gets you all the rides for free. I can’t wait to check out the zoo next time and see how that has changed. We didn’t even see 1/3 of the park before it was time to go. Because it was a members only event and the last day before the big opening, it closed at 2. That was perfect though because the kids were wiped out and ready to go anyway. It was a perfect day with the kids. I’m so glad we went!
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