Illinois Travel Guide 2009 - (Page 32) CHICAGOLAND At Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, tots can take a spin on the rides at Wiggles World, while older kids will want to brave the thrilling Dark Knight indoor roller coaster, inspired by the latest Batman movie. Dive into water park fun at the adjacent Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (free with theme park admission) and whoosh down one of the wild water slides, bob in the massive wave pool and explore Skull Island, a giant water playground. Take a trip out to the beautiful suburban Brookfield Zoo, featuring 200 acres of animals that include frolicking dolphins at the Seven Seas, apes at Tropic World, penguins and sharks at Living Coast and the Hamill Family Play Zoo, where kids can dress up as veterinarians or get their faces painted as their favorite animals. You’re sure to find something to entertain everyone at The Streets of Woodfield in Schaumburg. This outdoor entertainment and shopping complex includes the new Legoland Discovery Center, where kids can build Lego creations to their hearts’ content. The nearby GameWorks offers two floors of the hottest virtual reality and arcade games. And at Medieval Times, enjoy a four-course feast, rugged jousting tournaments and captivating artifacts. At Kohl Children’s Museum, at The Glen in Glenview (a former naval air station), kids will find plenty to keep them busy, including making music, creating an art masterpiece, taking care of dolls at a daycare center, exploring a fantasy forest, crawling through mazes and building a house. Developmentally disabled residents run the businesses at the busy Lambs Farm in Libertyville. The charming farm includes a pet shop housed in a historic barn, a bakery with goodies made from scratch by the residents, a thrift store, a farmyard with attractions that include a petting zoo, mini golf and a carousel, and a country-style restaurant. Annual events include the little-kid-friendly Haunted Harvest in October. NORTHERN At Rockford’s Riverfront Museum Park, make a stop at the Burpee Museum of Natural History, where you’ll meet Jane the juvenile T. rex and her new pal Homer, a juvenile Triceratops. In fact, Jane and Homer are the most complete adolescent dinosaur discoveries in the world. The nextdoor Discovery Center Museum offers more than 32 ILLINOIS. MILE AFTER MAGNIFICENT MILE. enjoyillinois.com MIKE GRAHAM Top to Bottom: See leaping dolphins at Brookfield Zoo, spend a day with Thomas the Tank Engine at the Illinois Railway Museum, test your skills at Kohl Children’s Museum, play indoors and out at the Discovery Center Museum 250 hands-on children’s exhibits that let you do everything from forecasting the weather in a television studio to pretending you’re piloting an airplane in a flight simulator. Let the kids run free at the museum’s outdoor Rock River Discovery Park. Soak up the fun at Magic Waters Waterpark, located just outside Rockford in Cherry Valley. Get your kicks in one of Illinois’ largest wave pools, brave the five-story, dark tunnel Abyss tube ride or grab a buddy and board the two-person Splash Blaster raft ride that takes thrillseekers 80 dizzying feet above the park, then plunges them through a series of tunnels. Sparkling waterfalls and cool canyons are the hallmarks of Utica’s Starved Rock State Park. Hike through the forest or join Starved Rock Stables for a guided horseback ride. Starved Rock Lodge offers narrated trolley tours of the area. For a view of the park from the water, hop aboard the Belle of the Rock and cruise the Illinois River on an authentic paddle wheeler. Tackle one of the downhill runs at Chestnut Mountain Resort, perched on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in Galena. Chestnut Mountain also offers a snowboarding park, ski lessons and a comfy 120-room lodge. During the summer, ride a sled down the resort’s 2,000-foot-long Alpine Slide or board one of the Mississippi Explorer Cruises that ply the Upper Mississippi River. Have you got a train fan in your family? Then make tracks to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. This active museum boasts more than 50 acres of running room for its electric, steam and diesel trains that you can ride on. Also view more than 250 cars and locomotives, including a complete Burlington Zephyr Streamliner. During the museum’s Day Out with Thomas event, kids can ride Thomas the Tank Engine, enjoy puppet shows, magic shows and more, and take unlimited rides on the museum’s trains and streetcars. ROBERT GARCIA JEFF WAIT http://www.enjoyillinois.com
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