Dutch Winter Wonderland 2026: Dates, Hours, Tickets & What to Expect

Dutch Winter Wonderland is the holiday event at Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. On October 28, 2026, the park’s special-events index listed it from November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027. The event page headline is “Begins Select Dates Starting November 14.” It is not open every day in that span. The address on the contact page and the directions page is 2249 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, PA 17602. Dated tickets on the tickets page showed $49.99 and $24.99 under “As Low As” and “Save Up to 50%.” Any-day tickets showed $49.99 and $44.99 under “Save $5 Now!” and are valid November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027. Both cards are for ages 3 and up. Guests 2 and under are free. Parking is separate.

This page is only the holiday event. It does not replace the park listing, which covers Dutch Wonderland the rest of the year. A longer family visit, including how the park compares with Hersheypark in season, is the Dutch Wonderland family guide and the Hersheypark vs Dutch Wonderland comparison. County drive-throughs and walks are on the Lancaster Christmas lights guide. This page does not re-list those displays.

Every date, hour, price, and street address below was on dutchwonderland.com, or on the 2026 operating calendar PDF linked from the calendar page, on October 28, 2026. If a page did not print it, it is not in the table. The calendar PDF says operating dates, hours, and events are subject to change without notice.

Photo: castle at the Dutch Wonderland entrance, May 12, 2012, by FlugKerl2, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. It is a daytime entrance. It is not a 2026 Winter Wonderland night. The file is the photographer’s own work. It was not copied from the park’s website.

Quick facts

Fact	As shown on October 28, 2026
Season	November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027, on the special-events index. Select dates, not every day.
First open day on the 2026 calendar	Saturday, November 14, 2026. November 1 through 13 are blank.
Last open day on the 2026 calendar	Sunday, January 3, 2027.
Hours	Most open nights “3PM TO 8PM.” December 18 is “4PM TO 8PM.” December 31 is “10AM TO 3PM.”
Dated ticket	$49.99 and $24.99 shown together, “As Low As,” “Save Up to 50%.” No per-date price list.
Any-day ticket	$49.99 and $44.99, “Save $5 Now!” Valid November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027.
Who needs a ticket	Ages 3 and up. Guests 2 and under are free.
Address	2249 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, PA 17602. The directions page says 4 miles east of Lancaster.
Parking	General $25 a day. Preferred $30 a day. Buses free. Gold and Platinum general parking free.

Checked October 28, 2026. Sources: special events, the Winter Wonderland page, tickets, directions and parking, contact, and the 2026 operating calendar linked from the calendar page.

2026 dates and hours

The event page does not print a day-by-day calendar. The calendar page, checked the same day, opened on October 2026. That view listed October 28 and October 29 as Closed, October 30 as 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and October 31 as 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with Happy Hauntings named on the last two of those days. It did not print November or December hours in that view. The same page links a download, “2026 Operating Calendar.” That file is a one-page color calendar. Its legend is nine colored boxes. The line above the legend says operating dates, hours, and events are subject to change without notice.

The winter squares below use three of those colors. A light blue square reads “3PM TO 8PM.” A yellow square with white lettering reads “4PM TO 8PM.” A red square reads “10AM TO 3PM.” A second yellow square, with black lettering, reads “10AM TO 5PM.” None of the squares from November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027 use that black-lettering yellow. October 30 on the PDF is the white-lettering yellow, “4PM TO 8PM,” which matches the 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. the live calendar showed for October 30. October 31 on the PDF is pink, “10AM TO 5PM,” which matches the live calendar. That is why the winter colors are read the same way.

The special-events index is what names the span Dutch Winter Wonderland. The PDF colors are operating days. They are not labeled with the event name on each square. The first colored day on or after November 14 is November 14. The last colored day in the December/January block is January 3. Blank days in between are treated here as closed, because the square has no color and no hours.

Open dates	Hours printed by the color
November 14, 15, 21, 22, 27, 28, and 29, 2026	3PM TO 8PM
December 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30, 2026	3PM TO 8PM
Friday, December 18, 2026	4PM TO 8PM
Thursday, December 31, 2026	10AM TO 3PM
January 1, 2, and 3, 2027	3PM TO 8PM

November’s open days are Saturdays and Sundays, plus Friday, November 27. November 16 through 20, November 23 through 26, and Monday, November 30 are blank. December 1 through 4, December 7 through 11, and December 14 through 17 are blank. Christmas Eve, December 24, and Christmas Day, December 25, are blank. December 18 is the only night in this span colored “4PM TO 8PM.” December 31 is the only day colored “10AM TO 3PM.” January 1, 2, and 3 are “3PM TO 8PM.”

The pages checked do not rank which of those nights is quieter. They do not print a crowd calendar. Use the open list, then recheck the calendar page before you go, because the PDF says the hours can change.

Tickets and prices

The tickets page, checked October 28, 2026, says Dutch Winter Wonderland tickets are on sale, with the line “Make Your Season Sparkle select dates starting Nov. 14.” Two Winter Wonderland admission cards are on that page. A separate Stay and Play block is a hotel package, not a walk-up ticket. Season passes are on their own page. Nothing below is a guess at tax. Where the page shows two dollar amounts on one card, both amounts are printed here.

Dated admission

The dated card says “Plan ahead by selecting your visit date and save up to 50% today.” The bullets are one-day park admission and over 20 rides, attractions, and shows. Under the card, the page says it is a single-day admission ticket for ages 3 and up, and that guests 2 and under are free. The prices on the card are $49.99 and $24.99, with the words “As Low As” and “Save Up to 50%.” The page does not print a dollar amount for each date. This guide does not turn “as low as $24.99” into a promise that November 14 and December 26 cost the same.

Any-day admission

The any-day card says “Put flexibility back in your schedule this holiday season.” It is valid November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027. The bullets match the dated card: one-day park admission to Dutch Winter Wonderland, and over 20 rides, attractions, and shows. Ages 3 and up need a ticket. Guests 2 and under are free. The card shows $49.99 and $44.99 under “Save $5 Now!” and “Tickets Only.”

2027 season passes

The tickets page says a 2027 Gold or Platinum Season Pass visits Happy Hauntings and Dutch Winter Wonderland this year free. The season-pass page, checked the same day, prices those two cards as follows. Gold shows $169.99 and $119.99 under “Save $50 Now,” or 8 payments of $15.00. The Gold bullets include all-year admission, free general parking, and the rest of 2026 free. Platinum shows $249.99 and $189.99 under “Save $60 Now,” or 8 payments under $24.00. The Platinum bullets include free preferred parking, described as save $30 on every visit, and the rest of 2026 free. The benefits table marks Dutch Winter Wonderland under park events for Platinum (“All Year + Multi-Park”) and Gold (“All Year”). Silver on that table is “Spring + Summer.” Bronze is “Summer (Blackout Dates Apply).” This page does not treat Silver or Bronze as a Winter Wonderland pass.

A third card says “Get a Gold Season Pass for the Price of a Silver” and “8 Payments Of $15.00.” It does not print a separate Silver strike price. A summer-admission card, with select blackout dates and 5% off most retail and food, shows $109.99 and $99.99 under “Save $10 Now,” or 8 payments under $13.00. That card’s bullets do not name Dutch Winter Wonderland. The season-pass page says online prices will not be honored at the ticket windows, a service fee is applied to each online order, and there are no refunds, rain checks, or exchanges. It also says season-pass benefits and pricing may change, and to contact the park to verify.

Stay and Play

The Stay and Play block is a package at the Dutch Wonderland Inn, not a gate ticket. It says the stay is valid November 14 through January 3, 2027. The package includes a minimum of one room night, three 1-day admission tickets or three 2-day admission tickets for Dutch Winter Wonderland, a hot chocolate flight, and early park access. The page shows “Starting At $209.00” and “Starting At $254.00.” It does not label which figure is the 1-day package and which is the 2-day package. This guide does not assign them. A hotel night near a different Lancaster show is a separate decision. The lodging comparison for Sight and Sound is the hotels near Sight and Sound guide.

The bottom of the tickets page states a rainy-day guarantee: if an in-park visit is affected by rain, stop at the Guest Experience office before you leave and the park will offer a free ticket to return another day. That sentence is not inside the Winter Wonderland ticket bullets. It is the general paragraph on the page. Buy tickets on dutchwonderland.com/buy-tickets. This site does not sell the ticket.

What is included

The event page says the park has 10 or more activities and 20 or more rides, and “the sparkle of thousands of holiday lights.” The ticket cards repeat “over 20 rides, attractions, and shows.” The pages do not publish a winter ride list. This guide does not add ride names from a summer map.

Named pieces on the event page, checked October 28, 2026:

• Merlin’s Magical Forest, described as an immersive holiday light show with Merlin the Wizard.
• A visit with Santa at Santa’s Jolly Lodge.
• Duke’s Blizzard Bash in Market Square, with Duke the Dragon and friends.
• Cookies with Santa, with storytime and photos in Enchanted Eats, printed as November 14 through December 23.
• A Chris-Mouse Carol, an original puppet show in Melody Meadow.
• Illumination Lane, on the Back Path near Choo-Choo Charlie.
• Daniel Tiger’s storytime and meet and greet, reading Daniel and the Nutcracker, on the Neighborhood Stage.
• Snowflake Cookies with Daniel Tiger at Enchanted Eats, called Snowflake Day.

The page prints “11/14/2026 — 12/30/2026” between the Chris-Mouse Carol paragraph and the Illumination Lane heading. It does not put that range in a sentence that names either attraction, so this guide does not assign it. Daniel Tiger and Snowflake Day have no separate date on the page. Cookies with Santa are the only named activity with a written date range, November 14 through December 23. Several days inside that range are blank on the operating calendar, including November 16 through 20 and December 14 through 17. The event page does not say cookies are offered on a day the calendar leaves blank.

The event page also points to Winter Wonderland packages at the Dutch Wonderland Inn. The priced version of that offer, on the tickets page, is the Stay and Play block above. No inn room rate was printed on the park pages checked, apart from those two starting prices.

Parking, address, and what to bring

The contact page lists Dutch Wonderland, 2249 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, PA 17602, phone 717-291-1888 and 1-866-FUNatDW (1-866-386-2839), email infodw@dutchwonderland.com. The directions page uses the same street address and says the park is on Lincoln Highway East, 4 miles east of Lancaster. The site footer shortens the street to “2249 Lincoln Hwy.” The contact and directions pages are the ones that include “East.”

Parking on the directions page, checked October 28, 2026:

• General parking: $25 daily for all vehicle types, including amusement tax. Gold and Platinum season passholders, and tour and school buses, get general parking free. The line says purchase online or at the booth, and “Available Online Soon.”
• Accessible parking: $25 daily, bought at the on-site booth, with an approved placard. It is in the preferred lot, first come, first served.
• Preferred parking: $30 daily, bought at on-site booths, closest to the front entrance, including amusement tax.
• Bus parking: tour and school buses park free.

The Platinum pass card says preferred parking is free. The directions page says Gold and Platinum get general parking free. Those are the two sentences. This page does not merge them into a claim that Gold includes preferred parking.

The park FAQ, checked the same day, says Dutch Wonderland is cashless, with cash-to-card machines in the Castle Gift Shop and in Merlin’s Marketplace. It allows one bag per person no larger than 15 by 15 by 15 inches, with an exception for diaper bags and medical bags. It says no outside food, with exceptions for special diets, baby food, and formula in a soft cooler no larger than 12 by 12 by 12 inches, plus one non-alcoholic drink and small prepackaged snacks per person. Shoes and shirts are required. The FAQ does not print a coat rule, a glove rule, or a winter-weather cancellation rule. The only weather sentence found on the pages checked is the rainy-day guarantee on the tickets page.

The FAQ also says single-day tickets can be bought online or at the gate, and that a same-day hand stamp lets you leave and come back. It does not say Winter Wonderland requires a reservation. Dated tickets are the discount for picking a date. They are not, on the page, a rule that the gate will turn you away.

If you want a meal that is not inside the park, Good N Plenty is the family-style restaurant on this site. This page does not restate its hours or its prices. Those were not rechecked on October 28, 2026.

Who it suits

The ticket rules are the age guide the park actually printed. Ages 3 and up need a ticket. Guests 2 and under are free. The event page describes a family night: rides, Santa, a dragon dance, puppet show, and lights. Most open nights run five hours, 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. December 18 starts an hour later. December 31 is a shorter daytime window, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. A family that wants rides and holiday lights on one admission is the group the ticket is built for. A group that wants to stay in the car is not. A group that wants the park on a summer Saturday is not looking at this calendar.

The pages checked do not say the event is best for a single age band beyond the ticket ages, and they do not say it is too much for toddlers. They also do not print a height chart on the Winter Wonderland page. The park FAQ says ride height rules are posted at the rides and measured on a “Precious Gems” chart at the park. This guide does not copy a height list it did not see on October 28, 2026.

Worth it, on the prices that were actually shown, is a five-hour park night from $24.99 on a dated ticket if that low price is the date you need, or $44.99 if you want any open day in the span. Parking adds $25, or $30 if you buy preferred. A 2027 Gold pass at $119.99 is the other way onto the same nights, and the page says that pass includes the rest of 2026. Whether that pass is cheaper depends on how many other 2027 visits you will make. This page does not do that math for you. Read the total on the tickets page for your date, including the service fee the season-pass page says applies to online orders.

Other holiday outings nearby

Four other Lancaster County holiday plans are easy to confuse with this one. Each already has a page on this site. This section is one line each, not a second lights guide.

• Christmas Spirit at Penn Medicine Park is the downtown drive-through. Dates and vehicle prices are on the Lancaster Christmas lights guide.
• Stone Gables Estate, in Elizabethtown, is the other drive-through on that same guide. This page does not repeat the vehicle rates.
• Strasburg Rail Road holiday trains are a ride, not a park night. The railroad’s page on this site is Strasburg Rail Road. The lights guide has the Night Before Christmas listing that was checked with the other displays.
• American Music Theatre is a Christmas show on Lincoln Highway East, Winter Wonderland, not this park event. Show dates and the box office are on that listing.

An indoor stop that is not a light display is the Lancaster Science Factory. It is a different building and a different ticket. A walk-through light village in Bernville, which is Berks County, is a different drive. That one is the Koziar’s Christmas Village guide.

Frequently asked questions

When does Dutch Winter Wonderland start in 2026?

Dutch Wonderland’s special-events index, checked October 28, 2026, lists Dutch Winter Wonderland from November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027. The event page headline is “Begins Select Dates Starting November 14.” Any-day tickets on the tickets page are valid November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027. The 2026 operating calendar linked from the calendar page leaves November 1 through November 13 blank and marks November 14 as an open day. The park is not open every day between those two dates.

How much are Dutch Winter Wonderland tickets?

On the tickets page, checked October 28, 2026, dated Dutch Winter Wonderland admission shows $49.99 and $24.99 under the words “As Low As” and “Save Up to 50%.” The page does not print a price for each date. Any-day admission shows $49.99 and $44.99 under “Save $5 Now!” and is valid November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027. Both cards say the ticket is for ages 3 and up, and that guests 2 and under are free. A 2027 Gold Season Pass shows $169.99 and $119.99 (“Save $50 Now”) or 8 payments of $15.00, and the page says the rest of 2026, including Dutch Winter Wonderland, is free with that pass. A 2027 Platinum Season Pass shows $249.99 and $189.99 (“Save $60 Now”) or 8 payments under $24.00. The season-pass page says online prices are not honored at the ticket windows and that a service fee is applied to each online order.

What are Dutch Winter Wonderland hours?

The calendar page on October 28, 2026 showed October, not a typed November list. October 28 and October 29 were Closed. October 30 was 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. October 31 was 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Winter hours are the colors on the 2026 operating calendar PDF linked from that page. Light blue is “3PM TO 8PM.” Yellow with white lettering is “4PM TO 8PM.” Red is “10AM TO 3PM.” Open nights from November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027 are listed in the hours section of this page. The PDF says operating dates, hours, and events are subject to change without notice.

Are rides open at Dutch Winter Wonderland?

The event page says the visit includes 10 or more activities and 20 or more rides. The dated and any-day ticket cards say the ticket includes over 20 rides, attractions, and shows. Those pages do not name which rides run on a winter night, so this guide does not list rides.

Is Dutch Winter Wonderland worth it?

It is a park night with rides and lights, not a drive-through. Most open nights on the 2026 calendar run from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tickets on October 28, 2026 started at $24.99 for a dated visit and $44.99 for any day, for ages 3 and up, with guests 2 and under free. That suits a family that wants rides and holiday lights on one admission. It is the wrong night if you only want to stay in the car. Those drive-throughs are on the Lancaster Christmas lights guide. The park the rest of the year is the Dutch Wonderland listing.

Do you need Dutch Winter Wonderland tickets in advance?

The park FAQ says single-day tickets are available online and at the gate. The tickets page also sells dated tickets, which it says save money when you select the date, and any-day tickets. Nothing on the pages checked says a reservation is required. The season-pass page says online prices are not honored at the windows and that a service fee applies to each online order.

Where is Dutch Winter Wonderland, and how much is parking?

The contact page and the directions page both give 2249 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, PA 17602. The directions page says the park is on Lincoln Highway East, 4 miles east of Lancaster. General parking is $25 a day. Preferred parking is $30 a day. Accessible parking with an approved placard is $25 in the preferred lot, first come, first served. Tour and school buses park free. Gold and Platinum passholders get general parking free, and the Platinum card says preferred parking is free. Checked October 28, 2026.

What is included with a Dutch Winter Wonderland ticket?

A one-day ticket includes park admission and, in the ticket card’s words, over 20 rides, attractions, and shows. The event page names Merlin’s Magical Forest, a visit with Santa at Santa’s Jolly Lodge, Duke’s Blizzard Bash, Cookies with Santa from November 14 through December 23, A Chris-Mouse Carol, Illumination Lane, Daniel Tiger’s storytime and meet and greet, and Snowflake Cookies with Daniel Tiger. It does not say every one of those runs on every open night. Parking is a separate fee.

Checked October 28, 2026. Sources: dutchwonderland.com special-events index for the November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027 span; the Dutch Winter Wonderland event page for the “Begins Select Dates Starting November 14” headline, the 10 or more activities and 20 or more rides line, the named shows and Santa visits, Cookies with Santa from November 14 through December 23, and the undated placement of “11/14/2026 — 12/30/2026”; the tickets page for dated prices of $49.99 and $24.99, any-day prices of $49.99 and $44.99, the November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027 any-day window, ages 3 and up, guests 2 and under free, the Gold and Platinum “this year free” line, Stay and Play starting prices of $209.00 and $254.00, and the rainy-day guarantee; the season-pass page for Gold at $119.99 (from $169.99) and Platinum at $189.99 (from $249.99), the payment plans, the benefits table, and the online-price and service-fee sentences; the directions and parking page for 2249 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, PA 17602, the “4 miles east of Lancaster” line, and parking at $25 and $30; the contact page for the same address, 717-291-1888, and 1-866-386-2839; the FAQ page for online or gate tickets, the cashless rule, the bag rule, shoes and shirts, and same-day re-entry; the calendar page for October 28 and 29 Closed, October 30 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., October 31 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the link to the 2026 operating calendar; and that calendar PDF for the open dates and the color key from November 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027. Photo: FlugKerl2, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, File:Dutch Wonderland Entrance.jpg.