Crayola Factory

If you are considering stopping here ... Don't. $16 for anyone over 2. We were there on a busy rainy day ( which we have done many many times in the 10 years we have been going ) and the redesign made it impossible to move. The experiences you could get to were broken. I spoke to the manager who said they called the people that installed the machines and they said it was crayola and crayola says its them. She also said that the redesign allows for 4,000 people and there were only 1,200 in the building. No matter The amount of people the lines and ropes block the handicap accessible ramps so if you have someone with a disability accessing anything is near impossible. Parents with strollers were carrying them down the four flights of stairs. I you have been there in the past with all the workstations - most if them are gone or minimized -- but there's a nice climbing jungle gym like you can do at McDonald's. I would have been better off buying a box of crayons and giving my kids paper -- they would have spent more time with crayons then they did in Easton, PA

Crayola Factory

Oh that stinks! I was wondering how it was since the redesign. Thanks for posting!

Re: Crayola Factory

We were there too today. It was extremely crowded, but we timed things right and were able to go on floors with very minimal wait times. I think we arrived only a few minutes before the huge crush of people at 11 am. We started on 4, then went to 1 for lunch (at noon), then to floor 2 and finished with 3. Each floor took us about 45 minutes to complete. I think there were over 2000 people, closer to 2500. There is no way it could accommodate 4000 without abject mayhem, 3000 people should be the per person max for it to be crowded but still enjoyable.

I agree with the OP that I was not as impressed with the renovations as I had hoped I would be but my kids really enjoyed it and that is what made me happy. [edit to say - if I was stuck in the huge crowds like OP was I could completely see myself feeling the same as she did. There were some broken injection marker molds but most were still working when we went.]

It was expensive, but I used my kids stuff coupon (AAA gets you $2 off).

My kids really enjoyed:
making a personalized crayon
injection 3 color markers
model magic
the boats (but I was sad that they got rid of the cargo) in the locks
the crayon spin art
the crayon molds (my kids made a car and a ring out of crayons)
painting with melted wax

I was really sad that they closed off the actual making of a crayon demonstration area. I really hope they bring that back as the area was just closed by a door and encased.
I did not love the new touch pad area but I think they are trying to show they are modern. But for me the delight with crayola is the physical, if I wanted my kids to be playing on the computer we could stay home and do that there.

I was disappointed that some areas cost extra to take special photos. I understood paying more for the sand art, stuffed animal, and shirts, but they should have offered the cartoon photo to color in for free.

I do like the new layout and felt it flowed better, but the bathroom situation in the cafe was awful.

Over all it was a nice day out despite the rain. I live only 30 minutes from it, so it was not a big deal to get there for me, but I would only go as part of a larger trip if you need an activity on the way.

Message edited 8/28/2013 9:05:40 PM.

Crayola Factory

We got there at 11 - six of the make your marker machines we broken, only 3 of the spin art were working. They blocked the steps down to the spin art off and the line wrapped around the handicap ramp. They took a lot of the hands on out for more capacity - years ago they used to have timed experience starts - but this was probably 8/9 years ago. That made sure the kids could be hands on --- I guess more people and less hands on makes the case now. It's sad, it's completely transformed with food sales at the elevators and pay more to play and not the spend time being creative with your kids that it was. We also missed the how much does your boat weigh and the other middle of the floor exhibits that were so much fun. Definitely not worth $65 for a family of four plus parking plus any extras that you want to pay to do.

Message edited 8/28/2013 10:28:08 PM.

Re: Crayola Factory

thats so sad! My kids LOVED it last year when we went. we wanted to go this year but the summer just flew by and we didnt get there.

Did you guys go during the week or on the weekend? we had friends that went on the weekend and said it was too crowded but I assumed it was because it was a saturday!

Re: Crayola Factory

We went there today and it is a Wednesday. I was extremely surprised at the crowds. It was pouring cats and dogs in PA today.