I recall giving a place a six (except Yelp does not offer a six star rating). This is a six…read more Pictures and videos do not do justice. Imagine you are training for tough mudder, or you just want to relive your childhood, or you are tired of mechanical rides, or you want to get some exercise in, this place has exactly what you are looking for: a wild magical land filled with constructions that require your physical strength and daredevil mentality to get through all the obstacle courses. The reward is great. The thrills are aplenty, and you know what, all those reading about European style playground, especially in Sweden, and Germany, is all true. The structures are one of the kind. Each game area is unseen before in America, and there is no "rides" per se, every single complicated, whimsical structure requires fearless attitude, intense physical strength and all the good things you learned from climbing trees as a kid. It's not just for kids, mind you, it's for aduits too. The entire place is situated in the woods, and no two structures are alike and they are all crazy looking.
I climbed a few things, and went down the water slides a few times as well. I was really enjoying the trampoline but that zip line thing was too hard. The entire time I was thinking, why could't America build something like this? It's like from another universe. A world that imagination comes alive and we learn to be a kid who enjoyed physical activities and did things like an little adventurer would. In that regard, it makes the modern amusement park that cost over $100 a day, with a line out of the door, and kids did very little but waiting in line seemed so insufferable.
A couple of logistical things to note: bring cash if you are not Germans. They did not even take my French mastercard debit card. You should drive here. It's about 1.5 hours away from Dusseldorf. It has a lot of shades so sunscreen is not absolutely necessary, so don't panic if you forget them. It closes at 6, but you can stay in the park until 7 in the summer. They are Germans so when it's 6:59 you'd better be out of the door. And finally, no fast passes any kind issued.
Ketteler Hof is an amusement park of a completely different type of concept: no powerful high-tech attractions, no roller coasters and free fall towers, Ketteler Hof is jungle gym inside of a nature park called Hohe Mark. It is filled with one of kind German structures, it requires us to tap into the inner adventure selves and go forward without hesitation. We were all kids inside and we can be kids again, even kids!
