Sawyer's Creek — Attraction in McDonald Island

My friend and I took our 4 kids (ages 3-8) to Hannibal for an overnight trip. We ended our day at Sawyer's Creek before heading back to St. Louis. Although this is a smaller entertainment complex (think much smaller scale Six Flags with no admission fee!), we were pleasantly surprised! There was something for all of us to do and their prices were very reasonable. For example, 25 cents, you could feed the large fish a handful of food (very entertaining for little ones), they had several coin operated rides for smaller kids (yes a quarter! so a buck will get you 15-20 minutes of 2-5 year old laughter!). For 50 cents, you could get some candy from the sweet shop (including a chocolate dipped oreo-yum!) or cool off in the arcade for a few games that earned them tickets for small, little token prizes or candy. For a $1, you could get a Sawyer's Creek bottled water or other treats (like homemade fudge or popcorn!). For $5, our older kids (6+) enjoyed mini golf, bumper boats equipped with water guns, and water wars (each kid gets 5 water balloons that they can launch on these slingshots and douse each other with water). They also had a small train (aimed more for littler kids). Also a ride like a 'scrambler' but had a Hannibal themed name. After all the fun us moms had with the kiddos over the last 36 hours, we went and treated ourselves to a bottle of wine in the wine shop which overlooks a good chunk of the little park. We enjoyed a glass while watching our older kids finish up mini golf and the littler ones take a ride on the train (wine tables are right next to the train). We didn't eat there but they have a nice-looking restaurant (other visitors said the food is good) that overlooks the Mississipi as well as a well-stocked gift shop (again prices reasonable for a touristy venue). I want to add this is a family owned park. While we were enjoying our wine, an older gentleman came by and asked how we were doing, It turns out he was the owner and his daughter is the general manager (oh and they employee high school and college kids many of whom have worked there for more than 1 season and all were very polite young people!). Great little place to take a family for an afternoon. Very nice people, very nice atmosphere (clean as a whistle!), reasonable prices; a nice ending to our little Hannibal trip. I told my husband about it when I got home and now he wants to go check it out. In light of the recent years' economy, it is so good to see a 'mom & pop-like' business flourish. Best wishes Sawyer's Creek, we will...

Off the bat I'd this place is geared towards and best for kids. But if you're parents or even a couple looking for some good ice cream and a fun souvenir shop, stop here! Stopped in with my fiancé and we got ice cream cones and the amount of ice cream for the money is huge! They have other snacks and treats there as well. The entire upstairs is a general store type souvenir shop that is fun. There are several things for kids to do outside that are pay to play but would be very fun There is this small pond(that the kids can ride bumper boats on) that has fish in it and you can buy little bags of fish feed for a $1 each and feed them. And boy do they...

Very run down most stores fronts were empty, grass wasn’t mowed, paint peeling, everything was just unkept. The coin operated rides didn’t work but they accepted your quarters just fine. The biggest disappointment was when we went to ride the bumper boats, they ALL needed charged and we had to wait 40 minutes! Instead of rotating boats and charging as needed they ran them all dead at the same time! Kids were running the place, I didn’t see 1 adult....so I shouldn’t have been surprised. My 4-year old granddaughters enjoyed feeding the fish and that...