Old World Wisconsin — Attraction in Town of Eagle

I absolutely love this place!! I love that all the buildings are original places that the early settlers built. I love that everything is hands on and you get to touch and experience things, not just look at them. This time we went, we got to thresh grain, find chicken eggs, see oxen be yoked and listen to their gut (!?), attend school in the one room school house, pick wool & see it being dyed, pet piglets, roll pie dough, crank the contraption that adds oxogen to the fire in the blacksmith shop and buy the hook we watched the blacksmith make, touch all the dry goods in the general store (this was my 3 year old's favorite part), buy something at the general store, and pound pegs into shoe soles and do some leatherwork on a keychain we got to buy and take home. On another trip, we got to ride an old fashioned tricycle, play stick and hoop and other old fashioned games, work a cream separator, and play the pump organ. I should mention we went to a similar but much smaller living history museum one time and my son started playing the pump organ and the interpreter was very unhappy with us. Oops! The only reason I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is because they have significantly cut back on their weekday offerings. For the "Weekday Experience" no buildings are open and it is not really worth my drive out there, and beginning in September, I believe they are not open on week days at all. I bought a Wisconsin Historical Society membership with the intention of taking my homeschooled kids on some weekday field trips (at least on Fridays, when everything was fully functional during the Summer). But it doesn't look like I'll have much opportunity to do that. The website did not have information about when they close for the season or when their "Weekend Experience" would no longer include Fridays, so it made it hard to...

I learned quite a bit today from the staff at OWW therefore I feel my time there was very well spent strolling through my childhood memories. My children, ages 23 and 8 didn't enjoy it as much as they had very little familiarity with the lifestyle or implements of the age depicted. It was quite warm today so we relied on the tram service to get around the entire exhibit. Parents with little ones and older folks should plan to take the tram often as the paths between exhibit areas are not paved and the distances quite far. Water fountains are numerous throughout the property so skip bringing a beverage that may regret having to lug around. The cafe is located near the parking lot so don't count on the convenience of a snack to purchase during the self guided tour, bring one with you or stop at the cafe on your way in. Many of the home kitchens showcased freshly baked, cooked or roasted foods of the era with products from the gardens and barns. Fascinating, delicious smelling and hunger inducing sights and smells. Use the restrooms at the gift shop before starting your tour as they are few and far between. Items to purchase at the gift shop are very reasonably priced. I could have easily spent 7 hours there but my kids were done seeing it all after just 2 hours or so. The subtle differences in the exhibited cultures and lifestyles were lost on them. I look forward to returning with my sister, we are both just shy of 50 years old, but I'll leave the...

Went on Saturday for the weekend experience. $20 for adults and $10 for kids. For my family of 4 there goes $60. Then I bought 5 tokens to buy things. So there's another $25. Then my son was hungry so we bought a grilled cheese sandwich with chips and a cookie for $10. So were at $95 and we hadn't even gotten started. Spent a token on a bar of soap. Another token for a top. Another for a plastic glass of soda. Spent my 4th token on a keychain my 5yo made. Then we had two ice cream cups for $8. Then we got on a tram to go to the next area. The driver MADE me put my umbrella stoller on the front of the tram. Even though the other tram drivers did not. Well on the bumpy, super dusty ride the top and keychain fell out of the stroller. My 5yo was devastated. We continued on for a while but soon decided it was time to leave. My son was not having fun anymore. I had one token left so I went into the gift shop. I showed it to the elderly woman at the desk and asked for my $5 back. She said I had to spend it in the shop. I asked what souvenir I could get my son for $5. She got snippy and said, "Nothing". So I bought 3 pieces of candy and two bottles of waters and left. We will not be returning. The money was one thing but what really disappointed me was that the buildings were run by a bunch of kids who could not answer half of my questions. Also the water fountains at the tram stops all taste rusty. So gross. What a...