Can't Help But Wonder, "Was That Real?"
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 6/22/11
I went here many times when I was rather little, and could only remember things in bits and pieces of nearly useless thoughts, but I managed to convince a couple of close friends to roadtrip there with me. Merely driving up the road to the place we were amused by the metal sculptures that lined each side. Before we'd even begun our first tour we were captivated by the gardens, which featured small, but very pretty waterfalls, charming wooden bridges, hundreds of orange and white fish, and many strategically-placed plants. It all added up to a very zen-like feeling.
The first tour took us up to the main house, and though it was very interesting and we were endlessly surprised by what treasures all the nooks and crannies hid (even in the bathrooms!), the ceilings were abnormally low and the place was damp from all the indoor water effects and had a strange smell to it. At first it comes off as a bit creepy and you expect to have things jumping out at you like some historic haunted house, but quickly you settle into the rhythm. You can't not expect anything here.
We found the second tour a bit more interesting than the first. It wasn't as cramped, although much of it was still damp and musty. There's a lot of cool stuff hidden away, waiting to be spotted by the unsuspecting visitor. I would suggest that you don't come through here planning to fill your stomachs at one of the two food places, fact being that the food is expensive and even the drinks are expensive, including a bottle of water for nearly two dollars. The ice cream, however, was worth it. Delicious!
Tour three almost blended right in with tour two, but here the lighting seems to grow even dimmer. As if all of the dolls peering out at you in the only mildly bad lighting wasn't enough! And while small children may be put out that riding the carousel is off-limits, it's breathtaking to just see the behemoth! It puts you on edge when you see a vague sign dangling over the walkway stating a couple facts of the carousel without actually telling you what's ahead, setting a precedent, but you're still completely unarmed when you walk around the bend and see all of it's lights blinking and glittering.
As a quick tip, I'm going to tell you to be prepared for rather revealing female statues during the last two tours. They seem to be nearly everywhere.
I believe you receive four free tokens when you purchase your tickets, but some of the things throughout the tour require more than one, and I only saw a single token machine during the tour, so think ahead! Personally I think it would be more worthwhile to use the tokens for the massive self-playing orchestras. It's really stunning to be able to hear well-known works of art being played before your eyes by inanimate mechanisms.
Charge your cameras for this trip, but I'd like to warn you, I haven't taken or seen a single picture that can even compare to what you see with your own eyes.