The Amish Experience

Magic lantern was a great show! The narrator was informative and quite entertaining!!! A must see!

I took the house tour.
I think it’s a great informative tour.
It took about 40 minutes — we started in a Amish classroom, where we got some explanation about their education system.
Then, we moved to the house (which used to belong to Amish family in the past).
We saw the boys/​girls/​parents bedrooms, as well as the living room and kitchen, with explanation in each room, and demonstration of their cloths, games, decoration etc.
I definitely recommend this to you, and I think this is exactly what you need in order to get the Amish feeling :)

I highly recommend the «Amish Farmlands Tour». Our tour guide «Jim» was very pleasant and very very informative. Our group ranged in age from 11 to 72 years old and everyone throughly enjoyed it.

We went out of our way to attend a magic lantern show at this theater and we were thrilled that we did. The show, presented on antique (but updated to use electric lights) lanterns, was incredibly well executed. The presenter clearly enjoyed his work and was happy to answer everyone’s questions about the history of the magic lantern and how everything worked at the conclusion of the show. The entire family had a great time, and the kids walked out discussing how we could make our own magic lanterns.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in a little pre-​moving picture history.

This review is for the House and School tour only. My mom and I took this tour and found it very informative and interesting. The man who led the tour did a great job. They had a $ 2 off coupon right outside where you buy the tickets, so it ended up being only $ 9/​person. My kids didn’t want to go, so my husband stayed with them while we took the tour. But if I had known how good the tour was, I would have made them all come. I considered having them do the tour after me, but decided we didn’t have time in our schedule. I’d recommend it to anyone visiting the area who wants to learn about the Amish.

AMAZING!!! Well worth the drive! This was truly an Amazing experience. The movie «Jacob’s choice» was probably one of the most captivating and engaging tourist attractions we’ve ever been to. It’s a truly MUST experience if you get a chance.

Loved it! for the price, it was great. Got to experience everything Amish. Bus tour, school and house tour, and a wonderful movie. Paul was our guide and he couldn’t have been nicer. Will differently recommend.

We arrived 15 minutes before the ticket office opened on a very cold Thursday morning. Bill, a very nice employee took pity on us and let us in early. We purchased the Super Saver Package for $ 39.95 per ticket. We met the tour bus driver, who happened to be Bill the ticket seller at the bus. We started out with the 10:00AM Farmland Bus Tour (90 minutes) and was interesting and fun. The bus holds 14, but there were only 3 of us that particular day. We made a stop at an Amish woman’s house and she invited us in. The purpose of the stop was, she was selling her handmade quilts. She spoke with the 3 of us and was very nice and explained to an extent the Amish way of life. The farmland was beautiful and we even came upon a farm where there was a wedding and quite a site with more than 150 buggies and horses parked in the field. Bill explained that it was the wedding season and weddings took place only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After our bus tour (11:30 AM), we had a lunch reservation at the Plain and Fancy Restaurant on the property. The restaurant was empty at 11:30 AM and was full by Noon. We opted for the ala carte menu instead of the family style feast. We each ordered the fried chicken platter and Shoe Fly pie and were pleased with our choice. We also printed 10% discount coupons from the Plain and Fancy Farm Restaurant website prior to our visit. 1: oo PM (40 minutes), we went to the theater, multi screen production to see «Jacob’s Choice», about an Amish teen who makes a choice of staying Amish or becoming English. 2:00PM (30 minutes), we did the 1 room school house tour and house tour. Our woman tour guide was very informative, but somewhat arrogant and condescending especially when asked questions. We had time for the buggy ride which was included in the package, but it was too cold. Everything is right there as far as the bus, theater, restaurant, school house and house. We enjoyed The Amish Experience and Bill was terrific and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Amish.

It was a movie in a small theater that different really use a typical screen. The stage comprised of multiple walls that were part of the show in that they were part of the stage set. They had different visual effects and the show was informative. In the end though, it was still simple and not too intriguing.

I’ve never been treated so rudely in my life. I don’t think the people who operate this are Amish. They are rude and charge for everything too much. My kids got sick at the restaurant and were up all night too. This was not a good «experience».

Our visit to the dutch country was spontaneous for a saturday mini day trip. We knew it would be a bit chilly outdoors but we came anyway. We arrived and easily found the farm/​business. This is a great one stop shop. Theres a store which sells amish goodies, a restaurant right next to the store which serves amish fares, and a hotel right behind the theater/​tour center. The hotel seems to have great reviews from other Unilocalers. The area also has a buggy ride on site from a different company.
We signed up for the super saver package. This included the homestead tour (typical school and amish home/​family living), farmland tour (stops at bird in hand bakery and craft store), and the theater show. I was a bit hesitant with doing all three but the woman working the desk reassured me that everything was great experience and I would have a great time. She was great help and delightful. Her name was Beatrice i think. Not only did she sell us our tickets, she also was the tour guide for all three activities. Beatrice makes you feel welcome and inviting. She is very knowledgeable about the amish. I would recommend this tour if you’d like to learn about the amish without the frills.

I avoided the tourist traps like a seasoned pro on our trip to the Amish country. Still, I managed to fall for one– the Amish Experience Theater. We dropped a couple of dollars on tickets hoping to learn more about the way the Amish live. No such thing happens in this very dated film (70’s? 80’s?). How do the boys hook up with the girls? Inquiring minds want to know! Does the color of the girls bonnet mean anything? Inquiring minds want to know! Do Amish guys ever pick up non-​Amish girls? No really, some of them are hot and you know, inquiring minds want to know!
Anyway. «Jacob’s Choice» is instead a half hour film with special effects that you’d expect at Disney World. When there was a storm projected on the screen fans would pump out a misty rain over the audience, when war scenes were shown a «cannon» shot out puffs of smoke into the theater, etc. Maybe I’m leaving off some stars for the film having stopped projecting a few minutes into our «experience» or maybe because I never did learn anything more about the Amish that I didn’t know already.
Props to our host and speaker before the film started — friendly, funny, and laid out a good foundation for what to expect from the «experience».