Kiddieland

Sunday, October 4, 2009 - 09:21

A beloved Chicagoland institution closed for good this past October. A small amusement park geared towards younger kids, Kiddieland has been around since 1929. I don’t think I ever went to this Melrose Park institution when I was a kid— I didn’t move to Chicago until I was nine. But this summer I went with my son Brady for the first time and we both fell in love with the place. He loved every single ride he went on— the cars, the boats, the airplanes, the train. And I loved seeing just how deliriously happy he was. He still talks about it constantly. He’ll be playing with a toy plane in my house and announce that the plane is “flying to Kiddieland.”

As sad as it is to think about, I hope he stops talking about Kiddieland by the time summer comes around again. It’s too hard thinking about having to tell him that Kiddieland is no more. Yes, there’s always Great America and my wife actually took him there a couple of months ago. But the second they got back into the car to come back home, my son asked “Now can we go to Kiddieland?” So sadly, I kind of hope he forgets about Kiddieland. But I certainly won’t. Here is a piece that we made for the family: