Years ago, our son had but a single travel wish – to go to Legoland.
So we booked a North European Disney cruise that ended in Copenhagen. We were going to visit the very birthplace of Lego in the Summer of 2020.
You can guess what happened next. The European cruise and the trip to Copenhagen both fell prey to a global pandemic – along with the Chilean fjords cruise we’d planned for my 40th birthday.
I’m not complaining. We got through COVID easier than many. But we did still owe our son a trip to Legoland.
As our travel plans shook out, we resolved ourselves to the notion that we weren’t going to Copenhagen anytime soon. Fortunately, there is a Legoland in our proverbial backyard – in New York state.
Unfortunately, that Legoland’s hotel happens to sit at the unfortunate intersection of lacklustre and ludicrously expensive. We struggled to justify staying there for two or three nights while we went to Legoland itself, but just couldn’t do it.
Which brings us to Rocking Horse Ranch:
Rocking Horse Ranch is ranked as the #1 All Inclusive Family Resort in the United States. While alcohol isn’t covered, everything else – from banana boat rides to horseback riding to laser tag– is included in its considerable room rate.
And the room rate is definitely considerable – at US$1,320 per night it’s more expensive than Club Med Charlevoix or Great Wolf Lodge, and even the fanciest of suites does not include a fully separate bedroom for the kiddos.
It comes close – but I will offer a gentle reminder that rooms have doors, and for reasons I cannot fathom why there is no door between the kids’ room and ours.
Why???? (Source: Rocking Horse Ranch)
On the other hand, it does offer all-inclusive horseback riding. Guaranteed one ride per day but you are welcome to join the stand-by line for all other timeslots. Theoretically you could do up to five rides a day.
So we dutifully loaded our EV full of stuff and set out for the Catskills.
As usual, we have crammed our vehicle to the absolute gills
The initial leg went smoothly enough – we took Highway 401 to the Lansdowne border crossing and made our way into the US without incident.
But it wasn’t long before Google Maps diverted us off the interstate and sent us winding along the backroads of upstate New York – replete with warnings regarding “loose cattle”.
Turns out that the interstates form two sides of a triangle heading to Rocking Horse Ranch – and Google Maps opted to send us down the hypotenuse. Fine by us! The roads were pleasant, scenic, and the straightest line between two points.
After several hours on the road, we stopped in Herkimer to visit an Electrify America station and dine at Tony’s Pizzeria and deli, a well-reviewed local pizza place.
Our Canadian credit cards initially struggled to initialize the Electrify America charger both via tap and chip, and the app was no help. (I don’t have an American credit card so was unable to enter a valid zip code.) Finally I swiped our Canadian credit card – success!
The charger launched into action, and we immediately began pulling almost 190 kW, enough to charge the car from 25% to 80% in less than 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, my wife texted to tell me that the pizza place was closed so Tony could take a presumably well-deserved vacation but she had diverted to a nearby Subway.
I trudged along the road to meet up with them. It’s been an absolute scorcher of a summer, with much of Ontario experiencing drought-like conditions. This portion of New York State seems to be no different – it had risen to (33 C) 92 F and felt warmer still sandwiched between the sun and asphalt.
The thought of sandwiches made my stomach growl – though thankfully Subway was able to get us provisioned and on our way in short order.
There was a moment of panic when I saw that the car’s app had thrown an error – though on closer inspection it turned out to be an artefact from the previous charging issues. The car was still pulling a healthy 160 kW. This was a huge relief, as there are few things I hate more than schlepping from one charger to the next.
Back to the car to eat our subs before departing once more – again trudging along baking hot asphalt before being stalled out at a traffic light that singularly failed to deliver us a Walk sign despite cycling through each light at least three times.
Finally we just dashed across, cursing the North American ethos that elected to prize the automobile above all other forms of transport.
But I digress. We ate a perfectly adequate lunch, and by the time we’d finished the car was at 90% charge. It was “expensive” by EV standards at roughly US$33 for roughly 300 km in range (62 kWh), but still cheaper than gas.
Another two hours in the car. The drive was wearing on, but at least the scenery continued to impress:
Finally we neared Rocking Horse Ranch, only to be stuck in a traffic jam:
We had to double back to the alternate gate, but we were soon checked in, and our orientation had begun.
Learning the ins and outs of the resort is a process – rides need to be booked, meals need to be scheduled, and there’s a lengthy itinerary that lays out all the activities of the day:
Plus the schedule for the overall facilities:
And a map of where to find everything:
We were somewhat dismayed to find that the only morning riding slot for the week was at 8 am, and that the evening dinner windows were either 5:30 pm or 7:30 pm. But after a bit of prodding, the staff admitted that there was some flex in there if you attempted to reschedule the following day. So we’ll start with these slots and see how it goes.
Off to our room to unload – which was about what we expected:
On the bright side, it is scrupulously clean and there are two air conditioners belting out a chilly, refreshing breeze.
I then went to relocate the car, and was pleased to discover that there was a spare EV charger available. I didn’t even need an app! Just scanned the QR code and initiated the session via my browser. The cost was roughly $0.19 per kWh, less than half of what we paid at the Electrify America.
We then took the kids to the pool, where they immediately vanished into a maelstrom of waterslides and volleyball:
This left my wife and I no choice but to order a pair of delicious frozen margaritas:
I will say that these margaritas each cost US$16. But I will also say that they are worth it.
Back to the room for quick showers, and then off to dinner. Breakfast and lunch are buffets, but dinner is served a la carte.
Tonight’s menu:
We started with a berry salad – not pictured, because we tucked in immediately after it arrived.
My wife had the shrimp scampi:
My daughter and I both had the steak. Mine had fries, while hers had macaroni:
And my son had the burger:
Drinks were self-serve, as was dessert.
There was quite the spread:
The manager came up to welcome us to the resort, provide us with the general manager’s card, and to offer us a free bottle of wine. Not a bad start!
The food was quite good. My steak was mildly overdone, but it certainly exceeded expectations. And the desserts were excellent.
We carried on exploring the resort. We found a lovely playground:
As well as the Ranch’s highland cattle:
We then went to check out the lake:
The shuffleboard:
And the mini-golf:
My son also went off to play laser tag, which he very much enjoyed.
There were a few minutes left with which to enjoy the beautiful grounds:
But alas, it was then time for bed – though it feels like we’ve scarcely scratched the surface.