Hot potatoes to cold spaghetti, the Wiggles dish it out

August 12, 2007|Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff

AGAWAM -- The Wiggles, in case you haven't heard, are the latest preschool craze: Four Australian men and a few dancing animal sidekicks sing bouncy rock songs about eating fruit salad and looking both ways before you cross the street. Now the Wiggles have their own world, created for kids under 6, in the shadow of the gravity-defying megarides at Six Flags New England.

At Wiggles World, which opened in the spring, you can hear the screeches of older riders dropping, soaring, and lurching through Scream and Superman: Ride of Steel as you and your offspring contemplate smaller thrills: red cars that move gently around a track, fountains where water spurts in bursts, and miniature airplanes that rise and fall when you push a button. The hardest decision of the day: whether to ride in the green or red mobile at Wags' Doggie Copters.

A few times each day, Wiggles songs -- part of the genre of music known as "kids pop" -- begin booming from the open-air auditorium. The actual Wiggles will eventually make an appearance, park officials say, but in the meantime, their songs are performed by a female song leader and some of the group's sidekicks. While many of the kids sat silently staring at the antics on the stage, parents were madly swinging their arms to mimic long strands of pasta to the song "Cold Spaghetti," and rolling their hands to the strains of "Hot Potatoes." Our own toddler, who doesn't know a Wiggle from a Weeble, the preschool craze of his parents' era, was mesmerized by the dancing animals: Henry the Octopus, Wags the Dog, and Dorothy the Dinosaur.

There's also an annoying pirate -- Captain Feathersword -- who crows like a rooster and jaunts punchily around the stage.

The Wiggles have sold 17 million DVDs and 4 million CDs, and Six Flags is happy to sell you all sorts of Wiggles paraphernalia. A green Dorothy suit, for instance, costs $29.99. (The four Wiggles, three of whom met in university classes on child development, are Australia's richest entertainers.)

That said, Wiggles World is still a sweet diversion. Although the park was jammed on a summer Saturday, lines at all the rides were relatively short. Many of the rides require children to be 36 inches tall to go on alone, but shorter tots can ride with a parent. As my husband pointed out, many of the rides' names sound as if a toddler is describing them: "Big Red Cars" and "Big Red Planes."

But even the most docile of rides, thanks to Six Flags' lawyers, lists an assortment of ailments that should prevent you from climbing aboard: back problems, heart trouble, high blood pressure. It's hard to imagine the rides could provoke any medical condition, except perhaps narcolepsy, in adults.

The biggest drawback to Wiggles World: You have to pay for full admission to Six Flags. (There's a slight discount if you buy tickets online.) For a family of four, that adds up to $160, and that doesn't include parking, an extra $15, or the ridiculously priced food. It's hard not to grimace at the Yummy Yummy Cafe, where a bottle of Diet Coke costs $3.50.

Wiggles World at Six Flags New England, 1623 Main St., Agawam. 413-786-9300. sixflags.com/NewEngland/food/WigglesWorld.aspx. Monday-Friday 10:30 a.m.- 10 p.m., Saturday 10-10, Sunday 10:30 to 9. Adults $49.99, children 36-53 inches tall $29.99, under 36 inches free.