I once visited Old Economy and had a blast a few years back. I decided to take my sister and nephew last weekend only to be disappointed. First the directions on their website are horrible. I am from the Pittsburgh area and for some odd reason they decide to give you a long trip through the crumbling communities of Baden, Ambridge, and Freedom. I would suggest visitors use a gps or google maps. Once you get a few blocks away from the Old Economy visitors center you may even check to see if your doors are locked (yes its quite scary). . After entering the visitors center we were greeted by a nice lady who asked how we could be helped and we noted we wanted to tour the village. It was then 245pm on Saturday. She told us that the tour just left and that there were designated times to go on tours. The three oclock tour just happened to be the last tour of the day (even though it was a quarter till...) and that we could still tour on our own but were limited to the blue highlighted sections on the map (which she handed us). Wow we could tour the pump house, garden, and tool shed on our own?!! The lady did note that the other areas were locked and we would have to come back to take a tour but we could look around the visitors center/gift shop for free. Keep in mind that there are no tour times listed on their site. This trip would have been better if I would have called ahead for tour times which I suggest all visitors do.
Pros: Good educational experience
Cons: Only worth going if you have a group of people
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