Fairy Tale Forest’s magic lives on through four generations of family

For generations of children, Fairy Tale Forests was a magical place where story book characters came to life.

But the roots of the beloved West Milford attraction stretch back to Germany where a little boy and his 12 siblings listening to their mother read Grimm’s Fairy Tales by a wood-burning stove. The love of those tales stayed with him throughout his life and was the inspiration for Fairy Tale Forest.

That boy, Paul Woehle, Sr., apprenticed as an artist before immigrating to Newark in the 1920s. On weekends, he and his wife, Lisette, escaped the city to the country to pick blackberries. He fell in love with the countryside and bought 15 acres of land in West Milford. He and his family built a restaurant named The Pine Village Grove Inn, which was located across the street from where Fairy Tale Forest now stands. They worked weekends for years to complete the restaurant. Lisette had no cooking background but learned German dishes from a friend and became the restaurant’s chef.

After being stiffed for money by an incident involving the beer he brewed, in 1953, at age 53, Woehle decided he needed a business that brought in immediate cash. With his love of Grimm’s tales and his training as an artist, the Fairy Tale Forest was born. He lovingly designed all the exhibits and, with the help of family and friends, built the park on six acres of the original 15-acre tract. He had the animatronics made in Germany to his specifications and they are still in operation. The park opened in 1957.

Today a paved trail leads visitors past the exhibits. Each fairy tale has its own cottage where visitors can press a button to make the characters come alive and play original music suiting the scene. The park itself even has a theme song. The original park included The Gnomes Nest concession and a cafeteria. Today the cafeteria is a full-service restaurant.

Paul Woehle, Jr. was involved with the business until his death at age 48. His daughter, Christine Vander Ploeg, started “working” in the park at age four when she sat in the shoe (from The Old Lady in the Shoe fairy tale) with her grandfather helping him sell tickets. She learned how to paint and do concrete work at his side, which is why Fairy Tale Forest exists today. In 2012, hurricane Sandy devastated the park, and insurance only paid a fraction of the cost to repair it. As the park remained closed, it was vandalized and deteriorated from exposure to the elements. Using the skills her grandfather taught her, Vander Ploeg rebuilt the park with the help of friends and family. It reopened but was again shut down in 2020 due to COVID. Vander Ploeg continued to renovate, and the park reopened with a soft opening in August 2024. It is currently open Thursday through Sunday during the season.

Today the park has added a fourth generation of the Woehle family with the addition of Paul Woehle, Sr.’s great grandson, Michael Zachary Vander Ploeg, serving as the chef in the Fables restaurant and Gnome’s Nest Grill and Concession. Vander Ploeg’s husband, Michael Vander Ploeg is actively involved in running the business as well.

The Fables restaurant has a relief mural created by Woehle, Sr., for the former Pine Village Grove Inn. It was restored by Christine Vander Ploeg and installed as part of the restaurant’s renovation. The mural creates a Germanic renaissance atmosphere to the seating area, making it fit the rest of the park’s theme. Fables is a full-service restaurant with formally trained chefs and is open during park hours. Vander Ploeg plans to expand its hours to several hours after the park closes. Restaurant-goers do not have to visit the park to dine in the restaurant. Fables is designed to accommodate special events such as showers and luncheons and recently hosted a wedding.

In addition to the cottages displaying fairy tale vignettes, visitors are treated to special performances. This summer’s itinerary includes whimsical whirls to classical music, knight training, a village drum circle, school of rhymes, interactive story time and fractured fairy tails. Most of the players are high school and college students from the West Milford area. Storybook characters roam the campus to the delight of the little ones. The park offers special events such as magic and marionette shows, book author signings, local musicians, a fall fest with pumpkin painting, and Santa at Christmas with the park lit with festive fairy lights. Author Valerie Munro will be at the park on July 11 for a book signing for her Checkmate series of children’s books.

In the future, Vander Ploeg plans to add attractions such as a pavilion for the restored carousel original to the park.

What began as a young boy’s memories of Grimm’s fairy tales besides a wood-burning stove became one of New Jersey’s most cherished childhood destinations. Today, the family continues to work to preserve not only a park, but a piece of magic that lives in the memories of generations.