Like most girls, my daughters want only one thing: absolute power. I indulged that desire when planning our most recent trip. Earlier this year, I decided we’re going to be a family that goes places and does things—after my wife told me that we need to go places and do things. I can take a hint, as long as that hint is direct instructions. I had to schedule our outings around the kids since they’re involved in an annoying activity called "school" that hogs the majority of their calendar. I suspect that group would have a much lower membership if it weren’t literally illegal not to join. Now that it’s summer, it’s time for the bulk of our planned events. We have one big vacation booked as well as several one-day excursions. This weekend was a particularly memorable one: We went to our first amusement park as a family. I put the kids in charge of everything we did inside the park. Reading that now, I can see where I went wrong. That’s why I’ll never run out of things to write about.
My best friend was SHOCKED that I hadn’t ever been on a roller coaster. He planned for a day at a local amusement park so I could finally ride a roller coaster. Now, I’ve never felt the loss of never riding a coaster, but he felt it was a shame. As we stood in line my shaky resolve to ride began eroding. I’m a terrified of heights, and this coaster looked to be touching the stratosphere. Before I knew it, it was our turn. As the coaster slowly ascended to the stars, I became ever more terrified. For my first coaster ride, maybe choosing a ride that did loops wasn’t the wisest idea. After 10,000 years the ride ended. I literally shook for an hour. After my friend rode several even scarier rides I finally found my perfect ride. A roller coaster for kids! No upside down loops, no stratosphere scrapes, just fast curves.
You should have vetoed the wooden coaster as the first. They really are the worst! They beat you up.
I hate to break it to you, but Disney is amazing without real coasters. Most rides are quite tame and I can’t ride the serious stuff anymore. I went for my 50th and had a blast! The Galaxy’s Edge is fun to just explore and people watch if you’re a Star Wars nerd like me. We did do all kind of pictures with characters, I even got one with my favorite princess, Aurora. But, if you can convince them that Disney is not worth it based on your trip to Holiday World, good on you! Disney was probably more expensive than a trip to Hawaii, which was our original plan for my 50th.
Good luck on the remaining family adventures this summer. I can’t wait to hear about them all!
LOL My son once asked when we would take him to Disney and I told him we he will ride every ride at the fair... and our fair is small. He will be 15 in a week and he still won't ride every thing at the fair.
A few years ago my family would do an amusement park day the same way as yours. One time we went to a temporary roller coaster in Szczecin and did only one ride, as one of my brothers had his cap blown off his head during it. For us the Disneyland was always too expensive, so we didn't even dream about going there.
Last year however, as we all grew older and bigger, we went to the biggest amusement park in Poland, the Energylandia in Zator. If anybody ever has the chance to go, I seriously recommend. It was also a single day trip, but we had only a bit more than an hour to get there, most of which I've slept. We knew what we wanted to try and where to find it, because my brother went sometime earlier with his friends and did the "first-hand research" with them. Everyone of us, except mum, was eager to try all of the biggest and fastest rides available. That was because we went first to the ride he described as having "moderate" speeds, but mum stated it was "very quick", too much for her. Until the dinner, we did most of the fast rides with mum in the meantime having fun on the Ferris wheel. We did bumper cars once, but we hit others only as a response to others bumping us first, usually racing like you did. After we ate some pizzas, dad and my bros. immediately went to more coasters, but I decided to have a little break, as I felt it wouldn't be a good idea to ride on full stomach (perhaps I'm built differently). Later on I rejoined the pack for the largest course in the park, while mum still resisted. We haven't went to any water rides, because nobody had fitting swimsuits/swimming trunks (due to having swimming classes suspended thanks to covid for a few years). For the last hour we were chilling laying on the loungers in the swimming pool area.
I love amusement parks and spent lots of time at Arnold’s Park in Okaboji, IA. It had a wooden coaster there that I would ride over and over again. My grandpa took me most often and I have no idea how he rode it with my brother and I. It makes my back hurt just thinking about it now.
I didn’t go to Disney until my 30’s when I lived in Florida. I can’t help but think the experience was t the same, but an annual pass where you don’t spend $25k and have to go park open to park close for 7 days seems much better. It’s amazing, and worth the experience, it really doesn’t offer that many crazy rides (that’s more Universal Studios), but it is magical. I can’t help to think they would appreciate it more when they are older and want to eat more than ice cream and sno cones.
Thanks for another amazing story, and rip to Lola’s sandals.
I find amusement parks absurd. I don’t understand spending money to stand in line and hazard heat stroke. Amusement parks are noisy and full of unrealistically cheerful people. I am not enamored with either noise or people pretending to be happy. I’m a grumpy recluse who refuses to leave the comfort of my air conditioned home unless it’s to go to my mailbox once a week to recycle unwanted offers to sell my home for bitcoins or discount offers for a Disney weekend.
My favorite roller coaster story is riding The Mighty Mouse with my parents and younger brother. He was maybe 5 at the time and I was 9 or 10. It’s one of those roller coasters where you sit tallest to shortest single file, two persons per section. The roller coaster has square corners which makes you feel like you are going over the edge before it swivels the car to continue down the track. Being the youngest, my brother received the full effect of going over the edge every time it reached a corner. We were all laughing hysterically and exited the ride still laughing so hard we were practically crying. We walked down the stairs and then realized that he was not with us. We turned around to look for him. He had gotten as far as the top of the stairs and about the time we turned around to look for him he let out a blood curdling scream. He had been too terrified to scream during the entire ride! It still brings us to tears laughing about it! He went on to ride many roller coasters in his lifetime, both at Great America and a brief visit to Disney. Another family favorite is how my mother narrated Space Mountain only by laughing hysterically as my brother and I sat in front of her in the dark. Every twist and turn, up and down had a completely different laugh. Good times and great memories!
I live in the land of the mouse. About an hour away from that hellscape. The last time I was dragged there my stepdaughter was 3 (said child is in her mid-twenties now). S screamed her head off for every raindrop that dared hit her and had a hissy if I tried to cover her with a transparent poncho. This is Florida it pretty much rains here every day in the season. She had 0 interest in the characters and less so standing in line so her older brother could ride a few of the rides. It was fun for exactly no one and I’ve vowed never to go back. Trust me you are missing nothing!
Love it. Not sure what coaster you rode.. but I hated The Beast at King's Island. It's not near the entrance.. but geez that thing bumped me from side to side. I stopped riding it all together, but only after I stopped riding it until I was ready to get a headache and leave the park first. I guess I'm a slow learner.
I loved roller coasters when I was younger and legally blind without my glasses, because I was required to take the glasses off and couldn't see much but a faint blur. The first amusement park I went to after I had lasik made me realize that my lack of vision was the only thing keeping my fear of heights from getting involved. I suddenly realized how HIGH I was up in the air. Can't do those anymore.
Sounds like Holiday World to me. That wooden coaster there is favorite amongst roller coaster aficionados, as is the one at Cedar Point. My daughter either eschewed the one at Holiday World or was too small to get on it. I think it was the latter. Going down the big water slide together was quite enough for both of us. Congratulations on your survival! You are one terrific writer.
My best friend was SHOCKED that I hadn’t ever been on a roller coaster. He planned for a day at a local amusement park so I could finally ride a roller coaster. Now, I’ve never felt the loss of never riding a coaster, but he felt it was a shame. As we stood in line my shaky resolve to ride began eroding. I’m a terrified of heights, and this coaster looked to be touching the stratosphere. Before I knew it, it was our turn. As the coaster slowly ascended to the stars, I became ever more terrified. For my first coaster ride, maybe choosing a ride that did loops wasn’t the wisest idea. After 10,000 years the ride ended. I literally shook for an hour. After my friend rode several even scarier rides I finally found my perfect ride. A roller coaster for kids! No upside down loops, no stratosphere scrapes, just fast curves.
“Sometimes you have to waste money to save money”. Truer words have never been spoken in raising kids.
So funny, and so beautifully written.
You should have vetoed the wooden coaster as the first. They really are the worst! They beat you up.
I hate to break it to you, but Disney is amazing without real coasters. Most rides are quite tame and I can’t ride the serious stuff anymore. I went for my 50th and had a blast! The Galaxy’s Edge is fun to just explore and people watch if you’re a Star Wars nerd like me. We did do all kind of pictures with characters, I even got one with my favorite princess, Aurora. But, if you can convince them that Disney is not worth it based on your trip to Holiday World, good on you! Disney was probably more expensive than a trip to Hawaii, which was our original plan for my 50th.
Good luck on the remaining family adventures this summer. I can’t wait to hear about them all!
LOL My son once asked when we would take him to Disney and I told him we he will ride every ride at the fair... and our fair is small. He will be 15 in a week and he still won't ride every thing at the fair.
Wonderfully written and I love the humor! Could so identify with the experience!
A few years ago my family would do an amusement park day the same way as yours. One time we went to a temporary roller coaster in Szczecin and did only one ride, as one of my brothers had his cap blown off his head during it. For us the Disneyland was always too expensive, so we didn't even dream about going there.
Last year however, as we all grew older and bigger, we went to the biggest amusement park in Poland, the Energylandia in Zator. If anybody ever has the chance to go, I seriously recommend. It was also a single day trip, but we had only a bit more than an hour to get there, most of which I've slept. We knew what we wanted to try and where to find it, because my brother went sometime earlier with his friends and did the "first-hand research" with them. Everyone of us, except mum, was eager to try all of the biggest and fastest rides available. That was because we went first to the ride he described as having "moderate" speeds, but mum stated it was "very quick", too much for her. Until the dinner, we did most of the fast rides with mum in the meantime having fun on the Ferris wheel. We did bumper cars once, but we hit others only as a response to others bumping us first, usually racing like you did. After we ate some pizzas, dad and my bros. immediately went to more coasters, but I decided to have a little break, as I felt it wouldn't be a good idea to ride on full stomach (perhaps I'm built differently). Later on I rejoined the pack for the largest course in the park, while mum still resisted. We haven't went to any water rides, because nobody had fitting swimsuits/swimming trunks (due to having swimming classes suspended thanks to covid for a few years). For the last hour we were chilling laying on the loungers in the swimming pool area.
Hahahaha awesomeness!! Great way to find out they don't like roller coasters (I'd be upset; I love em!) Thanks for your piece, it's a great read 👍🏻😊
I love amusement parks and spent lots of time at Arnold’s Park in Okaboji, IA. It had a wooden coaster there that I would ride over and over again. My grandpa took me most often and I have no idea how he rode it with my brother and I. It makes my back hurt just thinking about it now.
I didn’t go to Disney until my 30’s when I lived in Florida. I can’t help but think the experience was t the same, but an annual pass where you don’t spend $25k and have to go park open to park close for 7 days seems much better. It’s amazing, and worth the experience, it really doesn’t offer that many crazy rides (that’s more Universal Studios), but it is magical. I can’t help to think they would appreciate it more when they are older and want to eat more than ice cream and sno cones.
Thanks for another amazing story, and rip to Lola’s sandals.
I find amusement parks absurd. I don’t understand spending money to stand in line and hazard heat stroke. Amusement parks are noisy and full of unrealistically cheerful people. I am not enamored with either noise or people pretending to be happy. I’m a grumpy recluse who refuses to leave the comfort of my air conditioned home unless it’s to go to my mailbox once a week to recycle unwanted offers to sell my home for bitcoins or discount offers for a Disney weekend.
I was thinking about developmental milestones and should child's first roller coaster be one?!
My favorite roller coaster story is riding The Mighty Mouse with my parents and younger brother. He was maybe 5 at the time and I was 9 or 10. It’s one of those roller coasters where you sit tallest to shortest single file, two persons per section. The roller coaster has square corners which makes you feel like you are going over the edge before it swivels the car to continue down the track. Being the youngest, my brother received the full effect of going over the edge every time it reached a corner. We were all laughing hysterically and exited the ride still laughing so hard we were practically crying. We walked down the stairs and then realized that he was not with us. We turned around to look for him. He had gotten as far as the top of the stairs and about the time we turned around to look for him he let out a blood curdling scream. He had been too terrified to scream during the entire ride! It still brings us to tears laughing about it! He went on to ride many roller coasters in his lifetime, both at Great America and a brief visit to Disney. Another family favorite is how my mother narrated Space Mountain only by laughing hysterically as my brother and I sat in front of her in the dark. Every twist and turn, up and down had a completely different laugh. Good times and great memories!
I live in the land of the mouse. About an hour away from that hellscape. The last time I was dragged there my stepdaughter was 3 (said child is in her mid-twenties now). S screamed her head off for every raindrop that dared hit her and had a hissy if I tried to cover her with a transparent poncho. This is Florida it pretty much rains here every day in the season. She had 0 interest in the characters and less so standing in line so her older brother could ride a few of the rides. It was fun for exactly no one and I’ve vowed never to go back. Trust me you are missing nothing!
Love it. Not sure what coaster you rode.. but I hated The Beast at King's Island. It's not near the entrance.. but geez that thing bumped me from side to side. I stopped riding it all together, but only after I stopped riding it until I was ready to get a headache and leave the park first. I guess I'm a slow learner.
I loved roller coasters when I was younger and legally blind without my glasses, because I was required to take the glasses off and couldn't see much but a faint blur. The first amusement park I went to after I had lasik made me realize that my lack of vision was the only thing keeping my fear of heights from getting involved. I suddenly realized how HIGH I was up in the air. Can't do those anymore.
Sounds like Holiday World to me. That wooden coaster there is favorite amongst roller coaster aficionados, as is the one at Cedar Point. My daughter either eschewed the one at Holiday World or was too small to get on it. I think it was the latter. Going down the big water slide together was quite enough for both of us. Congratulations on your survival! You are one terrific writer.