Did you ever get in trouble for something as a teen and wish you had more smarts, yet the resulting mayhem was so cool that you're glad that it happened?
Once in Disneyland we convinced a friend to jump off the Pirates of the Carribean ride. It was late and no one was on the ride. As soon as the kid got onto the treasure shore, lights came on and a loud voice boomed, "Do not get back into the boat, it is dangerous." To which, my friend immediately jumped back into the boat. A whole slew of ride workers materialized from secret doors that you don't notice while going on the ride. At one point where you enter what appears to be a gigantic open room where the ship on the "vast open sea" attacks the fortress, an employee walked around the edge of the vast open sea where the back matte painting of the horizon and the water meet, there's a little walking platform that is otherwise invisible. It completely destroyed the effect but was really cool to see.
We got a flashlight shined in our faces, but no further disciplines occurred... and we think we had park security following us in secret, but they didn't actually do anything to us. I mysteriously lost my camera, as did a friend of mine... we wondered if they were stolen, because we both took pictures of our friend having jumped off the ride.
As we walked home, I said I felt like we'd killed Mickey Mouse...
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
Disneyland has a lot of secret passages and doors. When our high school band played there they led us through this underground city of secret passages. There's a whole lot going on there under the pretty facade.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
A friend of mine would throw pennies at the ride characters in fantasy land when they went to a special night event at Disneyland. I thought they were cool but your buddy takes the cake! To get off the Pirate ride is just crazy. So you lost your camera and he didn't get any of the treasure?
I've never been to an amusement park... And I certainly don't consider going to the Ohio State Fair or to the Ohio Farm Science Review as a kid anything close to it.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
You've never been to an amusement park? Seriously, before you leave mortality you have to go to Disneyland. After a couple gin and tonics it really is the happiest place on earth. Uh oh the Mirth police just walked into my office with Papa Mirth. I think I'm in troubllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Goodness Cat!... plan a long weekend and drive down to Cedar Point. (North of Sandusky)
It's a great place on a great lake.
Take some kids! They'll love you forever.
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no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
$ You got the $ ? We certainly don't. And neither did my parents when me and my siblings were growing up. We all turned out fine... (kind of, prettymuch... )
My father-in-law has a "cottage" (actually a 4 bedroom house) right on Lake Erie across the bay from Cedar Point. But, family is not allowed to go there and avail themselves of the home because... well, that is a different story that is not worth going into... so, we would not only have the price of nearly a tank of gas for down and back (close to $50), we would have to pay for a hotel room big enough for the family, food, plus price for admission, parking... For what? All for the privilege of standing in line half the day with cranky kids?
I think not...
The schools here try to have end of the year class parties down there, complete with chartered buses... and that makes it even more expensive. Of course, if you don't let your child go, the PTO or PTA group that is running the thing makes out as if your child is going to be some sort of social pariah...
It might be fun to eventually go to someplace like Disneyworld or Cedarpoint, but it isn't high on the priority list of things I need to do due to the finances involved.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Cat, you can always do what my wife and I do. We make plans for the day after the last kid has left. When "Billy" leaves were going to go to Europe. Or when the last kid leaves were going to finally go visit Navoo. Etc. I noticed when I left home my parents started getting nicer things. By the time my youngest sister left they had all new furniture, electronics, etc. I hardly recognize the place. My wife is currently pregnant with our last child so I'm counting 18 years plus or minus a few months and I'm free!! I figure I be in my mid 50's at the latest which will still mean I am not too old to enjoy my life a bit. I can't wait!
I'll be in my mid - late 50's. But, depending on how things go with oldest (mentally handicapped), he will always be with us. And, if I follow my parents example, I won't even be around come retirement age.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Cat Herder wrote: I'll be in my mid - late 50's. But, depending on how things go with oldest (mentally handicapped), he will always be with us. And, if I follow my parents example, I won't even be around come retirement age.
Oh come on Cat. Health care today is light years ahead of where it was with your parents and will be even more when you hit your late 50s. You gotta have a positive attitude and plans. I have yet to have an ancestor that actually retired in the family business going back over 100 years. They all pretty much died while still working. There was no retirement. But I plan on retiring and living to at least 100. You gotta set some long term goals buddy.
The last time I went to an amusement park was at Universal Studios last year for work. (Team Building... which is an amusing story in and of itself.)
There's an amazingly vapid empty/hollow feeling you get by attending amusement parks that is both icky and somewhat addictive. I used to LOVE them as a kid, but as I get older and my desires for things of the world lessen, they just come across as pathetic.
Of course I went by myself. If I had my kids with me, perhaps it would end up differently.
Though the Jurassic Park ride was cool... at least the parts that weren't broken... :)
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
I like Six Flags Magic Mountain better than Disneyland personally, especially the new Tatsu ride (new last summer...it feels like you are seriously flying!) I luckily have grandparents in So Cal so when my friends and I want a Magic Mountain trip (each summer), we use Costco for food, get buy one get one free coupons, so last year the cost was under $70 (that was with 12 of us in a 12-passenger van, and we were lucky enough to have insurance to cover the flat at Gila Bend), and we also visited San Diego, went to La Jolla Beach, the San Diego Temple, and the last day we went to Huntington Beach. So much fun, and my Grandparents love it when my friends and I come over, so they'd pretty much pay my way if I hadn't already saved up all summer. I guess that's the perk of being an unmarried college student though. My friend who is getting married in June was saying that we should totally do it with our husbands (well...we'll see about that one), but that's a lot less likely.
But yeah, spending 12 hours at an amusement park with good friends, totally worth it. Just make sure and save the whiplash rides for the end or it makes it harder to enjoy the other rides.
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Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
— Oscar Wilde
yes, cat... I suggest take the whiplash rides right after eating three footlong chilidogs... chili fries, cotton candy, a large nacho and lots of rootbeer...
It's the best experience you could hope for!!!
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
a couple of years ago I took my gorgeous wife to Universal Orlando with some friends. We did the Incredible Hulk ride at the very beginning... I turned GREEN on the second trip and the waffles and apple I had for breakfast ended up all over the deck at the end of the ride. It wasn't pretty and I felt icky the rest of the day.
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no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
In a bit of good fortune, I had a close friend who worked for Disney while we lived in CA so we would go to Disneyland just to "hang-out." When you don't have to pay to get in it make it a whole different experience. I loved it then.
Cat---I just don't know what to say. You are a noble and worthy kniggit and I bow--as far as my ache knees will allow--to you.
And I'm pretty sure exaltation doesn't have an "amusment park" requirement.
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"My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."
Magic Mountain is good, especially if you like thrill rides. But Disneyland excels at story. I generally prefer story over the vomit comet rides, so I really enjoy going to Disneyland. But Knotts Berry Farm is a nice mix of story and thrill rides, so it's definitely worth a visit.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
I enjoy the Thematic feeling of Disneyland. It's geared more to younger ages too... As a kid growing up we'd gone a number of times and they do a great job of letting you feel a warm homey feeling amid all that fake scenery... it's just when you kill mickey that the illusion is wiped away...
PS> I worked for the Disney Company for about two months... during which time I got a Silver Pass, which is an employee benefit to get into the theme parks for free... Sadly in that two month time I never used the passes, and they snarf them back from you as soon as they divest your company...
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
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