Roller Coaster Love/Theme Park Travelogue

Took Electric Boogaloo to Worlds of Fun on Friday. gmskarka was out of town visiting family, so we decided to bond by indulging in our shared love of things that go ZOOM! and hit the park.

EB had never been, and I haven't gone since college, so it was a fairly novel experience for us both. There is only one major roller coaster left from my last visit, The Timberwolf, which was just as bone-shaking as I remembered it. (We sang "Jump In The Line (Shake, Senora)" as we tottered off the coaster - yes, it was totally necessary.)

Other highlights:
The Patriot, an awesome coaster where the car hangs underneath the rails, so you ride with your feet dangling out the bottom. We sat in the front of the car every time we rode this one, so it felt like there was nothing between us and the open sky. Feet! Clouds! Ahhhhhh!!

The Prowler - another wooden coaster - more traditional seating, but a great track (far less shaking going on). We only rode it about four or five times. I just felt sorry for the operators, who have a litany of silly dialogue to run through every time a run begins or ends, including a cheesy ROAR at the end of the speech. Since we came back at different times, we heard several versions, including one female operator who replaced the ROAR with MEW! My favorite response to "How was your ride?" was definitely when our entire train "mewed" back at her.

EB "winning" a giant, red, stuffed transformer-looking robot (seriously, it's like almost as tall as she is) through both actually trying the game and the power of flirting with the kid running the bottle-ring-toss. I fear for the robot's life, as she has taken him over to a friend's house to be used in an album-cover photo shoot. I am not quite as worried about the carny...

Indulging in high goofiness all day with EB. Hooray family fun-time!


Mom-notes (to self, mostly):
If we ever go again in nice weather, remember to pack a picnic lunch. One, it makes a nice break from being on the park tarmac, two, park food is ridiculously pricey, and three, I like picnics. Also, next time? Bring more cash. Because its a theme park. 'nough said. Ouch.


Nostalgia:
I felt a bit disoriented when we got there, as if the park geography was "off" from the last time I visited, but it turns out that they have, in fact, closed the main entrance and turned the back gate into the front gate. So there, memory loss! Nyah! (Also, if I ever knew this I had forgotten, but the "Worlds" theme is taken from "Around the World in Eighty Days", which is kinda cool.)

I'm glad that they have left Europa mostly alone. I know the rides there are tame, but I still love them as much as I did when I was small and they were new. If I was allowed to pack a lunch and bring a book, I could spend hours just hanging out on the Flying Dutchman, letting the world spin by.

EB was very nice, and hung out while I indulged my nostalgia kick, even though she is not as big a fan of spinny-rides as I am (and therefore skipped the Octopus), she did indulge me by driving on Le Taxitour, and taking a late-night train ride at the end of the day.

Yes, we spent about ten hours there. Yes, I'd do it again. Not soon, mind you. Because I was wiped out the next day. But definitely again. :)