My kids had never really been to a big amusement park except for a short trip to Disneyland when they were both little (3- and 5-years-old). We also went on a camping trip with their cousins to Big Sur during that same trip to California. When we got home, the girls talked to family and friends for months (maybe years) about the "mermaids" they spotted off the shore (they were seals but all the girls were sure they were mermaids) and the waterfall we saw on one of our hikes during the camping trip. They even shared the stories about the bathrooms with the quirky showers at the campground.
What they never talked about, not once, was their day at Disneyland.
Fino and I thought the Disneyland trip was memorable, but not in a good way. The crowds were crazy and we got on two or three rides in the five hours we were at the park because of long lines. I remember G. had a few break-downs because her sensory issues - combined with the sights and sounds of the park - made the experience completely overwhelming for her. And dealing with her crying one moment then running wild the next because she simply didn't know what to do with herself was no fun for anyone.
So that was the beginning - and end - of attraction-type parks for us (which was OK with me because family budget couldn't afford them anyhow).
Then when the Funtown trip came up recently, neither of the girls were overly excited about going. I actually had to talk G. in to the trip (which thanks to Momof9's suggestion to show her a map of the park to scope out what she wanted to do ahead of time, got her interested in giving it a whirl).
But the kids have been on rides so that's not a totally foreign experience for them.
Every year we go to the Ossipee and Cumberland fairs and I give the kids the choice of riding a couple of rides when we're there. And we've been to Old Orchard Beach's Palace Playland a few times as well.
Their favorite "ride" is usually the fun house and/or carousel.
Me, I loved roller coasters as a kid/teen/young adult and dragged whoever was with me on one at every opportunity I had.
It started with Canobie Lake Park when I was a preteen then I jumped at the chance to visit King's Dominion in Virginia to try some new coasters during a band trip in high school.
When I was in college in upstate New York and my dad came to visit, I dragged him to Canada's Wonderland in Ontario (which had an impressive number of coasters there).
Then after graduating with my master's degree, I drove across the U.S. with a couple of friends to celebrate and we splurged on a day at Six Flags over Mid-America (that month-long trip was memorable and blog fodder for another day).
I also begged my dad to go to Valleyfair when I drove out to Minnesota with him in his '48 Ford for a hot rod show in my early 20s. Then there were the multiple trips to Six Flag parks in Massachusetts, New Jersey and California, depending on where I was living at the time.
So as much as I have always hated crowds (I was never a stay-all-day type of park visitor), I felt a need to try new coasters wherever I went.
I figured that the day we did go to a larger amusement park (when the girls were older) that one of my progeny would enjoy roller coasters like I always have.
Nope.
L. has her daring moments but not with amusement park rides. The spread eagle hands on the Flying Trapeze was as far as she went at Funtown. Oh, and the five rides she took (four consecutively) on the tea cups. The Thunderbolt was, in her opinion, "OK, but a little too fast." At least she tried it.
G. skipped the Thunderbolt but I did talk her in to the log flume ride. The photo taken by the park's Action Shots of our log going down the big hill was priceless. Everyone in our log had their mouths open screaming their delight and G. had a look of sheer terror on her face. (I should have bought the photo but couldn't justify spending $9 on something that stressed G. out.)
Her thoughts about the flume ride?
"That was the scariest ride ever mom! I am never going on another ride like that again."
I guess a love of roller coasters is not a genetic thing.
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