We bought our season passes to Worlds and Oceans of Fun today,(thank you Mr. Economic Stimulus Package) and decided to try them out. Bobby works out there as an EMT, so we only needed passes for us girls. We met Bobby there at 6, after he got off work. The park was dead...we basically walked onto all the rides, only had to wait maybe 1 time. A couple of the kiddie rides in Camp Snoopy the girls rode several times without getting off. (We rode the Wacky Worm three times in a row...ooh, the excitement!)
But the main reason for this trip was Macy's first experience with the big roller coasters. She's ridden a couple big ones at Silver Dollar City, but not WOF. Those of you who know Macy well will know she has been measuring herself since last summer to see if she has reached the beloved 48". She definitely has--she's almost 50"! In recent weeks she has almost been talking herself out of the rides she dreamed about all winter. I'm not above bribing my children, so we bribed her with a new Webkinz if she rode all the major rides. That was the ticket.
First major ride up was the Timber Wolf, a wooden roller coaster that is so bouncy my teeth rattle. I rode it with her, and she screamed and yelled. The funniest part was her running as fast as she could to Bobby to tell him all about it, and then dragging him to the line to ride it with him.
Next up was the Detonator, which shoots you straight up a loooonngg way. This is one of my favorite rides, but Bobby rode it with her. I tried to video on my phone, but they went up so fast I couldn't catch her face. Bobby said her facial features were hilarious!!
Next was the Mamba, the one she has talked about since last year. She sauntered up to it without a second thought, and she and Bobby rode in the last car, the one that goes the fastest over the hill. Bobby said the entire way up the hill she kept saying, "are we there yet?" The teenagers in front of them kept turning around and smiling at her every time she asked. She told me afterwards it didn't make her stomach drop, but it did make her face hurt. :) She couldn't stop smiling after riding it!
The final big ride on the bribe list was the Boomerang, a ride that is short but goes upside down and backwards. She started to chicken out and run for the exit, which I found amusing considering that out of the other major rides she'd ridden, this one was the tamest! But come to find out, the car made a loud noise when it came back to load. Macy is terrified of loud noises, so that is what spooked her. Bobby grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back, and she got her first experience of going upside down.
Last stop was Spinning Dragons, her favorite ride from last year. We wanted to try to get Kaylin on it. We measured her at the start of the gate,and she was right there--maybe a smidge too short, but we decided to chance it. Kaylin didn't bat an eye--she's watched Macy ride it and other roller coasters so much, she doesn't realize she should be afraid. One worker said she was fine to ride, another said "well, let's check her again." If that lady had said no, I would have let her deal with Kaylin crying for the next hour. But she said yes, and on we went. For the first hill, Kaylin was sitting backwards, so she didn't know it was coming. Macy and I had the advantage to see it. The look on Kaylin's face when that car dropped into the hill and started to turn was absolutely priceless. What I wouldn't have given to be able to take a picture or a video at that moment. Kaylin loved her first major roller coaster, and we got back in line and rode it again.
We're raising these girls to have no fear; I don't want them to be afraid of anything--I want them to think there is nothing they can't do. Macy is 6 and has ridden the Mamba, the Detonator, the Boomerang, and the Timber Wolf. What teenagers--or adults--can say the same thing?
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