Funny thing about kids - my kids anyway - they will sit still in a car for 8 - 12 hours at a time (chatting, sleeping, watching the occasional DVD, reading, listening to their Shuffles, or playing their Nintendos for no more than 45 minutes without a break), but ask then to be patient during a 45 minute school or church lesson, and you'd think you were pulling teeth.
Must be something about the lure of the open road...
You should check out the Pepsi Max Big One we have over here on The Pleasure Beach.
Yours Jealously
Mark
http://www.craftyjungle.co.uk
Holiday Rooooooooooad.......Holiday Rooooooad
The pictures at the Grand Canyon, stopping to see the relatives, traveling to amusement parks....you didn't have to take Aunt Edna home did you?
Sounds like a blast..even if it was in a Prius. James is right about kids too. Mine will roadtrip for hours with the assistance of a DVD every now and again, but they can't sit in the same place for more than 30 minutes anywhere else
I will have to keep that restaurant in mind next time I'm in Austin.
Not sure if you have mentioned this before, but are there any ride types you can't / don't ride when you go to these parks? I used to be able to ride anything, but now, I can't ride the spinning ones (teacups, etc). If I am having a good day, I can ride Alpengeist in the front, but usually not.
Congrats on coming home alive!
Good pictures though! Sad you didn't come and visit me in SFGA, but its sounds that you had an action packed trip and most of the places you went were MUCH cooler than SFGA. I just feel it perhaps is the best that SF can offer.
Well, if it is not rated highly by Theme Park Insider readers, I skip it. ;-)
I tend to skip the carnival rides, the teacup spinners, etc. I'm really trying to find the very best that a park has to offer, so I tend toward the top roller coasters, dark rides and shows. Very rarely does a carny-style ride rate well. Yeah, they're cheap for parks to install, but... you get what you pay for.
And, thanks, Derek, now I can't get that song out of my head!
We enjoy our cross-country road trips, too, but in a big Chevy Suburban or GM Savannah. Gas guzzlin' fun.
I dont think my family would do as well in such a small car!!!!
I know this is a vacation for you and your family, but have you ever considered a get-together with guests to your web site when you visit a park??
My kids only "behave" when I've got a book on CD playing -- if I turn it off for 5 minutes, I'll hear an "OW" followed by things flying around the car.
Our trip skipped BGW and KD, since they are our local parks. We did Carowinds, Dollywood, Kings Island, Cedar Point, Michigan's Adventure, and Kennywood.
My only regret was not being able to make it to Holiday World. Instead, we did the Kentucky Reptile Zoo.
Oddly, we missed the pot-heads in Dollywood -- we walked that park for several days, so maybe by the time we got there they were gone, or we simply weren't being observant (we got season passes to Dollywood and spent a week in the area doing siteseeing, plus we've been to Dollywood last christmas and in april, so maybe we were inattentive).
That sounds like it was a fun trip. It will definitely be one your kids will enjoy. One of these years I want to make a cross country trip and take at least a month to do it in.