Well, I ended up with a lot fewer pictures than I would have liked, but here it is, finally...
When we arrived we were directed to park WAY back in a field that is apparently used for over flow parking. We got there a bit later than planned because we got a little lost (my fault
DH asked if he should bring his GPS and I told him, no, its really easy to get there, but there was some construction and somehow we came in from a different direction??). We loaded up our stuff into our stroller. We decided at last minute to bring it, even though Zachary is quite big for it, since he was getting over pneumonia and it would allow us to drag around all of our stuff easily. We were glad we did. We went to buy our tickets and the line was super short. Along the way we had stopped at McDonalds to see if we could get any of their discount coupons, but they were all out. Luckily, the guy at the booth asked us if we had any coupons and when I told him that we hadnt been able to find any, he scanned one that he had in his booth and we got $4 DH and my tickets.
He measured Alex and charged us the childs rate. I was a bit disappointed and mentioned that he was over 48 inches at Water Country just two days ago. I knew Alex would be upset if he couldnt ride some of the over 48 inch rides. The CM told me that he was charging him as a child, but that each ride operator determined who could ride each ride. This really worked out in our favor. Alex was able to ride EVERYTHING there are rides that you have to be over 48 inches and there are rides that 48 inches is the maximum he got to ride both types. And it saved us another $9. Gramma got in at the senior rate and saved herself $9 too.
After we entered the park we visited the restrooms and the Guest Services booth to get Alex a special access bracelet. It was the same sort of thing as the GAC at WDW. However, we did find that some of the rides were difficult to figure out where to enter. In the end it worked out well. We were glad to have this pass as the park was PACKED!!
I think it was worse than WDW because at least at WDW while waiting in line there are interesting things to look at, the lines usually move continuously and they are often inside out of the heat.
The first ride we hit was the racecars, the Canobie 500. Alex rode with Gramma and he got to drive. Zachary and I rode together. I had to sit in the drivers seat and Zachary was my passenger he got to turn the steering wheel. Zachary and I were actually first and it was a good thing there were two kids in front of us who kept stopping there was a line of about 4 cars behind them. My leg hurt so bad from the stop and go and my leg was really too long for the pedal I couldnt straighten my leg all the way out it was shaky all day. Alex and Gramma had a clear track to race around.
After the Canobie 500 we went over to the Frontierland area of the park where they have the Log Flume, Kiddie Canoes and Wooden Nickel Arcade. What Zachary really wanted to do was ride the Mine of Lost Souls it was kind of scary. I dont know why he wanted to go on the spooky ride so badly but he enjoyed it. Unfortunately what happened next put a bit of a damper on the day. We knew Alex loves arcade games and that we would have to let him play some (our plan was 5 games). We told him we were going to ride Zacharys spooky ride then we could go back to the arcade this was OK. After the ride we tried to do just that
we played 1 game, 2 games, 3 games. We reminded Alex that there were other games in other areas of the park, but he just lost it he insisted on playing all of his games now. He melted down we tried a timeout on the bench outside the arcade. We thought he had calmed down so we let him play game #4. Then we headed to the Kiddie Canoes and the boys rode together. Alex and I were going to ride the Pirate Ship, it goes back and forth and almost upside down, but he chickened out and joined Zachary at the Kiddie Canoes.
Holding hands in line:
After the canoes, Alex just couldnt let the arcade games go
which turned into another meltdown (and it was getting quite hot outside) and all of this led to a trip to the car where I pretended we were leaving for the day. Alex and I marched out to the car to find that DH hadnt left the keys in the car as I had expected (we have a keypad on the door so we usually leave the keys in the car so we dont have to carry them around such places). I had hoped to sit in the AC for a bit, but since that was not an option, I opened all of the doors and we sat in the car (in the shade) and cooled off a bit with a drink from the cooler. After about 15 minutes we discussed that we were at the park for rides and that he could play 5 games all day he had already played 4 and if he is good we will let him play his last game at the end of the day. He was OK with this and we went back inside to connect with the rest of the gang. Alex held up his end of the bargain for the rest of the day.
DH and Zachary were in a long, hot line at the Rowdy Rooster it sort of flies around in a big circle.
Copied from their website:
Alex and I went to ride the bumper cars Zachary had really wanted to, but he wasnt tall enough so I decided to take Alex while Zachary was preoccupied. Alex had fun. DH & Zachary were still in line (Gramma was sitting in the shade with the stroller this whole time). Alex & I went and rode the Canobie 500 again. Finally Zachary was done with his ride. Next we decided to head over to a wet ride to cool off. We went to the Boston Tea Party ride which was VER Y wet!! The line was VERY long so we used Alexs pass once we figured out how to get in. It took us about 15 minutes to find a CM who could tell us where to go we had to find a little gate behind the ride and ring a bell, then a CM would come and escort us to the ride. We got on and it was quite refreshing we got SOAKED. (Gramma passed on this one). With Alexs pass they offer to let you ride twice, which we didnt do on most rides because of the long lines, but Alex wanted to ride this again so we let him. Zachary clearly did not he and I got off DH & Alex rode again. And got SOAKED again.
Here's a picture of Zachary waiting while I was running around trying to figure out where to enter the ride:
Copied from their site:
Next we went over to let the kids ride the kiddie coaster called the Dragon Coaster and then they played a fishing game Zachary won a little flower & Alex won this huge stuffed gnome!
Here's a picture of the Dragon Coaster from their site:
Then we needed food. DH especially! We headed toward the Gables Grill & Kids Corner but made a pit stop at the Psycho Drome there are three sections that spin around in the dark with loud music. It used to be darker and have smoke too??
We finally made it to eat burgers and chicken. It was satisfying but nothing special. We wanted to check out the waterpark that they added several years back. From the pictures I thought it would be similar to Cocoa Key the indoor waterpark we visited during April vacation it looked like the same concept but outdoors. But first we took a ride on the Antique Cars Zachary drove me and Alex drove DH and Gramma. They love anything they can drive.
From their site:
Earlier in the day I had noticed that the big old fashioned wooden coaster was closed
but as we drove around on the cars it appeared to be running again. Since Zachary had missed out on the bumper cars due to height, DH and Gramma took him to the mini bumper cars while Alex & I rode the big coaster. It was a lot of fun. Now Alex usually likes anything that moves fast if you have ready my previous TR, you may recall that Alex rode ToT 10 times in October. He also rode Space Mountain and cant wait to ride RnRC. He has this newer book called Fun Land Fun about three kids who go an amusement park and one of them turns green after eating then riding a coaster. The whole time we were on the roller coaster Alex was afraid he was going to be sick. When I asked him if he ever felt sick, he said no, but he was afraid that he would feel sick. I hope I havent lost my dare devil fast ride companion! Well have to get rid of that book and work on that issue before April!
Here's the picture from the site:
Zachary was still riding the bumper cars when we got off:
Alex and I went to the arcade right next to the mini bumper cars to play his last game. Everyone else caught up with us shortly and we gave them a few extra quarters since Alex had turned things around so nicely. They had fun. Luckily Zachary didnt remember, but we forgot to cash in his tickets for a prize! They have it in a different park of the park.
Zachary had been asking for Italian Ice all day just outside the waterpark, Castaway Island, (which had a HUGE line just to get in and theres no additional cost) there was an Italian Ice stand. We parked ourselves on a bench and ate Italian Ice. We contemplated waiting in the line, and how crowded it was INSIDE the waterpark and convinced the boys that we should go ride the other water rides at the other side of the park. Luckily they bought what we were selling. But before we left Alex noticed the Corkscrew roller coaster right behind us it goes upside down twice. Earlier he had said that he didnt want to go on it I think he is intimidated by big roller coasters that he can see most of the scary rides at WDW seem to be inside. All of a sudden he said he wanted to ride it! I was psyched! But then he chickened out! Oh well
maybe next time.
We headed back to the Log Flume ride and we rode that DH sat that one out and took pictures. (Zachary is in front of me, but you can't see him behind Gramma - and yes - I distorted her face...)
Then we went to the Timber Splash Water Coaster most people in line were in bathing suits. There are two sides the wet side and the wetter side. We went with wet. We couldnt figure out where to go to get quicker access with Alexs bracelet so we just waited in line it was the end of the day and this would be our last ride. When DH was exiting the ride with Alex they told us that we could have gone up the middle between the two aisles (wet vs. wetter aisles) but nobody had told us that and the signs said the middle was for staff only. Thats another example of how WDW handles special access passes differently. We finally made it to the top and DH went with Alex first, then Zachary and I followed. You ride on a little raft down an enclosed tube of water. It was a ton of fun!
Again, from their site:
Now it was time to make out way out of the park and head home. After a quick stop at the restrooms we were on our way to the car to get changed out of our wet clothes. The boys went right into jammies and their lunch boxes came out for dinner. We had a fairly quiet ride home. It was fun & Im sure well be there again next year.
I tried all summer to get it scheduled earlier without any luck, so here we are - finally the day has arrived! I'll be so glad to have it done and over with. This afternoon should be fun - as soon as he gets home from school he has to drink this yucky drink to "cleanse" his system. It is going to be quite a battle I think. Then he can't eat anything except jello and popsicles for the rest of the day - and only liquids tomorrow morning. 
