The final installment or
WE NEED A NEW PLAN!
After several visits, I am rethinking
how we do the parks, and while our needs are quite specific, something here may be helpful for you.
Here's the group:
A - enjoys the coasters, but who has no fellow coaster riders in the family. I'm also a mum, so I'm used to putting what I want to do on the back bench. Too much of this, though, leads to me getting cranky an panicky about missing out on the rides I would like to do. Early riser.
T - the dad. Likes The Mummy and FJ, but hasn't ventured into bigger coaster territory yet. He needs to. Likes to sleep in.
J - the 7-year-old. Loves the water rides. Is tall enough for FJ, RRR and the Mummy, but doesn't want to do them. Likes to sleep in.
S - the 4-year-old 41 inches. Wants to do it all, but just isn't tall enough for most. Gets very frustrated in child swap. Also likes to hang with mum. Early-ish riser.
As a general rule, we stay onsite to get express and to allow for a mid-day break and travel in off-peak season 2 to 3 day trips. Also - because of the nature of the height variance, this is going to require some circling through the park to hit the rides we can ALL do before splitting up. Can't be avoided.
NEXT TIME
Early Entry
If this gets used at all, it will be used by me to get in and get some coasters done. The guys can get their sleep and we'll meet later at one of the parks for breakfast between 9 and 9:30.
Morning Ride as a family
Start out the day doing the rides we all can do together. This will vary by park, and will change as S gets taller. But after this, we
Split up
There are two possible variations of the split:
1)Split into pairs with the understanding that we're not desperately trying to find/call each other. Split up until we meet back in the hotel for lunch
2)I take the kids to one of the water play zones (assuming it's warm enough), and T gets to go and do the rides he wants to do
Then leave the parks by 1pm and meet back at hotel for pool/lunch/rest. I know it can be hard to tear yourself away, but the parks are great later in the day, and if you wear yourself out in the morning it's VERY hard to get up and go back. After 4pm is a great time to get into the parks again. As it gets darker, and the lights come on, the atmosphere changes.
Afternoon ride as a family
Again - do what we can and what we all want to do - it may only be one ride. But that's OK.
Split up
The splinter groups are really about allowing the kids to chose what they want to do at their pace. I understand that this is easier for us, since we do come more regularly, so we're not feeling the pressure to get it all done in one/two days. Our kids tire at different times too, so again - this allows one of us to get the little guy back earlier.
So, no. We're not doing it all "as a family", but it's a much more relaxed way, and I'd rather be relaxed than be constantly trying to force all of our needs/wants into a single plan.
Use as you see fit, or not.
those lanyards look really neat bummer i cant get those in Iceland
lol.....we'll be there in December so maybe we'd have a thicker shirt on.
