Hijinks & Shenanigans but not much Mayhem@The Dark Side+Disney:Link to DL/Hawaii TR

[momabbate]

How fun to go to the dismeet! Sounds like a fun time.

 

[tiggerfan77]

That sounds like an awesome Mother's Day to me! Me and EJ will be in Orlando visiting my best friend a month before your DIS meet! Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to do a DIS meet! They look like so much fun

 

[dtr_angel]

I think I'm all caught up. That sounds like an awesome Mother's Day present! Stormalong bay will more than make up for not going to a park I'm sure!

 

[KatMark]

Congrats on your little mini-trip to meet up with some DIS friends. That is awesome.

 

[jenseib]

What a fun way to spend you Anniversary. Mine is July 18th..but only 12 this year for us. (seems longer at times. )

What a fabulous Mothers day gift! I am so jealous! You deserve it!!!

 

[natebenma]

Sorry for my absence the past few days. This is Day 3 of the "Overscheduled Mom" show.

Thursday I volunteer at the high school library from 7 to 8 am, then I had work in the morning, followed by going to a doctor's appointment in the afternoon.

Yesterday, Ben had a field trip with the band and chorus for Trills and Thrills, an exhibition/competition followed by a trip to Six Flags New England. We left the school 7:30 and did not get home until 9:30 last night. The band got an Excellent rating and the Chorus received Superior marks. Unfortunately, one of the poorest organized field trips I have been on. But the kids had a lot of fun.

There is no sugar-coating it though. Six Flags sure ain't Disney!

Today, we are having Ben's birthday celebration- lazer tag, go carts and mini-golf. Right now it is pouring out, but it is supposed to stop for the afternoon. 4 13-year-old boys sleeping over tonight.

Happy belated Mothers Day, Dee!

What a wonderful way to spend your 27th anniversary! And congratulations on that too!
You're really solidifying my plans to stay at the Yacht Club next year with all your pictures of empty world showcase and your talking about walking over to Epcot. How beautiful to see Epcot all empty first thing in the morning!

Not to mention some good luck with both Soarin' and Test Track. I'm totally with you on the new TT design, down to every word you said, both about the queue (I miss the test track dummies too!) and about the ride itself. I'm a fan of the re-design!

Love your two car designs!

We're having incredible weather here today too. I'm itching to get back into my kayak... but I promised Johnny I'd wait until he got home!

How awesome about your BC/YC Dismeet trip!!! I saw that on the FAQ, oh oh oh how much I wish I could go! Sounds awesome, even if it is quick. Just tell your family it's going to be boring, meeting up with all these strangers, no parks, no rides... they won't feel bad at all about letting you go alone

Thank you for the Mothers' Day and Anniversary wishes.

I am so excited about your plans for the Yacht Club. Please let me know what I can do to help!

That's funny that we have similar feelings about the new Test Track.

I am excited about the meet. There are actually a few things up in the air, and I can't really focus on that short trip because I still have a TON of research and planning I have to do for our summer trip.

What wonderful Mother's Day gifts! A walk through a park and a plane ticket to Disney! I certainly don't blame you for taking HockeyMomR up on the offer. That was very sweet of her.

Thanks. A great Mothers' Day!

Omg Dee can't believe you are finally going to be at the meet up in human (not flat) form!! Absolutely chuffed to bits for you You are an awesome mom and (thread keeper) and do totally deserve this gift from the wonderful men in your life Best news I've had all day-can't wait to see all the photos!!

I'm so glad you are pleased by the news and I appreciate your kind words. I'll make sure I raise a toast to you!

Oh you never ever ever pass up an opportunity like this Dee. Never. Ever. This sounds like a great time to be had.

Hmmm, I guess leaving the fam home would be much easier to "fake" boringness if you hadn't gotten that great response from your dinner with Teena. And it was so nice to hear that at the time, lol.

BUT guilt be gone!!! You deserve it!

I don't do things like this often, but I am really happy that I will be at the meet. This will be a great opportunity for me to collect some much-needed hugs!

My husband was just mentioning this week what a nice meal we had with Teena.

I just saw this on the Y/B thread. What an awesome gift!!!! So happy for you. And don't feel guilty you deserve it!!!

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Thank you!

How fun to go to the dismeet! Sounds like a fun time.

Thanks!

That sounds like an awesome Mother's Day to me! Me and EJ will be in Orlando visiting my best friend a month before your DIS meet! Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to do a DIS meet! They look like so much fun

Too bad we won't be in Orlando the same time this year.

Meets are so much fun! Disney has lots of fun places to meet, and a meet really doesn't have to take much time out of your day.

I think I'm all caught up. That sounds like an awesome Mother's Day present! Stormalong bay will more than make up for not going to a park I'm sure!

Thanks!

I hope your Mothers' Day was fantastic! Although probably tough to beat being at Disney like last year.

I can find plenty to do around the resort.

Congrats on your little mini-trip to meet up with some DIS friends. That is awesome.

Thank you! I know you get the whole meet-thing!!!

What a fun way to spend you Anniversary. Mine is July 18th..but only 12 this year for us. (seems longer at times. )

What a fabulous Mothers day gift! I am so jealous! You deserve it!!!

We had a fantastic anniversary last year! It was so much fun to be in Disney for our special day.

I am so excited for the meet. I could not pass up this opportunity to meet so many people who have become good friends over the past few years.

 

[HockeyMomR]

Dee,
Love the Anniversary Day & nice of Disney to arrange EMH at Epcot for you! - just the walk through Epcot from IG to start the day. Lovely.

We actually like the new TT too. However, this past trip with New FP+ DH and I just did single rider and missed the car design stage.

August BC Dis meet - Hooray!!!

Rebecca

 

[natebenma]

Dee,
Love the Anniversary Day & nice of Disney to arrange EMH at Epcot for you! - just the walk through Epcot from IG to start the day. Lovely.

We actually like the new TT too. However, this past trip with New FP+ DH and I just did single rider and missed the car design stage.

August BC Dis meet - Hooray!!!

Rebecca

Fortunately, my family members are all early risers, so we always do the early EMH park. It doesn't get much easier than EPCOT from the BC!

I don't really care about the car design, but the boys really liked it.

Thanks again for your offer of a room for the DISmeet. That really was a HUGE part in my decision to go.

Can't wait to meet one of my very first DIS friends!

 

[natebenma]

I survived Six Flags.

Barely…





I volunteered to chaperone the 7th & 8th grade band/chorus field trip to Six Flags, "Trills and Thrills".

I love theme parks. I love rides. I even love teenagers.

I’ve got this!

We boarded the buses at 7:30 am for the 2 ½ hour ride.

The forecast had been calling for rain in Western Mass for Friday. It started pouring out on our way to the band competition, but fortunately by the time we got to the park, the rain had stopped and we only experienced a couple of short periods of rain while we were there. Nothing too bothersome.





The band performed 2 selections, "Arabian Dances" and "In Honor of the Fallen". They earned a rating of “Excellent” (87 points)

*********************************************************

Six Flags was about 30 minutes away from the high school where the band and chorus performed. We really didn't have any instructions about what to do about lunch, but thankfully I had the foresight to pack a lunch for Ben and me to eat on the bus.

I have been to Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ about 5 years ago, but we had never been to the one “near” us.

I really didn't know what, or where, anything was. Disney (and to some extent Universal) I could navigate with my eyes closed.

First major issue:

Somehow, the ticket count for our group got screwed up. We were 3 tickets short. The band director, chorus director, and I, did not have a ticket to get in. We checked with guest relations, and they refused to help us other than asking us to call some number to see if we could resolve the problem. While our three groups waited around, we purchased 3 discounted group tickets out of pocket and were finally able to enter.

Six Flags has some really interesting roller coasters with fairly long lines. I had a group of 6 with different ride tolerances.

When we first arrived, our group decided to head right to Bizarro, which is an awesome-looking coaster and may be the longest one I have ever seen. I thought that everyone was going to ride, but when the kids saw it, 3 bailed. 2 or 3 in our group had never been on a coaster before.

3 kids in my group got into line for Bizarro. I didn’t realize until several minutes later that the wait time for the ride was an hour and a half! I didn’t have any cell phone numbers for the boys in line, and I had no way to contact them. I get really nervous when I am someplace like this and my group gets split. In addition to relying on cell phones, I like to have a Plan A meeting plan and a Plan B just in case something gets screwed up, but that did not happen. I decided that I would let the other 3 boys with me go off and do some other things together, checking back with me each time they were done with something. Ben was part of that group, and although he had never been to Six Flags, he does know his way around theme parks and I trust his judgement. Putting him in charge of the other group allowed me to stay near the exit to Bizarro to wait for the 3.

This was my view for about an hour and a half:





Here are some pictures of Bizarro:

























I actually was able to spot the boys when it was their turn to ride. Our group had white t-shirts and most of the other band groups had colored ones so we stood out. Plus, the boys could see me in my bright yellow rain coat and they waved to me as they climbed the first hill.


When the first 3 boys finally made it through the ride, one boy who had never done a roller coaster before, was done. He was afraid to ride anything else during the rest of the day.

Not entirely true. When we were all together, everyone agreed to go on Thunderbolt, a moderate-thrill wooden coaster. YAY!!! Two hours in and I’m finally going to go on a ride…

However, when we were queuing up, the boy realized he had left his coat (with his phone in the pocket) at the entrance to Bizarro. So I instructed the others to go on the ride and then we would meet them back at the exit to Thunderbolt while the two of us went to retrieve his coat.

We backtracked to Bizarro and were told that the coat had probably been sent to Lost & Found. We made the trek to L&F near the entrance, and the boy was reunited with his coat. We met up with the others and proceeded to a number of rides, mostly coaster types and a couple of the boys would decide not to ride, so I waited with them.


Here are a few of the rides in the park-


Jokers Wild:




The Riddler (This looked REALLY fun):




Goliath:




Sky Screamer (World’s Highest Swing Ride)- No thank you:




Although they were not complaining, I felt a little badly about the two boys who were not riding. One of them mentioned that he wanted to ride “Crazy Cars” so we headed to kiddie section of the park.

At 3 pm, I boarded my first ride:




Then the boys went on Whirly Birdz:




Surprisingly, other members of the band/chorus from our school were in this area, too, so they did a few things together with the other kids. A skater-type ride. Three boys went on the antique cars while 3 of us got a bite to eat.

Ben ordered a burger with fries and a drink ($4.29), total $16. I had two bites of the burger, which was very good, but the curly fries were so-so. Not hot or crispy.

The meal was not even worthy of food porn!

After we reunited once again, everyone agreed to a ride on Thunderbolt. The boy who was broken by Bizarro was bit unsure, but he did ride.

I did too!


Here’s a few more pictures around the park- I took a picture of these because they remind me of Universal/Islands of Adventure:


Looks like the Entrance to Seussland:




Amity:




This ride was totally Dragon Challenge:






Orignially, the plan was to meet at the buses at 7 pm, but because of the concern about weather, the departure time was (verbally) changed to 6. We got to the buses and waited. And waited. And waited. Two of the chaperones did not receive the news about the time change.

Finally at 6:30 the band director got in touch with them (he didn’t have their cell phone numbers until I provided them) and another 20 minutes went by before they made it to the buses.

We left Six Flags around 7, stopped for a bathroom break halfway home and arrived back at the school at 9:30.

Long, exhausting day!

It was not my favorite field trip ever, but the kids had a great time.

 

[KatMark]

You should have called me...I would have gladly stood and waited with those who did not want to ride. We haven't been to our Six Flags since Andy was 10 (so 18 years ago); filthy, the clientele leaves a lot to be desired and I don't do the coasters anymore.

Sorry you didn't get to ride much, but glad the kids had fun.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I've never been to a Non-Disney theme park outside of Universal and SeaWorld so its really interesting to see a Six Flags. I'm planning a trip to Canada's Wonderland (A Cedar Parks park) this July, so I'm kinda excited.

You're pictures really do remind me of Universal. The one around Bizarro reminds me of Marvel Superhero Island, and the others definitely looks like Seuss and Amity. The shark is almost copyright infringement, lol.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Some amazing looking coasters there-pity you didn't get to ride more but at least the kids had fun! Hate that you had to wait for the others to meet you at the bus Drives me nuts when things aren't properly organised which is probably why I offer to help on school trips-I don't always trust them not to lose my kid so I figure if I'm there I can at least make sure the kids in my group are ok!

 

[dtr_angel]

I'm glad the rain wasn't too bad and didn't interfere with your day. That's a bummer you didn't get to ride many rides you are such a great chaperone! Looks like a lot of serious coasters there, a great park for teens & adults for sure.

 

[teekathepony]

Congrats on surviving 6 Flags!

Wow, those roller coasters are pretty intense! I can see me backing out of a few of those! Sorry you didn't get to ride more rides, what a time trying to organize so many kids, good job not losing any!

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[natebenma]

Thanks for reading my off-topic post. Hope to get an actual trip report update posted today or tomorrow. The rest of our morning in Future World.

You should have called me...I would have gladly stood and waited with those who did not want to ride. We haven't been to our Six Flags since Andy was 10 (so 18 years ago); filthy, the clientele leaves a lot to be desired and I don't do the coasters anymore.

Sorry you didn't get to ride much, but glad the kids had fun.

I appreciate the offer. I would have loved to have someone wait with the kids while I went to get my thrill-on. I'm willing to brave most coasters, but I won't go on anything that spins in a circle. I get nauseous.

Since it was a school day when we were there, most, if not all, of the people in the park that day were part of the music competition. I didn't find Six Flags to be particularly dirty (as I expected based on a review a friend gave me recently) but maybe the rain washed away all the grime that day.

I've never been to a Non-Disney theme park outside of Universal and SeaWorld so its really interesting to see a Six Flags. I'm planning a trip to Canada's Wonderland (A Cedar Parks park) this July, so I'm kinda excited.

You're pictures really do remind me of Universal. The one around Bizarro reminds me of Marvel Superhero Island, and the others definitely looks like Seuss and Amity. The shark is almost copyright infringement, lol.

I will be chaperoning the 7th graders in June for their class trip to our "local" amusement park, Canobie Lake Park. I hope we will have more input about the grouping of the kids. I think when I chaperoned with Nate 3 years ago, we had tag-team chaperones, so two chaperones with each group. That made it a lot easier when there were kids who did or did not want to go on the thrill rides.

It was crazy how much the park reminded me of Universal. They also have a "Flash Pass" program where you can purchase Front of the Line.

Your comment about the copyright infringement on the shark cracked me up. Seriously!

Some amazing looking coasters there-pity you didn't get to ride more but at least the kids had fun! Hate that you had to wait for the others to meet you at the bus Drives me nuts when things aren't properly organised which is probably why I offer to help on school trips-I don't always trust them not to lose my kid so I figure if I'm there I can at least make sure the kids in my group are ok!

The disorganization was driving me NUTS!

We were all so ready to get home and then to have to wait needlessly...

Where is the pulling out my hair smilie?

I'm glad the rain wasn't too bad and didn't interfere with your day. That's a bummer you didn't get to ride many rides you are such a great chaperone! Looks like a lot of serious coasters there, a great park for teens & adults for sure.

We were SO lucky with the weather. The forecasts all week were calling for rain for Friday, starting in the western part of the state where we were. The only thing worse than not being able to ride because I am waiting with kids would be being soaked while not riding and waiting!

Congrats on surviving 6 Flags!

Wow, those roller coasters are pretty intense! I can see me backing out of a few of those! Sorry you didn't get to ride more rides, what a time trying to organize so many kids, good job not losing any!

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That is rule 1: come back with the same number of kids you came with.

There were some really big, fun, fast coasters. It would have been a great opportunity to ride since I don't think the park was as crowded as it would be on a regular summer day, but a 1 1/2 hour wait for a ride is INSANE!

 

[MeeskaMomma]

I just finished reading about your six flags adventure. It sounds harrowing but I am glad the boys had fun.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hunter's comment about his recent Six Flags trip is about the same as your's "It was fun but it's definitely not Disney." I know that you were going a little nutso not having a plan in place and not having cellphone numbers for the kids in your group. I know that I would have been. Unfortunately for you, it sounds like the trip could have been better organized. Fortunately for you, at least the kids told you that they had a good time.

Oh and congrats on the band for such a great score!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Doesn't sound like the best trip, but at least the kids had fun and the rain held off.
My DS12 just went there for the first time with a friend a couple of weeks ago. I remember him talking about Bizarro ( used to be superman ??)

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[tiggerfan77]

I totally get that Six Flags is not Disney! We took EJ to Six Flags in Maryland a few years back and I didn't even bother to take pictures it was so disappointing. We just got spoiled by Disney, I guess. Glad the kids had a great time on your Six Flags adventure!

 

[natebenma]

I just finished reading about your six flags adventure. It sounds harrowing but I am glad the boys had fun.

Disney really spoils other amusement parks for so many of us!

The boys did have fun, and one of them thanked me for the really nice day.

Hunter's comment about his recent Six Flags trip is about the same as your's "It was fun but it's definitely not Disney." I know that you were going a little nutso not having a plan in place and not having cellphone numbers for the kids in your group. I know that I would have been. Unfortunately for you, it sounds like the trip could have been better organized. Fortunately for you, at least the kids told you that they had a good time.

Oh and congrats on the band for such a great score!

I am a born organizer, and I try not to put my nose in where it is not invited but then I just get frustrated.

I also need to remember "This trip is for the kids", but durn-it, I WANT TO RIDE, TOO!

I was proud of our band, and the chorus too, who received a superior score.

Doesn't sound like the best trip, but at least the kids had fun and the rain held off.
My DS12 just went there for the first time with a friend a couple of weeks ago. I remember him talking about Bizarro ( used to be superman ??)

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The only thing that would have been worse than having to wait around for all of the kids would be waiting for the kids while DRENCHED, so yes, I am very thankful for that!

You could be right about Superman/Bizarro. I don't know much about Six Flags. Maybe they changed the ride name because of some issues on Superman rides in other parks.

I totally get that Six Flags is not Disney! We took EJ to Six Flags in Maryland a few years back and I didn't even bother to take pictures it was so disappointing. We just got spoiled by Disney, I guess. Glad the kids had a great time on your Six Flags adventure!

It seemed like there were not enough medium-thrill rides. There were either coasters or kiddie rides. We never made it to the part of the park with the bumper cars, which would have been good for everyone, or one of the water rides, which some people in our group did despite the weather.