We packed up the car and headed to Hershey for a mini-vacation. We really wanted the boys to experience a fabulous amusement park, and we picked Hershey for two reason: 1. It was cheaper than Disney; and 2. It was cheaper than Disney.
One nice thing about going off-season and during the middle of the week is that the lines are shorter. What we did not really expect was: how much shorter. As in, nonexistent. That’s right: there were no lines. None. Zippo. If we especially liked a particular ride, we could just stay on it and go for a second time. Or third.
Does this sound like a smart thing? Oh sure, in theory it does. Go to Hershey off-season! No lines! The sad sad repercussion, however, is that now my children are ruined for life and will always believe lines don’t apply to them. In the future, if they see a potential crowd forming around, say, a popular roller coaster, they will yell out, “What is going on here? And who are all these people? I’ve never had to wait before!!!”
My children were little Rock Stars for three days. This must be what it feels like to be some famous singer or movie star and have the entire park close up just for you, or open two hours early to give you a private tour. We went on roller coaster after Ferris wheel after sky-ride after merry-go-round after train. Again. Again. My legs were cramping up, not from waiting in line like a normal person, but from running from ride to ride so we wouldn’t miss anything.
We saw everything we wanted to see in approximately 17 minutes.
There were a few clusters of high school kids there. After about the seventh time I made the joke of wish-I-went-to-THAT-high-school, someone let me know that they were actually there for a school project (!). Turns out they were part of the junior Western American Scientists Understanding Physics (WASUP) group, and they were doing crucial research on how things like roller coasters hold things like people in place when they are spinning upside down in impossible configurations. I looked at the group of kids and realized several could not even make sure their jeans were all the way up covering their bottoms; did they really think they could grasp the fundamentals of advanced aerodynamics?
Now that we are home, I flip through all the cute photos of Tall and Short on the rides. There is Short (by himself) on the kiddie helicopters! There is Tall and The Husband on the monorail (by themselves). There they are again (still just the two of them) on the Ferris wheel. There is Short on the miniature train, alone. Busy Bees, alone. Race cars, alone.
Our last photos are in the Hershey Gardens across from the hotel. Tall and Short are smiling in front of a fountain. It is the perfect shot, except for one thing: some tourists have wandered up right behind them.
MOV
Awesome! That was us at Disney last spring when we went on a day the park opened at 7am. I think we were there by 7:30 and you could have shot a cannon through the place (duh). We literally didn't have to stand in a single line. The guy running the Jungle Cruise ride begged us to come aboard. The only wait for Pirates of the Carribean was the time it took us to walk through the 10 miles of ropes for the crowds that would form later. We had seen all we needed to by noon and since we were up at 6:30am that worked out perfectly. Glad you are back!
ReplyDeletethank you, Happy Hour Mama! and glad you are back too (from Paris, I might add, a tad bit more exotic than Hershey...... by the way, how were the lines to get into France?).
ReplyDeletebest,
MOV :)
Sounds like you had a great time. We went to Astroworld once on a day where there were no crowds. It was awesome!
ReplyDeletewe did have an awesome time. Although I did keep looking around for someone to place a diamond tiara on my head to complete the "Royalty Experience". Alas, I will just have to picture the tiara in my mind. :)
ReplyDeletebest,
MOV