Legoland

Prior to going to LegoLand, I would have said this amusement park would not be my first choice or even maybe my 10th pick for a place to take the family. In fact, I think I might have decided on a miniature golf place instead. . I guess I didn’t get the concept. However, The Deanes had free tickets and three other tickets we could redeem for a dollar a piece. So we decided to turn our one day outing into two and see what Lego Land had to offer.

Honestly, I should have really enjoyed the place. It is definitely a place for younger children and since I have two of them it’s right up my alley. The rides we pretty interesting; such as: getting in a fire truck, operating a teeter totter thing to get the fire engine to move, and then getting out and pumping water through a fire hose to put out a burning building. You had to work as a team to finish the task. It was unique and really fun!  Plus all the miniature models of the different cities in the US were fascinating to view.

So with fun rides and interesting displays why did I not find myself enjoying the time? CROWDS! IT took 30-45 minutes to get on some of the silliest of rides. Plus it was hard to maneuver with our off-roading Jeep stroller. I couldn’t believe how many people were there, It made Knott’s feel like a ghost town. Sure, it was Christmas Break and everyone was on vacation, but really?! Everyone picked LegoLand as the place to spend their vacation?!

But, If I lived in San Diego and I knew that this was not a usual occurrence I would probably invest in season passes. The place had great potential but it was hard to see through with all the bodies herding through the place.

Mr. Einstein can I pick your brain for a minute?

Sweetness

Uh....Caught.

Now she's ready to drive my truck!

Up, Up, and Away

Seatbelts are for sissies

Sea World

This year for Faith's "Metcha" day this year, we went to Sea World(The day we went to Russia and actually met her). A lot of adoptive parents do a "Gothcha" Day, but the day she became ours was on her second birthday. Kellee and I haven't been to SW in seven years! The last time was our first anniversary. We went at the end of April, so we were able to get a season's pass for the price of admisson.

Faith had a good time; she loved feeding the Bat Rays. We couldn't feed the dolphins, I guess they close the feeding after 1:00 pm.

Verity did really well, she remained a trooper most of the day, but by the end she was a little cranky.

My favorite part of the day was going to see the Polar Bear. They have a cave exhibit, little kids can walk through that represents where a polar bear would live. Inside they have a tape relay of a Polar Bear roaring. Faith was scared to walk through, but wanted her Papa to do it. So, I walked in and told her everything was fine. Then the tape relay played and I acted like the Polar Bear was getting me and dragging me away. Faith stood there frozen, eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and she let out a horrified blood-curdling scream! I had to run out of the cave and assure her that everything was alright. Then we both laughed- hers a little more nervous than mine. It was a Jack Handy, father-daughter moment.

After Sea World, I wanted to eat at a pizza place I had seen on the Food Network. However, I couldn't quite remember the name, so we called Kellee's mom and had her try to look it up for us. I thought we struck gold and figured it out... a place called A New York Style Pizzeria. But when we got there I realized it was the wrong place. Still the Pizza was sold by the slice and very scrumptious. However, the owner and pizza maker was wearing a Boston Red Sox hat. That soured the experience a little for me. They did have some Bronx Dodgers memorabilia on the wall, but it felt contrived after seeing the Boston lover. The place I wanted to go to is called Bronx Pizza. I guess with a season pass to Sea World, there is always next time.

Faith watching the Show

Verity trying not to get too much sun.

They must be from Pittsburgh.

She's a star...fishStuck on you!
Who do you think is angrier?

Faith and I sat in the soak zone!

America's First Theme Park Without A Theme

Two days after we hit the real Knott’s theme park we ventured out to the mutated mega-ride farm and then we went again the next week for Faith’s Birthday. I know there seems to be some confusion; why would I continue to go if I have such disdain for the place (as written from my trip in 2006 and Calico)? Well, first and foremost because it’s free…almost. For a month out of the year I can take myself and another person for free and then up to 5 more people for $12. That’s a hard deal to pass up even with my lofty principals.

Also, maybe it’s being a year out from having Disneyland Passes that I no longer need to juxtapose the two parks. On the other hand, maybe it was just cleaner this time around. Things certainly didn’t seem as dreary and decrepit as they did when we went in 2006. Of course, that’s not to say that it was on par with the upkeep of Disneyland but then again should I expect them to be able to keep up with that behemoth monster of a kiddy company?

Besides, it being cheap to go and that the place seemed a little tidier, the main reason for our not just going once but twice…Faith. My daughter loved it! She loved the log ride, talked about how scared she was to go down the drop, but wanted to go again. She loved going through the Calico mines, riding the stagecoach, holding and kissing toads, riding the Mexican teacups, the racecars, the snoopy bus, and tugboat. A week has passed and she still talks about what rides she rode while there. Seeing her so giddy with excitement makes the whole trip worth the effort. Her exhilaration reminds me of being young and how much I loved my parents taking me when I was her age.

This however, does not mean that I am an avid fan of the Cedar Rapids Co.. There is still much to be discourage about in this theme park and to be honest if I paid $40 a person to get in I would probably be a down right, stark-raving, lunatic.

First lets begin with what my title suggest, that this once was America’s first theme park is no longer a theme park. Despite the fact that Grand Rapid’s still touts this as their slogan! The truth is there is no theme to this park. Everything is mish-mashed together making it an eye sore.

While taking in the gun fighting show (which was actually pretty entertaining despite a couple innuendos) every 10-20 seconds a coaster whizzed by our heads making a loud raucous all the while little teeny poppers were screaming at the top of there lungs. Thus ruining the whole effect of being sucked into the old Wild West.

We took a real steam train around a little loop. It could have been cool for the little youngsters but all there was to see were weeds and great towering pylons. While on the stage coach we could see behind the buildings into the trash littered break spots and scary Halloween haunt mazes.

I could go on and on with how the themes are ruined by there colossal coasters, but you get the point. It’s not that I’m against the massive rides, in fact I like going on them myself. It’s more the principal. It just seems like if that’s what this company wants to be known for then invest in and make a commitment to delivering Southern California with the best rides around. Out do Six Flags. Get rid of the theme park altogether and simply be an amusement park or a Coaster park. But stop already with selling us on the idea that this is still Knott’s in something rather than in name only.

Though the Theme Park that is not a Theme Park annoys me to no extent that is not what would drive me insane if I had to pay the outrageous prices. It’s that after you pay to get into the park, they want you to continue to pay to ride some of the coasters. Why should I have to pay more money to go on a rock climbing wall or to be bungeed through the air? You have already taken a big chunk of my money to get into the park presumably to ride the rides. So why do you add these attractions that end up costing more?

Beyond that, what is the deal with the wasted space of Ghost Town. Why do I want to pay ridiculous prices to shop for knick-knacks? The place is lined with little craft spots, vendor upon vendor piled on top of one another trying to get a small piece of my cash. If you don’t have enough imagination to actually do something with the wasted space then just tear it down and do what your good at, put up another monster roller coaster!

Lastly, all add that there is a possibility that I am just venting and angry because I am still bitter that they took out the Soap Box Racers!

Knott's Berry Farm 2nd Annual Trip

California's New Ghost Town (December 2006)

Knott's Berry Farm was always a treat when I was a kid. My parents took my sister and me yearly at one point in my adolescent life. I always looked forward to The Log Ride, Calico Mine Train Ride, watching the gun battles, and going on rides like soapbox racer or the Parachutes.

It certainly wasn't Disneyland; it didn't have the billions to compete. However, the Knott's family was always innovative and made magic out of the ordinary. They used the little resources they had and provided a wonderful place for families to get away and really allow you to make believe that they were in an old western setting. It was truly the first California Adventure!

I haven't been to KBF in three years (I got into a wreck that evening, interestingly it was the night before my daughter was born). I remember thinking then that besides some of the new roller coasters; it was not as fun as I use to believe.

However, I took my family this week; mainly because it was free for all of us, but I also wanted my daughter to experience the feeling that I once had about the place. For the most part she did. Faith loved the trains, log ride, and camp snoopy; maybe even more than she likes Disneyland. She wanted to go on the log ride over and over again, I suppose because the drop at the end is like nothing she has been on before. I probably would have stayed and let her ride all day if it wouldn't have been so cold, and I kept getting wet.

From an adult perspective though, KBF has become a rundown upscale Fair; a shell of its former self. Camp Snoopy looked like rides that you would find at the annual Catholic Carnival. They were dilapidated and desperately in need of paint and some repairs. We went to the Peanuts Playhouse and were astounded by how dirty and shabby looking it was inside. The carpet looked as if it had not been cleaned for about two weeks! The other rides like the log ride and the Calico Mine train now showed their age. You could barely hear the sound system and the animatronics or mannequins looked like they have not been updated, maintained, or restored since they were originally placed some 30 years ago.

Moreover, when I think of Knott's I don't generally associate it with thrill ride roller coasters, waterslides, or even Camp snoopy. I generally think of The Old West. It's not that those other things are not part or prominent features of the park, but those attractions are/or were not the main focus. The Calico ghost town was the heart and character of Knott's. Yet, this is no longer true. The town is now filled with arts and crafts tables, and there are roller coaster tracks looming overhead that look like the tentacles of a horrible monster that is about to devour the old Ghost Town replica.

Behind some of the vendor's tables, far out of sight was the replica of the old jail. I use to love going over there and pretending like I was talking to this vagrant of the old west. Now though, there is gum all over the mannequins face and you could hardly make out what he was trying to say.

I suppose I was saddened by all of this because I couldn't get lost. When Knott's and family started they created something special and wanted to bring you into this world that they had created and toiled over. Old trains, stagecoaches, gunfights, statues of parlor girls sitting on the bench, blacksmiths, and Indian burial grounds allowed you to experience the west for yourself.

Walter Knotts was an innovator. Maybe he didn't have the funds of his local rival or the imagineering that would dream up delightful cartoon characters; nevertheless he was able to bring you into his own magical California.

Sadly, what the Knott's family created has been made into an amusement park Frankenstein by the Ohio based company that bought Knott's in the early 1990s. There is no flow or continuity to this park. Think of Disneyland. All the lands there are separate; tomorrow land is not mixed with New Orleans Square. Think of the oddity that would bring and how you could not allow yourself to get "lost" in the experience that was imagined by its creators. Picture The rocket ride on tom Sawyers Island, wouldn't that seem out of place! Well picture that and you now have what Knott's Berry Farm has become. Swinging chairs over what use to be Indian Burial grounds, and carnival games in western towns, water slides on the 50's boardwalk, are only a couple of examples that I can give to this attest to this strange design scheme.

I suppose I am not the only one that feels this way, since the place was empty. Keep in mind that this was a nice day and it was Law Enforcement Appreciation week, so it was free for them to come along with family. One would think that this place would be hoping! This was not the case KBF was a ghost town like the one it use to try and replicate.

Some pics of our day:

Log Ride

Calico Mines

Calico Mines

The Red Baron

The Board Walk

You Belong in the Zoo (September 19, 2006)

I took Kellee and Faith to the San Deigo Zoo yesterday. It was Faith's first time there, and she had a blast. It was fun to watch her face as she looked at all these new creatures that she had seen and read about in her little books (or J.A. Deane's Blogs) and realize that they were real. Any how, here are couple pics:


Monkeying around!


Checking out the Giraffes.


Watchin the hungry Polar Bear feast on some bones, and happy it's not ours.


As the old saying goes "Leave sleeping Pandas Lie"


WOW!!! Settle Down There.


Digging for Gold and All I keep getting is Bronze.


Our favorite Animal was the Hippo.


My sexy jungle women.