Mother's Day Jaunt to Six Flags About This Page:

[Lemap760]

Andrew has been asking when Sesame Place opens and when we can go. Since I don’t really care for that particular park I decided to check the Six Flags website to see what was age and height appropriate for Andrew. I haven’t been to Six Flags in over ten years and was surprised to find that they have restructured their park to make it more family friendly than before. There are still the big thrill rides that make your stomach leap up to your throat and make you thankful you’re still alive once it’s over , but there are also 3 kiddie sections with rides for the younger crowd. I was overjoyed to see Bugs Bunny National Park, Looney Toons Seaport and Wiggles World. You can definitely tell that I’m getting older and have a child.
I wanted to go before the summer crowds would set in. I checked the website for various opening dates and the first one I came across where the park was open, and there wasn’t a private party, was Mother’s Day weekend. Andrew’s t-ball picnic was Saturday, so Sunday was planned as theme park day. Now all I had to do was hope it didn’t rain, which it was supposed to.

Mother’s Day arrived and Andrew was up at 7:30 in the morning. Early for him since he had another night where he refused to go to sleep and didn’t until nearly 10:30pm. I had spilled the beans Saturday night that we were going to the amusement park the next day so I guess, like all children, he got up early due to the excitement. This presented me with the problem of Andrew asking all morning when we were going. It was going to be about 2 ½ hours until we left since the park didn’t open until 10:30. Kind of late, but it is still pre-season.
To pass the time Andrew and I argued over brushing his teeth and taking a nice picture of the two of us outside with the spring flowers for Mother’s Day.


First attempt at nice mother's day picture. Andrew's mouth wide open.


Second attempt. I'm really not choking him. Really I'm not.


Third attempt. I give up.

10:00 finally rolled around and we hit the road. It’s only a 40 minute drive and there wasn’t much traffic on Sunday morning. As soon as we got on the highway I realized that I neglected to stop at the ATM to get some cash. Ooops. I figured I would just pay the service fee at the park ATMs instead of turning around. With the price of gas it would come out even anyway. Andrew kept asking if there was a hotel. Guess he associates all theme parks with Disney. I told him that we didn’t need a hotel because it was just a day trip. He kept asking why we don’t need a hotel until I said that we could get one to put him down for an afternoon nap. That kept him quiet. Getting off at our exit there was a WaWa about ¼ mile down the road. A perfect opportunity to hit the ATM without incurring any fees. Yay. Apparently everyone else was stopping here too. It was very crowded. In hindsight I should have filled up the gas tank here as well for $3.55 a gallon. However I would have waited forever for an attendant to service me since you can’t fill your own tank in New Jersey. New Jersey is always good for less expensive gas which makes for very crowded gas pumps. Anyway I was all cashed up and ready to go.
We entered the long road leading to the parking lot tolls. I always pick the wrong lane. Every stinkin’ time. I picked a lane to pay for parking and the car in front of us was having a very lengthy conversation with the attendant. At that point I’m stuck and can’t switch lanes. Oh well. After handing in my pre-payment voucher at least I was the smart one who used the lane all the way to the right to by pass the line of cars in the left lane waiting to park their car. By the way, the left lane didn’t get them any parking spots closer to the front of the park.

continued.......

[Lemap760]

Finally parked and situated we made a relatively short walk to the front gates. Since I had pre-purchased my tickets on line we could by-pass the ticket booths and head straight for the lines to hand in your tickets and get scanned by security. Again, I picked the wrong lane. Many moons later it was our turn. The woman open the gate so I could get the stroller through but she neglected to tell me until I was on the other side that I would have to go back through and walk through the metal detector. If I had known this ahead of time I would have folded up the stroller and walked through the other door. I basically had to get the security guard’s attention and let her know I was waiting to be scanned. She took about 5 more people before she turned her attention to me. I had thought about just making a break for it without being scanned but didn’t want to be ejected from the park this early in the game.
We were finally free and clear. They never had Andrew or the stroller go through the metal detector so I’m kind of wondering what else has gotten through undetected. I let the Six Flags paparazzi take our picture as we were walking in. The picture turned out terrible. All shadowy and Andrew wasn’t looking at the camera at all.
We grabbed a piece of bench and made a plan of action. I told Andrew the different children’s areas and asked where he wanted to go first. Bugs Bunny National Park won so we headed there. I’ll take this opportunity to say the layout of Six Flags is terrible. There is no easy way to get from one place to another. The different sections don’t seem to “flow” like Disney does. Once we finally found BBNP Andrew started to become the child I always dreaded. The “I don’t want to ride anything” child. There were at least 6 different rides in this area and we went on two. First was the small version of the carousel, second was the balloon ride.


On the carousel


Balloon ride

He heard the announcement for the Wiggles show and asked to go there. I happily obliged.
Wellllll, Wiggles World is all the way over on the other side of the park. On the way we did see Batman and Wonder Woman out for pictures so we stopped for a picture opportunity.




Wonder Woman must have been freezing. Maybe she had on an invisible jacket.

Another picture of Andrew being distracted by something over to the side.
We were a little early for the Wiggles show and picked our seats. Andrew then decided the speakers were too loud (and they were) so we moved to the last row of the theatre. The show host came out and sang and danced a few numbers before she introduced the Wiggles friends – Wags, Henry, Dorothy, and Captain Feathersword. Andrew asked in a rather loud voice when there wasn’t any music playing where the Wiggles were. I explained to him that the Wiggles themselves weren’t here, only their friends. Can you imagine the Wiggles being that hard up for cash to be doing 4 shows at a theme park daily? After the heartbreaking news of no actual Wiggles Andrew was ready to leave. I always feel guilty leaving a show before it’s over knowing full well that the performers can see you. We had come back to this area later when a show was finished for a picture opportunity.








I purposefully cut myself out of the picture. Some angles just weren’t meant for picture taking and this was looking up and at a bad profile. Not flattering at all.
There is a small play area decorated as Captain Feathersword’s boat that Andrew wanted to play on. Being the observant parent that I am, I noticed that most of the kids in there were toddlers or younger. The sign posted out front confirmed what I feared. The playground was only for children 36” or shorter. Andrew hasn’t been 36” in a long time and was disappointed. It took a lot of explaining that the little kids need somewhere to run around where it’s safe for them. The disappointment was quickly forgotten when I pointed out the Big Red Car ride. This is kind of like the old time cars you get to drive around a track, but it’s different. It’s completely computer operated and there’s no pedal to push. The car goes and stops by itself. I guess in a way that’s a good thing ‘cause no one can bump into each other. I’ve been known to do this myself at the end of the ride. Quite accidentally of course.




Toot, Toot Chugga, Chugga Big Red Car.
I've been listening to the Wiggles too much. It's weird how songs will stay with you long after your child has stopped watching a show.

continued.........

[Lemap760]

Andrew had been saying he was hungry and I was getting pretty hungry too. I gave him the choice of hot dogs or pizza. Pizza won and we headed to the Papa Johns pizza station. I noticed the line was a little long and there was another show we wanted to watch. We made the decision to see the show and eat after.
We headed all the way back over to BBNP to see the Looney Toons talent show. Thinking back we did a lot of cris-crossing back and forth around the park this day. I know I got my walking miles in. The Looney Toons talent show basically consisted of Bugs, Daffy, and Sylvester singing and dancing in a talent show while Foghorn Leghorn and Tweety were the judges. It was cute and Andrew had fun dancing and booing Daffy.





Once we were done “getting loud” with the LT we headed back to a Papa Johns location which was closer than the one we stopped at earlier. Papa Johns apparently has a big sponsorship at this park. There were at least 3 different PJ’s locations.
The lunch line was rather long, but at least there were plenty of tables to sit at. I was pleased to see that they would let us order pizza slices without making it a combo with fries. That’s way too much food and most of it would have been wasted. We sat down to eat our lunch. It was satisfying for what it was. If this is what Papa Johns tastes like, then they can keep it. I won’t be running out to this establishment anytime soon.
At some point during lunch Andrew wanted to call my parents to let them know we were having a good time. Well, Six Flags has speakers everywhere with Rock music blaring out of them which doesn’t make for an ideal setting for a phone call. I had to crank up the volume of my cell phone just to hear the voice mail come on. I’m sure my mom loved the fact that I was screaming in her voice mail what a wonderful time we were having. I forget what song was in the background at the time.
After lunch we headed back to Looney Toon Sea Port. We ran into another super hero Andrew was happy to be pictured with.



Andrew didn’t want to have his picture taken with any of the Looney Toons characters and I only managed to snag one with Petunia Pig later in the day.





I don’t know what was wrong with the Looney Toons as Andrew was more than happy to pose with other characters. Maybe he’s just not familiar with the Looney Toons so he shied away. He was willing to take my picture. I think this has an artsy look to it. Or you could look at it as if it was taken by someone 3 feet tall.


We went on a couple of rides here. Again, Andrew only went on a few and by passed most of what was offered. I had gone on one ride with him where he pulled down the safety bar a little too tight for my comfort. But it was locked after he let go and I could still breathe so it wasn’t all bad. Good thing it was a quick ride. There was also a play area which housed those guns where people can shoot foam balls at each other. Foam balls flying everywhere. Children screaming everywhere. Parents looking exhausted everywhere. I let Andrew burn off some steam here. After about 15-20 minutes I had enough of getting hit with foam balls and dragged him out of there. This is where Andrew started back up with his I don’t want to ride anything attitude. I convinced him to go on the big ferris wheel with me.

[Lemap760]

.......Continued from previous post

This turned out to be the biggest mistake of the day. They had made announcements that it was windy and cold at the top of the wheel. All riders be warned. I should have listened to this and ran in the opposite direction. The day had turned cloudy and had turned colder and winder a couple of hours before. We boarded our car and were on our way. No big deal, right? Wrong. The higher we got the colder and windier it got. We regretted getting on this thing. We were both wearing sweatshirt jackets and were freezing. We went around a couple times after they loaded the whole wheel. We started going around again and realized they were starting to let people off. Good, we can get off and warm up. Wrong again. While we were near the very top of the wheel, the part where it’s the windiest and coldest, the wheel stopped. I mean completely stopped. We were stuck up there for a good 15 minutes. Now from this view point you can’t see what’s going on and you can’t yell to anyone to ask questions. You’re just stuck. At one point I seriously considered grabbing my cell phone to dial 911. Andrew was getting scared and quite frankly so was I. I tried to distract him by having him watch the people on trampolines below us. I also pointed out a couple of rides I thought he might be big enough for. We were also getting really cold. I had made makeshift mittens from my jacket sleeves and showed Andrew how to do the same to his jacket. Then he asked me for my jacket. Sorry kid, but I’m not giving up my jacket. I offered to wrap him in my arms instead. I think this help relieve some of the scared feeling too. We finally got moving again and could tell they were letting people off since we stopped briefly. When they got to our section they completely passed us and the car behind us so that we couldn’t get off. I couldn’t believe they did that. Don’t these people get training before they operate a ride? The guy in the car next to us had two small kids with him who started crying at this point. I felt bad for him. I told Andrew he was being very brave. I was scared that he would see the other kids crying and start crying himself. This guy got into a heated argument with the ride attendants when they wouldn’t let them off. They were past the platform but still at the steps, so the could have gotten them off.
Once more around and it hasn’t gotten any warmer up there. We get to the bottom again and now I’m yelling at the attendants to let us off. They stopped to let us and the car behind us off with a very limp apology for what happened.
I really don’t think there is any reason for the ferris wheel to be stopped for 15 minutes. The only thing I could see was that they had a shift change and different people were working the ride. Still, it shouldn’t take 15 minutes. Sorry, no pictures from on top of the wheel. I was scared too and was concentrating on the death grip I had on the bar of the cage.

After our fun with the big wheel I took Andrew over to the buccaneer pirate ship because he met the height requirement. We got in line and Andrew saw how high it can get and changed his mind about riding. Oh well, I’m not one to force my child on a ride when he doesn’t want to. There’s a lot less crying that way. He wanted to stop and watch the ride that spins you around like a lasso. This didn’t last long as the operator kept having to tell someone to keep their feet flat on the floor. They weren’t complying with the rules so he stopped the ride to give them the heave ho.
Next Andrew and I had one of those arguments about using the bathroom even though he doesn’t have to go.
I think we just wandered around a while after that. We were going to see a show involving Tigers but I couldn’t find the stadium. Hey, I said this park wasn’t laid out well.
Andrew settled for face painting instead. He settled on a rocket ship and we waited our turn. A family was ahead of us with a little girl getting a cat face. This family lives up to the “why do I work with the public?” reputation that the public sometimes get. The woman first complained that the painter forgot the whiskers around the eyes. Ok, a few quick strokes later and he was done. Now while the next set of events was taking place I was more paying attention to Andrew than I was to them. Apparently the father paid the painter and the painter gave the wife the change and receipt. The little girl in the meantime had run across the way to harass Petunia Pig. The father asked for his change and the painter said he gave it to his wife. Father asked Mother about the change and she says no without bothering to look or even think about it. Now I had seen money being exchanged between the painter and the wife but I wasn’t sure who was giving it to who so I decided to stay out of the argument. The painter ends up having to go get a manager who has to check the cash in the drawer to decide who is telling the truth. I’m sure she believed the painter but you gotta do what you gotta do. The wife in the meantime asks me if I saw anything and I told her that I had seen the painter and her exchange money. At this time she decides to look in her bag more closely and what do you know, the money is there. I hate it when people are quick to answer without thinking about something or actually checking their belongings. I probably should have spoken up sooner, but since I really didn’t know who was giving money to who I really didn’t want to get in the middle. I hope this family apologized to this man because they were really giving him a hard time.
While all this was happening Andrew refused to leave but I did convince him to step away for a few minutes to get a picture taken with Petunia. Another face painter showed up and started to work on Andrew. I’m glad he chose the rocket just because it was one of the least expensive designs and I knew it would be washed off in another couple of hours.




Finished face paint job.

That done, we headed in search of a super hero cape Andrew saw people walking around with earlier. They were selling them outside by the main fountain where the character meet and greet area is. I was expecting these to be around $20 and settled in for an argument with Andrew. It turns out they are only $5. The cheapest souvenir anywhere and cheaper than his lunch was too. How can I argue with that logic? One Batman cape later and I have the happiest boy in the world.
One last show before the end of the day, the Pirate show, Shiver Me Flippers. We mooed our way into the stadium and found some seats up high. It’s still cold and windy so Andrew cuddles up against me for warmth. I love cuddles. The show was cute. They had picked a boy out of the audience for participation and was kidding with him about diving into the water to look for treasure. He took his assignment a little too seriously and was all too willing to dive into the water. Brrrrrr. At least the pirates stopped him from taking the plunge and catching his death of a cold. Gee I sound like a mom.

When the show was over Andrew asked to go home. Sounds like a good idea to me. We mooed our way back out of the stadium and headed out of the park and to the car.

Stopped at McDonalds for dinner. They now have Speed Racer type matchbox cars in the happy meals. Yay. Most of them looked very cool. Why am I looking at happy meal toys so carefully? Made it back home by 7:45 with a sleeping boy in the back seat.



Overall it was a good day. We spent quality time together and that's what it's really all about.

[chezp]

What a great day you guys had! I'm so sorry to read about your experience on the ferris wheel - that must've been terrifying.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you guys had some quality time together Thanks for sharing your day trip with us

[RobDVC]

That was a fun Mother's Day. Six Flags Great Adventure always seems so disorganized every time I go there. Sorry you had to endure the Ferris Wheel incident.
Thanks for sharing your report with us!

[alismom]

Disney spoils us for all other theme parks, doesn't it.

[Minniemouse27]

Great report Pam!

We've been toying w/ the idea of making a trip over to GA but now I'm thinking it would be better to shoot up to Dorney instead.

When Bethany was 4yo, she came up w/ the great idea to take her dad to Sesame Place for his Father's Day gift. She thought it was the BEST idea ever! Dh had a great time though so that is what is important..

Glad you had a good time on Mom's Day!

[lauren-roxy]

Sounds like a pretty good time!!

[JaimeandChad]

You spent it with your son so that's all that matters! Thanks for sharing.

[B.M.]

Sounds like a great Mothers Day! Except for being stuck on the Freezing Ferris Wheel! I really enjoyed reading about your trip since my mom got me and the two oldest season passes (now I have to buy two more for the others) I know we will spend a good bit of time there this summer.

[Lemap760]

Originally Posted by Minniemouse27

When Bethany was 4yo, she came up w/ the great idea to take her dad to Sesame Place for his Father's Day gift. She thought it was the BEST idea ever!

Sesame Place is nice, but it's a lot of water slides and pools. Andrew always wants to go on the water slides he isn't tall enough for and becomes bored with the smaller ones.
Glad Bethany had a good time there with her father. I do have some great memories of me and Andrew there.

[Minniemouse27]

Originally Posted by Lemap760

Sesame Place is nice, but it's a lot of water slides and pools. Andrew always wants to go on the water slides he isn't tall enough for and becomes bored with the smaller ones.
Glad Bethany had a good time there with her father. I do have some great memories of me and Andrew there.

We haven't been there in a few years and with our girls trip to WDW for Beth's 7th birthday in July, we aren't going this year either.

Beth did instruct dh that he MUST take ds (2.5yo) while we are gone though...so they may go. Dh is kinda on the fence about going to an amusement park w/ ds by himself though, so I'm not sure if he is going to "listen" to dd this time!

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like you had a wonderful day with Andrew! for sharing your trip with us!!