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Amelia and Friends at Great America
This was all of our first visit of the year-- Ruth, Ashley and Zach had gone frequently the previous summer, and Laura and Amelia had gone several times. Our first ride took us up a tower for a view of the park and surrounding areas. For some reason, we'd never done this ride the previous year-- there was no thrill factor, just great views. Amelia was surprisingly reluctant for what was really just a big elevator ride, but she enjoyed it once we got going. Our second ride was the "Eagle's Flight", a set of sky cars that took us over most of the park. This was Amelia's favorite ride from the previous summer (she hadn't ridden many) and her request for what to go on in the fairly short time we had this afternoon. In the first picture, Amelia, Ashley and Zach pose while waiting in line. There were quite a few people at the park that day, so we ended up doing a bit of waiting various places.
Once we got off the sky cars, we went to the newly renovated "NickToons" part of the kids area. We went on a few of the new kids rides-- Amelia, Ashley and Zach went on Dora's Dune Buggies, which went in fairly slow circles, and the kids pumped a handle to get it to go in the air. Then Amelia, Zach and I went on another "go around in the sky" ride (I don't remember the name, I think it was a "Wild Thornberries" concept) while Ashley went on a roller coaster with her mom. I was extremely surprised when (after a snack) Ashley announced she wanted to go on the nearby small roller coaster (that wasn't the surprising part) and Amelia said she did too! After confirming that they wanted to go on it together, the three of us waited in line, I got them settled in, and then went off to take pictures. Amelia has ridden a roller coaster before, with me. She said she liked it but was sure she didn't want to do it again. This time, Amelia enjoyed the ride, although she didn't request another ride (the long wait probably influenced both of their decisions on this). I think she found the sensation of lifting off of her seat somewhat unnerving (I don't blame her!) Ashley wanted to revisit all of her old favorites, and Amelia was eager to go along. They were very quickly off to their next stop-- the Frog Hopper!
The Frog Hopper held 7 kids (with the occasional adult thrown in) sitting across. The whole seat moved up and down a pole in little jumps. Watching Amelia, I wasn't sure she was enjoying it- she wasn't quite sure what to expect, and each jump surprised her. Amelia's reaction after her first ride was that "It tickled!". Ashley immediately wanted to go again, and Amelia followed. This time Amelia knew what to expect, and she really enjoyed it! (See picture). Ashley seemed to be trying hard to take it all in stride, but couldn't help bubbling over at times. And so they went again, each time waiting (fairly patiently) in line. I was right there, but it amazed me how independent these little people were. They knew to check in with me each time they got off a ride (and did so without hesitation), and I never took my eyes off of them, but they were making all of their own decisions (negotiating with each other when necessary) and implementing them, without any help from me.
"The Swings!" announced Ashley. "The Swings!" echoed Amelia. This is a ride I thought Amelia would like-- once she decided to try it. She decided to try it. She liked it. They rode three times (they got off and on again, but there was no wait). Then I asked if they wanted to try a different ride. "The Airplane!" came the reply. So they went over to the "KidzAir" ride, where they got to sit in an airplane as it went up and down in a vertical (instead of horizontal) circle. Once was enough of that, so it was back to the Frog Hopper.
There wasn't much in the way of thrills in "Granny's Garden" where they went (very slowly) in circles riding in a cart pulled by a giant snail. They were the only ones on this ride!
By this time, we needed to go. I offered them one last ride, and they chose the Frog Hopper (with the swings being a close contender). Then it was time for the walk to the front. The girls were tired, and fussed a bit about the walk. At one point, Amelia decided she wanted to crawl! Ashley followed suit. I asked them to please get up, or someone might trip over them. A passerby said "Not dressed that brightly, we won't!" We'll probably be back soon! |
Amelia (almost 5)
went to 
After the third round of
the Frog Hopper, I asked if they wanted to try something else (thinking of the
little ride around in circle rides).
I think they were a little
tired of waiting in line, so they went on the tour of the no lines rides.
From there, they were off
to the pet shop ride (Thanks to the lack of line, they got to ride in the cat,
like they wanted), and then to the old-fashioned cars-- two more "go in slow
circles" rides.