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Day 1 – Saturday, June 23, 2018

For some reason, that I can no longer remember, we ended up with a 5am flight out of Denver. Then we accidentally missed the exit for the shuttle lot that we were planning to park in. Worried we didn’t have time to circle back to it, we ended up parking in the regular economy lot. It was probably good that it worked out that way, because we almost missed the flight! Security was the longest I had ever seen – apparently we weren’t the only ones getting an early start to the day! Although, our flight wasn’t even close to being full, and Lily and I got spoiled with having an empty middle seat between us, so we could really spread out.

Once in San Diego, we rented the car, and headed off to find breakfast. Ended up at a little café not far from the airport – ate outside and the planes constantly going overhead were LOUD!

Our first stop of the trip was Cabrillo National Monument. It was so far turning out to be a cool, foggy day. But there was a lot of neat stuff to see. Some cool views of the bay and coastline -and one of the historic sailing ships from the Maritime Museum was out on the water, apparently filming a documentary.

We watched a movie in the visitor center about Juan Cabrillo, and it was neat to now know some of the history of the area, and why that name is so commonly used in these parts. And the theater had a raccoon in the exhibit, which Owen loved. We are hoping to see a live one at the zoo on this trip!

We explored a historic bunker and a few other sites that were used by the Navy, back in the day, with a volunteer giving us a personal tour and telling us all about it.

One of the things I was most looking forward to here though, was the lighthouse. We climbed up inside all the way to the top, and explored the surrounding grounds. I couldn’t get “Candle on the Water” out of my head the whole time, lol!

One more stop on the way out – at the rocky intertidal zone! When the tide is out, you can climb around on the rocks and see all sorts of small marine wildlife. Sometimes, I had read, the sea lions even lounge nearby. But it was so cool and cloudy that they must have been hiding in their caves today.

Time to head north now – to Carlsbad! We stopped at the historic Green Dragon Tavern for lunch. Apparently the original one was in Boston and had a small role in the Revolutionary War. Owen was so sleepy though from our early morning, and could hardly keep his head off the table.

Now for the biggest excitement of the day – checking in at the LEGOLAND Hotel! (Sorry my website editor is insisting on capitalizing all of LEGOLAND, I’m not going to fight it, lol!)

We were staying at the brand new Castle hotel – it had only been open for a couple of months. And it really lived up to the hype! Lego sculptures everywhere, and no detail of the theming was left undone.

Unfortunately, it was early and our room wasn’t ready yet.  So we spent the next few hours exploring, playing on the playground, and generally hanging out. After a while, a “Model Citizen” (what LEGOLAND calls their employees) noticed we were looking bored in the lobby, and offered to get us into a room.

The room was truly magical – light up potion bottles on the wall, and even a treasure box that the kids had to figure out how to get into. Owen was totally in love!

We had dinner at the hotel, in the Dragon’s Den restaurant. Owen liked that there was a Lego play area at the front, so when he wasn’t actively eating his food, he could take off and play.

We tucked into bed pretty early, exhausted from a long first day. But overall, the trip is off to a good start!

Day 2 – Sunday, June 24, 2018

We had breakfast at Dragon’s Den (same as last night), and were seated right by this crazy contraption, lol!

It was still early, but we headed on to the park to get in line, and get our tickets sorted out. (I had bought the San Diego Go card before the trip, but it would require a trip to the ticket window each morning to redeem it for tickets.)

Hotel guests are allowed in 30 minutes early, and we were hoping to make good use of the time. Unfortunately, we hit a minor hiccup here, as I thought I would stop by the Reserve-n-ride desk to pick up the one I had already bought and paid for online. (LEGOLAND’s version of Fastpass.) But, there were issues. Long story short, it ended up taking almost the whole 30 minute head start we had been given. The boys went off on their own before too long while I dealt with it, and rode Coastersaurus, at least. But I was quite frustrated that the day started out like this.

It turned around almost immediately though, because right after meeting up with the boys (RNR finally in hand), he wanted to play a game. (We had promised him some after not letting him play any at the carnival a few weeks ago) Naturally he picked the basketball hoops game. His first shot (of 5) missed, but the second one easily hit home! I didn’t think too much of it at first, usually a single “win” on these games gets you a plastic ring or some such nonsense. Well, not this one. He was presented with a very large (obscenely large, actually) stuffed donut. Of course he was beaming, saying he had always dreamed of having a large, stuffed yellow donut, lol! And Brian and I are panicking a little… how in the world are we going to get that thing back on the airplane?? But we assured him we would make it work, somehow. The whole thing was definitely a much needed success, as we were all smiling and laughing now, the earlier stress almost forgotten.

We all went for another ride on Coastersaurus, together this time. The MC doing the safety spiel as we were getting on the ride said to leave all backpacks, hats, sunglasses… and donuts in the cubbies on the side. Well the donut would have to sit on top, not in, but Owen thought it was hilarious that he called it out.

The rest of the morning was spend on various rides… the order is a little fuzzy now but I know we did: Mia’s Riding Camp (a carousel, with Owen clutching the giant donut while on his horse, lol!) and Fairy Tale Brook – a calm cruise through lots of Lego sculptures. And the Coast Cruise, which is similar but on bigger boats.

After this, Brian and I decided to take the donut back to the room, as carrying it all day was going to get tiresome. Fortunately, it doesn’t get any more convenient than staying at the LEGOLAND hotel, which is literally right outside the gates. In the picture below, Brian is standing just outside the door of our hotel and you can see how close the entrance gates are. I joked that if there was ever a line for the bathroom in the park, it would probably be quicker to just come back to the room, lol!  We were spoiled for sure!

Afterwards, we took Owen up to Driving School. Lily is too old now, sadly. They don’t do the training class beforehand here, like they do in FL. But he had fun navigating the course and of course, getting his driver’s license afterwards.

We took a quick break for lunch at a nice little café nearby.

Then did the Police and Fire Academy! You have to pump to drive your vehicle, and then spray to a target to put the fire out in your building. We almost won, just barely came in second.

We toured the Adventurer’s Club – it was a walking tour through some really amazing indoor Lego worlds. Brian attempted to do the scavenger hunt inside as well, but the rest of us just enjoyed the theme and looking at all the cool stuff in the different rooms.

Kid Power Towers were next – you have to use a rope to pull yourself up to the top, then you get to drop back down. It’s fun, but HARD!

We spent some time admiring the cities in Miniland, especially Las Vegas and New York. It’s simply an unbelievable and amazing amount of detail that goes into these!

Next up – Lost Kingdom Adventure – a shooting ride where you try to hit as many targets in the Lego tomb as you can. Then took a spin on the Bionicle Blasters.

On the Knight’s Tournament – you get to pick which level you want your crazy, spinning arm to do. Owen was only tall enough for level 3, so I went with him and let Brian and Lily do level 4 on theirs. Level 5 looked too crazy to even comprehend, lol!

Finally time for the Dragon, one of my favorites here! It’s a roller coaster, but first goes through a dark ride section with really cool Lego sculptures.

We stopped for a frozen treat to cool off, before heading to the Aquazone waveracers.

Sometime before now, I know we rode the Lego Technic Test Track coaster. I can’t remember exactly when, but actually I think we ended up riding twice. It’s one of my favorites. Sits really high up on the track and goes fast!

Lily and I took a short break back at the hotel at this point, and I honestly can’t remember what the boys did during that time. I think at least one thing they tried to ride broke down while they were in line, though.

We soon met them back at the NInjago ride – another shooting game ride, Ninjago style! It was really cool.

Afterwards, we talked Owen into getting a picture with Kai, one of the Ninjago Lego Figures. He’ll do any roller coaster, but is always so afraid of the characters!

We spent some more time in Miniland – mostly Washington DC and the Star Wars stuff. Again, totally mesmerizing. Lily really like the part of Naboo that showed everything all peaceful and happy, says she wants to move there, lol!

I think we all rode Captain Cranky’s Pirate boat next, then Brian and Lily were willing to get wet on Pirate Reef (a log ride), Owen was not, lol! But he did join them on Splash Battle afterwards.

We cruised through Miniland some more, then another ride on Ninjago. Lily somehow smoked all of us this time, lol!

The park was closing soon though, and we were hungry. So we had dinner at the Skyline Café (in the hotel next door) then called it a night.

I did stop on the way out of the park to buy a Lego Brick Wall of the picture we got taken with Kai, definitely my favorite souvenir of the trip! You can actually take the whole picture apart, brick by brick, and put it back together again, like a puzzle. The kids had fun with that after we got home!

Day 3 – Monday, June 25, 2018

The day started, once again, with breakfast at Dragon’s Den in the hotel. (It was included with our stay, no reason not to take advantage of a free meal!)

We had to pack up and check out of the hotel, but would still have a few more hours to spend in the park before heading back to San Diego this afternoon.

No Reserve-n-ride today. It had served us well on several rides yesterday, (after the initial frustration of obtaining it) but today we would have to wait in line like commoners, lol! It was a pretty stress-free morning though. We started off with another ride on Coastersaurus. Despite the park opening “early” for hotel guests, there aren’t actually a lot of rides open at that time, so our options were pretty limited.

We did do the Safari Trek, which we had skipped yesterday. Its probably meant for a younger crowd, but it’s cute anyway.

We did another ride on Kid Power Towers (once the finally opened) and another ride on the Dragon coaster. Then Owen wanted to do the Royal Joust, another ride geared for little ones, but he actually really enjoyed it! Probably because he had to ride it alone, and liked feeling independent.

Owen spent quite a bit of time playing at the Hideaways, a giant Lego-themed playground. Unfortunately, he got hurt at one point, banging his head pretty hard into the ground while attempting a jump. Enough to concern the MC working there, but he wasn’t showing any signs of a concussion, at least.

More time in Miniland, believe it or not we still hadn’t seen everything! And the boys spent a while building Lego boats and racing them down the river table.

The last stop of the morning would be to tour the Lego factory, where you get to see how they make Legos. Owen had become so inspired by all of the Lego stuff by now that he was saying he wanted to become a master builder, and have a “Lego Life”. Not sure how that career aspiration will work out, but it was cute to see him so into it anyway.

We had a quick lunch in the park, then it was time to head out. Owen was so sad to be leaving, and cried for much of the walk back to the car. Poor kid! (And an unfortunate bit of trivia – we just barely missed the new Deep Sea ride, it opened a week later! Oh well. We’ll have to go back sometime, lol!)

Back in San Diego, we made a quick stop to check in at our hotel, the Bahia Resort on MIssion Bay, but of course the room wasn’t ready yet. We did go by and say “Hi” to the resident seals that live at the hotel -this was one of the main reasons I picked this resort, I knew Lily would like getting to see them every day.

So we continued on, to the Zoo! One of the main goals of the trip was for Owen to finally get to see a real, live raccoon. Despite the “myth” that they are everywhere, he somehow has never gotten to spot one. So, here we are looking for one several states away, after years of unsuccessfully trying to see one in the wild.

If you’ve never been to the San Diego Zoo, I don’t think I can adequately describe in words how big it is. I knew it was big going in, but it is completely incomprehensible until you have been there. There’s even a freaking CANYON going through the middle of it – you can take stairs / elevators down into it, where many of the animals are, or you can take a sky ride over it, to the other side. We probably should have taken the sky ride, as it would have gotten us close to the raccoons, but in my defense, I had no idea how long it would take to walk back there.

Along the way, we went through Africa Rocks, saw tons of primates, and they even have a waterfall.

I know we passed by lots of other animals… and I should have been taking pictures so that I would remember… but we were kind of on a mission at this point, as Owen was very anxious to get to the raccoon. And of course, it was at the very far back corner of the park. At one point, I know we had to cross over a very high bridge over the canyon, and it was a little scary!

Finally, buried back in the Polar Bears area, I found the raccoon! She was out and active, but mostly hanging out near the back of her enclosure. Owen was completely awed, though. We watched for a long time, with Owen getting a bit emotional at finally seeing his favorite animal in person. We were really in luck today, because later this evening there would be a keeper talk and enrichment activity here with the raccoon, so of course we would be coming back for that. Otherwise, I’m not sure we would have pulled Owen out of there at all!

We started working our way back toward the front of the park. We spent a lot of time watching the Okapis, and were amused that one of the younger ones seemed “very interested” in one of the adults rear end, lol!

We also got a good luck at a cheetah as well as the panda. And rode the sky ride. And again, I know we saw a lot of other animals. But we clearly had main goal here today, and they weren’t it, lol! So I guess that’s why I didn’t take a lot of pictures.

Later in the evening, we headed back to the raccoons (it was TREK to get back there!) for the enrichment talk. I’m really so glad we came back. Even though Owen had been thrilled with the glimpses we got of Granite (the raccoon) earlier, it was so much better now. For one, the sun had started to set and got rid of the pesky glare that had been permeating the whole area, so we could see into the enclosure so much more. And the keeper really drew her out with some treats, placed strategically right up at the front. So we were treated to many minutes of watching her scamper around and search for her prizes, right in front of us! He told us the story of how the zoo came to have her, and lots of details about her daily life. Owen was soaking it all up, of course, and would have been happy to stay all night.

But, we were all exhausted – time to head back and get settled into our new hotel. The kids were too tired to bother with dinner, so they stayed in the room while Brian and I ate at the café in the lobby. This trip was really mostly about Owen, and the two priorities had been LEGOLAND, and seeing a raccoon. It was a big relief that both of those things had already been a success! The rest would just be icing on the cake.

Day 4 – Tuesday June 26, 2018

Our main goal for today was to tour the USS Midway (aircraft carrier), but they didn’t open until 10am, and we weren’t in a hurry to get there anyway. So we spent some time on the beach at our hotel. It’s actually the bay, not the ocean, so it’s very calm. (The ocean was just across the street, we get there later in the trip!)

Once at the Midway, we were welcomed aboard and decided to start with the movie.

It detailed the history of the Battle of Midway, which is obviously what the carrier is named for. At the beginning of the movie – Owen lost a tooth! I didn’t even realize he had one that was so loose, lol!

We spent a few hours wandering around – saw lots of the bunking quarters, various offices and command centers, etc.

Up on top, we peeked inside some of the historic aircraft that were on display.

It was a little more low-key than some of the adventures we’d had already, but a neat glimpse into history, and almost nerve-wracking to imagine living in such cramped quarters for so long!

Unfortunately, we had a bit of “excitement” on the way out. Not the good kind. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, a guy on an electric scooter came flying out and crashed into us! He went sprawling across the hood, over the windshield, and landed on the other side of the car. For a few terrifying seconds, I thought surely he must be seriously hurt, or worse. But, he was (mostly) okay, just a bit shaken. Just as we were calming down, Brian noticed that he had actually made a big dent in the side of our rental car. Well, at this point, scooter guy takes off without a word, despite us shouting after him. Rats! He was at fault, but without having his information, we were going to end up paying for it. Or at least our insurance would have to (minus the deductible, I’m sure).

Brian was worried we would need a police report for the insurance, and we spent the next several hours trying to get one, but long story short, it wasn’t going to happen. So, we gave up and headed back to the hotel, having wasted several hours, most of them sitting outside in the hot sun. At least it happened on an afternoon when we didn’t really have any other plans, other than maybe swimming or beach time.

Back at the hotel, we spent a little time in the pool and hot tub. We didn’t end up spending as much time there during the trip as I had expected, but it was a nice area.

Afterwards, the hotel actually has its own riverboat, so we hopped aboard for a short sightseeing cruise across the bay. It was so pretty with the sun setting behind the palm trees!

Once again, we had dinner at the hotel, and called it a night. This definitely wasn’t up there with “best days of the trip”, but it certainly could have been worse, and seeing the Midway was cool. Tomorrow would be much better!

Day 5 – Wednesday June 27, 2018

Today we were headed to Sea World! A little backstory is probably necessary here. A couple of years ago, we spent a day at Sea World in Orlando. It was not a good day. In fact, I titled that portion of the trip report “Our Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day at SeaWorld”. So, if it hadn’t been included on our Go cards here, we certainly wouldn’t have done it. But, I’m so glad we did, because (spoiler alert!) we actually had a really good day here and enjoyed it a lot!

I picked up our express pass right after going in (luckily this was smooth, no issues like a LEGOLAND, and everyone else was entertained by the petting zoo while I took care of it.)
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We didn’t really know our way around or have any sort of plan, so it was pure luck that brought us right by the dolphins while a trainer talk was going on, and we saw them doing some really cool tricks!

We also saw the otters and some rays.

Our first ride was Manta – a roller coaster. I really liked this one! I do have a slight fear of heights, but Manta actually stays very close to the ground, so its not scary. But thanks to its induction propulsion system, it still goes FAST! Perfect combination for me, lol! We ended up riding it 4 times throughout the day.

We spent a few minutes watching the sea lions next, always Lily’s favorite of course. There was a time when her career goal was to be a sea lion trainer. She’s moved on from that, but still enjoys seeing them.

As we were wandering around, I noticed how empty is was! Took the picture below just to prove it, lol! Our day at SW in Orlando had been packed shoulder-to-shoulder all day, this was a nice change.

We went through one of the small aquariums and another outdoor petting tank, but then it was time to head to lunch!

I had booked the Dine with Orcas experience, mostly because it was the single, solitary thing at SW in Orlando that hadn’t sucked. It was good here too, but I don’t think it stood out as much, mostly because everything else was so enjoyable too. But we were seated right by the windows, with Orcas swimming right by us as we ate. And the trainers had them do several tricks for us as well.

We rode the skyride next – its a roundtrip sightseeing ride over the bay. I’m always a little nervous on these, but the views make it worth it.

We stopped by the Rescue Ride next -it looks like a pretty simple contraption, typical carnival style ride. But it’s actually really fun! You get slung around in your “rescue boat”, as if you were navigating the ocean waves. Owen claimed at this point that Raccoon (his stuffed one that had come on the trip with us) was there too, riding in his own boat, lol!

One thing we hadn’t managed to do at SW last time was see any of the shows, so that was a priority today. And it was time for the sea lions! They had a really cute show with a couple of sea lions acting out a part in a comedy show.

We took our chances next with Shipwreck Rapids, and did end up getting quite wet. The boys were fine with it, as it was getting quite warm out. But Lily, not so much, lol! So they continued on to Atlantis, figuring they might as well since they were wet anyway. Lily and I hung out in some shops, and went to see the penguins while we dried off.

We also saw the Beluga whale over there being fed. Couldn’t get the song “Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue Sea” out of my head! Second time that happened on this trip…

Also saw a walrus, but it was COLD down there, and we were still a little wet, so we didn’t stay long.

Owen was really wanting to take me on Atlantis, so I went with him while Brian and Lily headed to the Electric Eel. The EE is a brand new coaster. Now, I’m not usually a ride wimp, but this one looked past my limit. And Owen wasn’t tall enough, so I was happy to skip it and go with him.

Atlantis is actually really fun, so I was glad we did it. It starts with a big drop (like Splash Mountain), then turns into a roller coaster! Owen was so cute, having already ridden it, he took it as his job to prepare and protect me, ha!

Afterwards, Owen stood in the splash zone of a car coming down, and got far more soaked than he had on the ride. Silly kid!

We did the swings next (always fun!) and some more petting tanks.

In one of the aquariums, we got there just in time for the piranha feeding. I see what the term “feeding frenzy” refers to now! Wow.

Then it was time for the Dolphin show! Of course they did lots of neat tricks, and we heard lots from the trainers about how they care for them and teach them so much.

Owen spent a few minutes on the playground, then we went through a few more aquariums. We really liked the one where you go through a tunnel with fish all around you.

After this, I know we rode Manta a few more times, and the Rescue ride once more as well, maybe some others. But apparently I didn’t take any pictures, so I’m not sure exactly how it went.

The nighttime shows would be starting soon (SW has several different ones!) and we managed to catch two of them – Illuminite (a dance show with lots of glow-y things) and Electric Ocean, a projection light show on the Atlantis ride. Both were really cool – and Brian wanted to stay for some of the others, but everyone else was exhausted.

A really good day, though!

Day 6 – Thursday June 28, 2018

Today was a pretty “chill” day, so there won’t be much to write or show, sorry! Our main plan was the beach, as we hadn’t been to the “real ocean” yet. We walked over from our hotel, and stopped at a beach-side shop on the way to pick up some sun hats and sand toys.

Actually, we stopped to see the sea lions on the way out, too.

At first, Owen was only interested in playing in the sand, but later he discovered the joys of chasing the waves with his dad.

It was here that I actually got some (mostly unexpected) news about something I will be pursuing in the fall, and suddenly had a decision to make. Nothing like sitting on the beach, trying to figure out what to do with your life, lol!

After a couple of hours, we went next door to the Belmont Amusement park. It’s an old-fashioned, beach boardwalk park, with a nearly 100-year old roller coaster. No, the picture below is NOT my mine. I feel terrible that I didn’t get a single picture at Belmont, but wanted to at least be able to convey the atmosphere here.

Our Go cards got us access to the whole park, and we started with the coaster. It was a little much for me, actually. Once was definitely enough! We did a couple more rides, then ventured out to find lunch.

We ended up taking some sandwiches over the park across the street and eating them in the grass.

Afterwards, the boys wanted more beach / ride time, but Lily wanted a break. So she and I went back to the room, and had a pretty lazy afternoon, resting and generally catching up on stuff. Eventually we made our way to the pool and spent a little time in the hot tub.

The boys, meanwhile, had what Brian called a “legit beach day”. Hours spent in the sand, the ocean, and playing at Belmont. I think they did every ride there! But, sadly I have no pictures from any of it. Oh well! They had a blast, though.

For dinner, we ventured into town and ate at a quiet little Italian place – it was so yummy! This was our last night in San Diego, another adventure starts tomorrow!

Day 7 – Friday June 29, 2018

Time once again to check out of the hotel, before heading off for another adventure. Today, we were booked on a whale-watching cruise! It was the first weekend of the summer whale season, so hopefully we weren’t too early to get to see anything. Unfortunately, the weather had turned cold and foggy again, similar to when we had arrived almost a week ago.

We started off sitting up on the top deck of the boat, outside. But Owen quickly got cold, and didn’t like the wind. So he and I sought shelter down on the bottom level, at a table inside.

Almost immediately, he was complaining that his stomach hurt. Oh no… the waves were really rough! Probably the roughest boat ride I’ve been on. Which I personally find a lot of fun, but I’m not prone to sea sickness.

We left a few times to get fresh air, and check in with Brian and Lily, who were still up on top. On one trip, we got a really good view of some dolphins that were swimming alongside the boat, and jumping.

We also got Owen some Dramamine, but I feared it would be too little, too late. The whalers on board had spotted a whale out in the distance, and the captain was already navigating the boat that way, said we were 10-15 minutes out, though.

Owen and I were back inside at our table when we started getting close. He was mostly curled up in my lap by now, moaning in misery. Poor kid. The whale started to surface just outside our window, and I saw the water-spout. I turned to Owen to make sure he was watching, and the captain couldn’t resist calling out a “There she blows!” over the PA. And right then, at literally that moment, Owen started throwing up. Luckily, I had made him keep a barf bag with him ever since he started having trouble. I was desperately trying to make sure all the puke hit the bag, while simultaneously whisking him to the bathroom between heaves, through the crowds that had gathered near our seat (since we had a prime viewing location) as everyone was cheering and watching the whale. Finally cleaned up, and feeling much better, we emerged from the bathroom to find the whale long gone, of course. I swear there was a tv commercial that went something like this many years ago, lol! Oh well.. It just wasn’t meant to be this time. Brian and Lily had been watching from the top deck, and (luckily for them) missed all the puke-filled drama.

He was feeling better enough now to walk around a little more, and even get a family picture outside. But still anxious to be back on dry land, and made me promise to never take him on another boat again. Well, he made an exception for cruise ships, lmao!

Back at the dock, we ate lunch nearby, then it was time to go turn in the rental car. It took a little extra time, because of course we had to deal with the whole dented-car-incident and fill out some paperwork. I’m sure we’ll be hearing from both them and our insurance company at some point, not looking forward to it!

We took a taxi back into town to the Santa Fe Depot, where we would board a train to Anaheim, for the last leg of the vacation!

It was a pleasant, uneventful train ride. We could see the ocean out the window for much of it.

Once in Anaheim, we grabbed an Uber to the Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel. It really wasn’t anything fancy, compared to the last two we had stayed in. But it would be convenient to the park tomorrow, at least. We had dinner in the hotel, and Lily even got her picture taken with Snoopy.

One more day of vacation left – planning to leave it all on the table tomorrow!

Day 8 – Saturday June 30, 2018

Today was Knott’s Berry Farm! I had actually been wanting to try this out both times we came to Disneyland (it’s very close) but it just didn’t make sense on those two trips. But, it was included on our Go card, so this was a great opportunity. Hence, the trip up to Anaheim the day before.

So, I realized that there’s almost no way I’m going to be able to record this day as a play-by-play, as I usually try to do. We just rode too much, and I don’t have pictures of most of it, to be able to make sense of what happened when. So I’m going to go with simply a list of what I know we did at some point during the day, and general thoughts about how it all went. Pictures will probably be interspersed randomly for rides that I have them, lol!

Things we rode (in no particular order):

Hangtime – this was by far Owen’s favorite. A terrifying dive coaster that doesn’t even use a shoulder harness, or walls, yet somehow keeps you from flying out. At least it did for us, lol! Owen rode it three times, once was more than enough for me! It’s the green coaster in the picture below, which was taken from the observation tower.

Coast Rider – very similar to the Lego Technic coaster that sits high on the track, with individual cars. Lots of fun! It’s the yellow coaster on the right in the picture above.

Ghost Rider – a very long and very fast wooden coaster. Much easier on the neck than I expected it to be, and lots of fun! Did this one twice.

Hat Dance – spinning tea cups, themed to look like fiesta hats. Got it going way too fast, Owen couldn’t even keep his head up!

Jaguar – fun coaster that goes through a whole section of the park, themed to look like a Mayan pyramid. Kids rode it first without us, then a couple more times later.

La Revolucion – rode one like it at Belmont – lots of fun with my eyes closed, ha! I never could have handled that height if I had been looking…

Montezuma’s Revenge – crazy fast loop coaster that goes forwards, then backwards.

Pony Express – a roller coaster, but you are riding on horses. Not real ones. A little awkward, because you actually feel like you are riding on a horse! But fun. Kids rode in the front, and Owen said it felt like flying.

Sidewinder – roller coaster where your car spins as you go. Complete insanity, but fun.

Wipeout – spinning carnival ride, on steroids. Thought my head was going to fall off, a little too much to be fun.

Silver Bullet – hanging coaster that goes upside down 6 times. Owen was too short, but Brian and Lily rode.

Supreme Scream – 250 ft dropping tower ride. Again, Owen too short but Brian and Lily went.

Dragon Swing – pretty tame pirate ship-style ride

Surfside Gliders – gentle swing-like ride. Waited a LONG time to ride these at night.

Sky Cabin – slow moving observation elevator, pic below was when we first started up.

Timber Mountain Log Ride – Owen rode twice, once with me and once with Brian. Because Lily was DONE with getting wet, lol! It’s fun, but actually gets pretty rough at the end.

Voyage to the Iron Reef – an indoor, shooting ride with pretty high-tech virtual screens. Enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would – it was the last thing I rode. The pic was while waiting in line.

Waveswinger – we always have to do the swing ride! I love fast coasters, but the gentle-flying feeling is hard to beat!

This picture has several coasters in it, I’m not even sure what’s what!

A few other random things:

We went inside the old-west schoolhouse – the teachers even posed outside with the kids! The whole western area was so well themed, I wasn’t expecting that! At one point, there was even a showdown and gunfight between two of the cowboys in the street.

Owen did the gold panning activity, and was very proud to come away with a small vial of gold flakes, thinks he’s going to get rich now!

Overall, the theming here is just so good. I was expecting a basic amusement park with lots of coasters… and not much else. But it is really well done! I didn’t take nearly enough pictures to do it justice.

We did take a short break back a the hotel in the afternoon to swim and cool off. Actually, I think Lily and I headed back ahead of Brian and Owen, and they rode a few more things without us, before joining us back at the hotel. The pool was nothing fancy, but plenty wet.

Brian and the kids being goofy in the evening. Guess I better go bail them out!

A random picture I took of Hangtime at night. Yes, it goes straight down. I can’t believe Owen wasn’t scared on this! Most of the grown adults riding it were visibly nervous. Owen was a little bit the first time, but after the big drop, started screaming that it was awesome and that he was loving it. The two times he rode after he had no hesitation, was like “Bring it on!”

So, that’s the best recap of our day that I can manage. We rode a LOT of stuff, and many things multiple times. I was really glad I bought the express pass here. It’s usefulness was questionable at both LEGOLAND and Sea World, but we wouldn’t have gotten to do much but stand in line here, without it.

Owen has obviously become a thrill rider. All he wants to do is ride roller coasters! He was sad that he was still too short for a couple, so I guess we’ll be back in a few years!

The next day, all that was left to do was to get an Uber to the airport and fly home. The donut did make it, wrapped in a garbage bag that we bummed off the front desk at the hotel, lol!

This was Owen’s first time getting to pick our vacation, and I think he was quite satisfied. Says he’s picking the same thing next time! Well, minus the whale cruise, and probably do another day at Knotts, if he gets his way. Only four years to wait…