As most of you know, My son Austin is now 54 inches tall and clear for the big guns!
My son Austin had been talking about riding Batman The Ride all week and, Saturday could not have come fast enough for him...
I like everyone else, I am dissapointed with the change in the season pass parking tag. Unfortuneatley Rick had already affixed it to my car window when you all announced that it could be shown in hand and be acceptable. Anyway, while I was puzzled at this change at the parking booth, my kids were in the back seat in awe of how big Torro is and, how it totally morph's RT into looking like a kiddie coaster.
Getting into the park went rather smoothly considering we had those printed out free tickets and I had heard of problems the night before with those. First up, Dane wanted to go to BBNP to see what was new. I must say this was very nicely done for the size of the area. The boys were pleased with the ride selection but, it was the strong character appearance that really had the youngest one excited. He watches Baby Looney Tunes so, he immediatley had to go and give his favorites some big hugs! I have pictures I will post in this thread when I am done with this report.
Austin has been keeping watch of all the off season progress along side me so, he just had to see the changes to the Mine train for himself so, that would be the next order for the day. Dane loves the Mine Train so there was no dragging him over there, he was running! The new lapbars as everyone has said, are GREAT! We had 5 rides back to back thanks to the pleasant and gracious ride ops putting up with my overly anxious, rambunctious, kids begging for re-rides LOL. I think I created two monsters there! Again, it is much more tolerable but, most rewarding when I see my kids laughing and smiling more and more with every ride. I also saw Bubba Z and his little girl entering the train, it's great to see fellow Updates members with their families to!
Wade, just wait until Luke's first Mine Train ride, you'll never forget that moment.
Since Medusa was around the corner, I asked Austin if he wanted to get started with his BIG day. We know Medusa is larger then Batman The Ride but, to my suprise, he was willing to give it a go! I remember being nervous and sweaty the first time both my kids rode RT but, this was truly the big one! The cute thing was, I had to help him up in the seat despite him being tall enough to ride. Even cuter, him telling me I can let go of his hand because I am shaking to much for him
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We head up the lift and he appeared to be cool as a cucumber! I promised to talk him through it but, I think he was getting more annoyed then anything. The first loop and I look over at his face to find the biggest "Whoa" look on the kid's face that I had ever seen. We get out of the loop and I can hear him hollering "Yeah!"! Now I am relaxed and watching this kid just have the time of his life the entire rest of the ride! We get to the brake run and, as stupid as this may seem, my eyes are welling with tears I am so proud and, happy at the same time! Austin exclaims, "Mom! That Zero G roll totally rocks!" "I LOVE Medusa!" . That's my boy!
We exit the ride and unfortunatley the row we chose had a broken TV so we couldn't get our onride photo
. Aus runs to Rick and they exchange the biggest high five ever and Rick tells him how so very proud of him he is. Guys, if or, when you have kids, nothing beats watching them achieve something so major in their minds. Austin rode Medusa twice and can't wait to go back and ride again. I was lucky to find him his own Medusa coaster shirt that he proudly wore to school on Monday.
Next we would head back towards Lakeside so Dane could ride some more 44 inch rides. Dane loves Blackbeard's Treasure Train so, we took a spin on that. We walked over to Bucaneer for what was a very dissapointing ride
It didn't go as high as it used to and, the cycle was seriously short. The kids were just as dissapointed as I was but, Skull Mountain was just around the corner!
Dane rode Skull Mountain with no hesitation this year which, is a good thing. Last season he rode it sporadically because he wasn't to sure he really liked it. This year I think watching his brother ride the big stuff is going to make his transitions easier for me. We really did miss RT but, Aus and I know Torro will be worth the wait.
At this point Austin is ready to tackle Batman The Ride. Rick took Dane to LTS and Aus and I made way for his next big venture! This time Austin didn't even hesitate or, flinch. He walked right into the station and asked which row we should go to. I put him in the middle of the train until he is more used to the big coasters. He enjoyed swinging his feet although he kept asking me if he was at risk for losing a shoe. I told him I tightened them enough so that he wouldn't and then he calmed down about the shoes LOL. Batman was really intense for him. I could not even look at him during the ride this thing is just kicking butt every single year! When we hit the brake run he let me know instantly that he was dizzy and not sure he liked this one. I told him it was ok because I get dizzy to! He re-assured me that he is NOT afarid but, didn't like the dizziness from it.
We met back up with Rick and decided to break for a snack over by LTS and the Nitro Queue. The whole time we are sitting there Austin is staring down Nitro and Rick and I are trying to coax him into riding but, he wasn't having it, At first.... About 20 minutes into telling him "You'll Love it!, it has airtime sort of like Phoenix", he asks me to take him over by the exit so he can see the first drop. That was all that was scaring him, really! Rick and I told him to snap his fingers when the train drops and see how many snaps he could get before it hit bottom. He could only get one and a half and that convinced him that the drop didn't last long enough to cause him grief. He then turned to me and said Let's go mom! I want to try it! My heart started to race I was so excited!
I could tell this one made him nervous. He was biting his fingers and tapping his foot. He was staring down that drop like he was in a staring contest with it. I kept rubbing his shoulders and re-assuring him it wasn't that scary and, most importantly, that he could turn around and get out of line whenever he was ready or scared to much. I put him in the middle row, inside seat. He sat next to a young lady who was fantastic with helping me get him to relax. The ride ops asked who were first time riders and we pointed him out and they made a big deal out of it. This made him feel special and even more determined to not be afraid.
He was looking around going up the lift and, he didn't seem scared. Soon as we hit the drop I looked at his face and found him looking terrified BUT, once we got past that his terrified look turned into one of pure bliss! He loved the entire rest of the ride so much that he did nothing but giggle and yell "Yeah!" . When we got back to the station he was eager to let those ops know he had an awesome ride! Again, I thought I was going to cry I was so proud and, happy! I was kind of upset because again, we could not get an onride picture as the photo booth wasn't open.
Rick and Austin exchanged even bigger high fives this time and Austin could do nothing but look at Nitro and say "I can't believe I just rode Nitro!", it was awesome and he knew we were extremely proud! At this point the weather turned bad and we seeked shelter in the Justice League store. The JL characters sought out shelter in there to which, was very helpful in calming down and entertaining the kids while everyone in there waited out the storm.
To try and shorten this a bit, Rick was beat by 3:30. I said hello to Wade and family. I ran into a few friends throughout the day, Dane rode the Mine Train one last time and, we called it a day. I think Saturday will probably be in the top two of my favorite coaster Journal entries. The Kids are what make this place so special to me and, this day just forever confirmed this! I look forward to possibly writing this same TR in 2-3 years when Dane is possibly ready! Thanks for reading my very LONG TR LOL.
Topic: Saturday 4/1: A major milestone for my son! (Read 6618 times)