We went to Magiquest while in Tennessee. If you look at the website, it looks a lot like Wizard Quest that we did at the Dells last year, which was a huge disappointment for us. I was really hesitant to attempt this attraction because I didn't want to be disappointed again. After much persuasion, I relented to go and see what the deal was. I also commented that, worst case, this place just opened a few months ago so things shouldn't be broken yet. In addition to the "quest" aspect, they also had other things like black light pirate mini golf, a mirror maze and "The Vault". They offer several pricing options that include an "all you can play option" for $32.99 per person. It gets you 90 minutes of questing and one pass at each of the other attractions. You can also pay for each item individually or get just an upstairs pass for questing or just a downstairs pass for the other items.
Because of our bad experience with Wizard Quest, we chose not to quest but we did purchase a downstairs pass for all of us. We started by doing "The Vault" which is just a darkened room with laser beams requires no small amount of agility. Basically, like breaking into a bank vault, it requires you to climb over and under the beams without setting them off. MT, who was a little freaked at the idea of going into the dark room, totally rocked it. There is something to be said for being little and wily.
After "The Vault", we did the mirror maze. As we entered, they had everyone put on plastic gloves to keep finger prints off the mirrors and not ruin it for everyone else. It was a huge maze, with lots of flashing lights and loud music. There is one room that was just a big open room, with mirrors all the way around. It was outrageously funny to watch other people stand in the room and swing their arms to try and find the mirrors so they didn't run into them. The maze ends with a forest of mirrors. They are mirrors set in tree like frames and is by far the most difficult part of the maze to navigate. The kids and I and my brother made it through fine but my parents got lost and my brother had to go back and get them.
We then spent an hour playing mini golf. Generally, I'm not a fan of mini golf but I AM a fan of pirates and black lights are pretty cool too. They had plenty of selections of sizes of golf clubs, so everyone could get one that could fit them. The course was easy enough for the kids but still enjoyable for the adults. There were several screens in the room that played various videos as well so you had something to do while you waited for your turn.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun we had. I'm also glad that we didn't spend the time questing, even if I was a little curious about how it stacked up to Wizard Quest. This attraction gets 4 stars.
Showing posts with label attraction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attraction. Show all posts
Monday, August 17, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Star Cars Museum
With our admission to the Hollywood Wax Museum, we purchased a combo pass that allowed us admission to the Star Cars Museum for a reduced price.
This museum offers a glimpse inside famous cars including the Jurassic Park truck
the truck from M.A.S.H
and the Delorean for Back to the Future
among other famous cars. Mostly it is a "look and read" museum as opposed to a "touch and feel" museum. The kids were kind of bored and we hurried through because I'm not remotely interested in cars.
Overall, I give this 3 stars. This would be really great for car freaks because all of the details of some of the most famous cars in the world are laid out for their examination.
This museum offers a glimpse inside famous cars including the Jurassic Park truck
the truck from M.A.S.H
and the Delorean for Back to the Future
among other famous cars. Mostly it is a "look and read" museum as opposed to a "touch and feel" museum. The kids were kind of bored and we hurried through because I'm not remotely interested in cars.
Overall, I give this 3 stars. This would be really great for car freaks because all of the details of some of the most famous cars in the world are laid out for their examination.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Hollywood Wax Museum
We went to the Hollywood Wax Museum I'm apparently some kind of anomaly in that I really thing wax museums are cool. This one has the distinction of being even cooler by not simply having you walk through and look at stuff. It dresses it's mannequins as their characters and poses them on a set, where visitors can join them for picture taking. They also have mostly recent celebrities ranging from the Pop Divas
To Hugh Hefner
To Jeff Gordon
To the new Charlie's Angels
They also have a horror chamber, which is set in an alcove away from the other sets. That is especially nice for younger kids who might be frightened by the scenes inside. Although it is expensive, it is pretty fun and they do offer a discount if you purchase Star Cars tickets as well.
Overall, it was a funny, silly way to kill about 45 minutes, especially if you have kids, or adults that act like kids, who are willing to pose on the various sets. This attraction gets 3.5 stars because of the limited time the enjoyment lasts, the cost involved, and the fact that some of the mannequins were so poorly rendered I had a hard time figuring out who they were supposed to be.
To Hugh Hefner
To Jeff Gordon
To the new Charlie's Angels
They also have a horror chamber, which is set in an alcove away from the other sets. That is especially nice for younger kids who might be frightened by the scenes inside. Although it is expensive, it is pretty fun and they do offer a discount if you purchase Star Cars tickets as well.
Overall, it was a funny, silly way to kill about 45 minutes, especially if you have kids, or adults that act like kids, who are willing to pose on the various sets. This attraction gets 3.5 stars because of the limited time the enjoyment lasts, the cost involved, and the fact that some of the mannequins were so poorly rendered I had a hard time figuring out who they were supposed to be.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
We went to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies and it was COOL! It was awfully crowded and they layout of the exhibits didn't promote much space but a lot of it was super neat. Tickets are purchased outside and then enter the main hall. You can overlook the discovery area, which is more hands on than the rest of aquarium. The first really cool exhibit you get to is Shark Lagoon, where you can look down into the shark tank see these bad boys swimming around
It is a large enclosure, with fake rocks placed around it for kids to stand on and see in. They also have glass walls around so the kids can look in that way as well. You continue around the enclosure and down into a room with an floor to ceiling window so you can see large groups of tropical fish. As we walked into the room, people were sitting down to watch a dive show so we joined in and watched a bit of the feeding time. There are several dive shows throughout the day, in various tanks.
We watched the diver for a few minutes, then moved on into what is by far the best feature of the whole aquarium. It is a moving sidewalk that runs through a tunnel under Shark Lagoon. You can stand on the sidewalk and look up as fish swim above and around you. Not only do you see the fish, you also see sharks
who will swim right up in your face. There is actually a place on the tunnel that is scratched and a plaque indicating that it is from an irritated shark who attacked the glass! I'm glad I wasn't the person standing there when that happened! You also see sawnoses, that aren't sharks but are beasts in their own right.
This one is draped across the top of the tunnel and measured nearly seven feet long!
After you leave the tunnel, you can play in the discovery center, which has horseshoe crabs you can touch, tanks you can climb into the middle of and a small aquatic themed play space. Then you move on to the weapons of the water, where they talk about sting rays, jelly fish, etc. Anything that has some kind of defense. Beyond those displays, you get to Stingray Bay, which is a 12 foot deep stingray enclosure. The viewing window is directly in front of the eating area for the Feeding Frenzy restaurant, that way, you can have your lunch or snack and still get to see the stingrays play.
We stopped and ate a snack at Feeding Frenzy, just as the stingray dive show was starting. My brother ate an actual meal, while the rest of us had snacks. The fair was pretty standard with soft pretzels, pizza, burgers, chicken fingers and pop. The cost was about average for typical tourist attractions, which runs about $7 for a meal and $4 for the pretzel
We continued past, at which point as you follow the hallway, you can see into various points of Stingray Bay. At the top of the hall, you reach Touch a Ray Bay, where the water is shallow and you can lean over the rocks and touch the rays. That was were we found the option to upgrade our tickets to "splash with the stingrays". We opted to pay the 16 extra dollars to actually get in the water with the rays. We started by meeting with our dive instructor (although we weren't actually diving, merely kneeling) who took us to a classroom so we could learn more about the rays before we got in the water. We learned that the rays there do not have stingers. They either surgically remove them or clip them every few months. Then we were taken back up, where we were fitted with wetsuits and booties and got in the water. It was a little cool (the tank is kept about 70 degrees) but it was really fun. My brother, TB and I really liked it but MT got freaked. There was one ray that was probably 3 feet across and had a tail almost as long. It kept bumping her and trailing its tail on her and she didn't like it. Several of the rays were really attracted to my brother who let them suck on his hands!
After that, it was trip through the gift shop, then on to other destinations for the day.
Overall, I give this attraction 4.5 stars. It was super fun, it offered food, there were hands on things to do, and plenty to keep everyone entertained.
It is a large enclosure, with fake rocks placed around it for kids to stand on and see in. They also have glass walls around so the kids can look in that way as well. You continue around the enclosure and down into a room with an floor to ceiling window so you can see large groups of tropical fish. As we walked into the room, people were sitting down to watch a dive show so we joined in and watched a bit of the feeding time. There are several dive shows throughout the day, in various tanks.
We watched the diver for a few minutes, then moved on into what is by far the best feature of the whole aquarium. It is a moving sidewalk that runs through a tunnel under Shark Lagoon. You can stand on the sidewalk and look up as fish swim above and around you. Not only do you see the fish, you also see sharks
who will swim right up in your face. There is actually a place on the tunnel that is scratched and a plaque indicating that it is from an irritated shark who attacked the glass! I'm glad I wasn't the person standing there when that happened! You also see sawnoses, that aren't sharks but are beasts in their own right.
This one is draped across the top of the tunnel and measured nearly seven feet long!
After you leave the tunnel, you can play in the discovery center, which has horseshoe crabs you can touch, tanks you can climb into the middle of and a small aquatic themed play space. Then you move on to the weapons of the water, where they talk about sting rays, jelly fish, etc. Anything that has some kind of defense. Beyond those displays, you get to Stingray Bay, which is a 12 foot deep stingray enclosure. The viewing window is directly in front of the eating area for the Feeding Frenzy restaurant, that way, you can have your lunch or snack and still get to see the stingrays play.
We stopped and ate a snack at Feeding Frenzy, just as the stingray dive show was starting. My brother ate an actual meal, while the rest of us had snacks. The fair was pretty standard with soft pretzels, pizza, burgers, chicken fingers and pop. The cost was about average for typical tourist attractions, which runs about $7 for a meal and $4 for the pretzel
We continued past, at which point as you follow the hallway, you can see into various points of Stingray Bay. At the top of the hall, you reach Touch a Ray Bay, where the water is shallow and you can lean over the rocks and touch the rays. That was were we found the option to upgrade our tickets to "splash with the stingrays". We opted to pay the 16 extra dollars to actually get in the water with the rays. We started by meeting with our dive instructor (although we weren't actually diving, merely kneeling) who took us to a classroom so we could learn more about the rays before we got in the water. We learned that the rays there do not have stingers. They either surgically remove them or clip them every few months. Then we were taken back up, where we were fitted with wetsuits and booties and got in the water. It was a little cool (the tank is kept about 70 degrees) but it was really fun. My brother, TB and I really liked it but MT got freaked. There was one ray that was probably 3 feet across and had a tail almost as long. It kept bumping her and trailing its tail on her and she didn't like it. Several of the rays were really attracted to my brother who let them suck on his hands!
After that, it was trip through the gift shop, then on to other destinations for the day.
Overall, I give this attraction 4.5 stars. It was super fun, it offered food, there were hands on things to do, and plenty to keep everyone entertained.
Friday, August 7, 2009
WonderWorks
While we were in Pigeon Forge, we saw many advertisements for WonderWorks. We spent a lot of time saying that we didn't want to go there because we had basically been there and done that in Wisconsin Dells at the Upside Down White House. My brother, who wasn't able to go to the Dells finally flat out insisted that we at least go in and check it out. Fortunately, we listened to him because WW turned out to be a LOT of fun.
The building is built upside and the lobby inside (the ticketing area) was also upside down. The building creaks and groans a little but looks pretty neat. After paying $19.95 for adults and $12.95 for kids, we entered the "inversion tunnel" which took us into the upside down part of the house. It is a dark spinning tunnel and causes some pretty severe disorientation. TB closed his eyes and held my hand and I basically drug him through. Apparently, my mom did the same thing and let my brother drag her :) WW is a cross between a children's museum and a simulator ride. In the first room, they have an earthquake simulator, where up to six people can take a seat at the Quake cafe and experience and earthquake. After we got all shook up, we took a turn in the hurricane simulator, dipped our hands in water that simulated the temperatures Titanic survivors endured and climbed the rock wall. TB really rocked, although MT and I sure tried our best. Beyond that is a space room with some shuttles to climb in and play with the buttons. In the next room is projectors and motion sensors and some of the coolest exhibits. There was an air hockey table, that didn't have a puck. It is a projection and you use your hands to block and push the shadow puck around. There were motion rooms, giant Simon games, steady hand wires, a bubble room and a bed of nails. Then we played "Mind Ball" where the player puts on a headband that measures alpha and theta brain waves and the person who has the calmest brain waves pushes the ball at the other person and eventually wins. Apparently my brain waves fires like monkey on crack because my brother beat me soundly in a matter of seconds.
The second floor is mainly optical illusions and other things like that. TB was much more interested in this floor than MT. She ran right one by, while he was willing to stop and look, at least for a few seconds. We did get to see a cool bathroom with clear glass while it was unlocked and smoked glass when it was locked. Beyond the exhibits was an arcade and laser tag. We chose to upgrade our ticket to include laser tag because the kids love it. We played a game and then headed out for lunch, with the ability to come back later that evening and play again for less per game.
Overall, WonderWorks wasn't your average children's museum. It had some standard exhibits, like the bubble room but it had a lot more stuff that you wouldn't expect, like the simulators and rock climbing. This attraction earns a full 4 stars for being super fun for all of us as well as educational.
I would recommend this as an attraction for 5 and up or kids that are used to going to children's museums and understand that some things require explaining. MT really enjoyed it, but I could see this being too much for some younger kids. It was awfully crowded and very young children or people with sensory issues might get overwhelmed quickly.
The building is built upside and the lobby inside (the ticketing area) was also upside down. The building creaks and groans a little but looks pretty neat. After paying $19.95 for adults and $12.95 for kids, we entered the "inversion tunnel" which took us into the upside down part of the house. It is a dark spinning tunnel and causes some pretty severe disorientation. TB closed his eyes and held my hand and I basically drug him through. Apparently, my mom did the same thing and let my brother drag her :) WW is a cross between a children's museum and a simulator ride. In the first room, they have an earthquake simulator, where up to six people can take a seat at the Quake cafe and experience and earthquake. After we got all shook up, we took a turn in the hurricane simulator, dipped our hands in water that simulated the temperatures Titanic survivors endured and climbed the rock wall. TB really rocked, although MT and I sure tried our best. Beyond that is a space room with some shuttles to climb in and play with the buttons. In the next room is projectors and motion sensors and some of the coolest exhibits. There was an air hockey table, that didn't have a puck. It is a projection and you use your hands to block and push the shadow puck around. There were motion rooms, giant Simon games, steady hand wires, a bubble room and a bed of nails. Then we played "Mind Ball" where the player puts on a headband that measures alpha and theta brain waves and the person who has the calmest brain waves pushes the ball at the other person and eventually wins. Apparently my brain waves fires like monkey on crack because my brother beat me soundly in a matter of seconds.
The second floor is mainly optical illusions and other things like that. TB was much more interested in this floor than MT. She ran right one by, while he was willing to stop and look, at least for a few seconds. We did get to see a cool bathroom with clear glass while it was unlocked and smoked glass when it was locked. Beyond the exhibits was an arcade and laser tag. We chose to upgrade our ticket to include laser tag because the kids love it. We played a game and then headed out for lunch, with the ability to come back later that evening and play again for less per game.
Overall, WonderWorks wasn't your average children's museum. It had some standard exhibits, like the bubble room but it had a lot more stuff that you wouldn't expect, like the simulators and rock climbing. This attraction earns a full 4 stars for being super fun for all of us as well as educational.
I would recommend this as an attraction for 5 and up or kids that are used to going to children's museums and understand that some things require explaining. MT really enjoyed it, but I could see this being too much for some younger kids. It was awfully crowded and very young children or people with sensory issues might get overwhelmed quickly.
Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride
Driving down the strip in Pigeon Forge, we spotted what looked like a really cool attraction. It was the Jurassic Jungle Boat and it looks really neat from the outside. MT was a little apprehensive about it, but we assured her that it was similar to the Scooby Doo tunnel ride at Six Flags; a little dark, maybe a little spooky but nothing scary, it is just dinosaurs, no biggie. TB was pretty excited about it because he had done nothing but talk about Dinosaur World (another review coming up soon) so this was like a preview of a later event for him.
The outside of the building had a few small dinosaurs that moved a little but nothing too intense. We asked about whether people would get wet on the ride and if it was scary and were assured that there might be a splash of water and that it was absolutely not scary. We paid the $13 per adult and hopped on the boat. Our first clue that all was not as it seemed should have been the fact that the "tourists" standing and checking out the ride, were actually mannequins.
The ride started and the first thing that happened was all the lights went off. Not a happy beginning but then some ground lights came on and there was an innocent looking plant eating dinosaur. Just as everyone was looking in that direction, the music changed and the lights came on on the other side, to show a meat eater stalking the plant eater. Pretty standard dinosaur stuff. The boat continued on, into further blackness, were suddenly something that looked like a mutant saber tooth tiger leapt out of the wall above the heads of the people on the right side of the boat (including TB). By this time, the kids were both pretty scared but we assured them that it was ok and nothing would hurt them. As we continued through the hurky jerky ride, in near total darkness, we encountered larger and scarier "dinosaurs", most of which looked nothing like dinosaurs. Several looked more like winged demons. At one point, you encounter a small dinosaur who spits water on the boat, you continue along to encounter giant snakes, spiders, a larger spitting dinosaur who splashes some foul water in the faces of the most of the boat and a gigantic "pterodactyl" who seems to be commanding minions to attack boats of people. The final moments of the ride involve the boat pulling up to the exit doors and then rising up on a lift until you feel like you are about to tip over. Once your boat is several feet in the air, a large dinosaur head pops out o the wall near your head and sticks out it's forked tongue and roars for what felt like minutes.
About the time we hit the small spitter (not quite halfway through the ride) both kids were completely terrified. They were both sobbing and crying and TB had his head buried in my side with both hands clamped over his eyes and begged me to cover his ears. By the time we finally made it to the car, he was mess and cried most of the way back to the hotel and talked about how scary it was the whole rest of the trip.
Overall, this ride was terrible. It cost too much, it wasn't fun or interesting for the adults, it terrified the kids and it was terribly maintained. Several of the creatures had holes, a lot of the lighting didn't work properly, etc. This attraction gets 1 star and I recommend you stay far far away from it should you have the opportunity to visit Pigeon Forge.
The outside of the building had a few small dinosaurs that moved a little but nothing too intense. We asked about whether people would get wet on the ride and if it was scary and were assured that there might be a splash of water and that it was absolutely not scary. We paid the $13 per adult and hopped on the boat. Our first clue that all was not as it seemed should have been the fact that the "tourists" standing and checking out the ride, were actually mannequins.
The ride started and the first thing that happened was all the lights went off. Not a happy beginning but then some ground lights came on and there was an innocent looking plant eating dinosaur. Just as everyone was looking in that direction, the music changed and the lights came on on the other side, to show a meat eater stalking the plant eater. Pretty standard dinosaur stuff. The boat continued on, into further blackness, were suddenly something that looked like a mutant saber tooth tiger leapt out of the wall above the heads of the people on the right side of the boat (including TB). By this time, the kids were both pretty scared but we assured them that it was ok and nothing would hurt them. As we continued through the hurky jerky ride, in near total darkness, we encountered larger and scarier "dinosaurs", most of which looked nothing like dinosaurs. Several looked more like winged demons. At one point, you encounter a small dinosaur who spits water on the boat, you continue along to encounter giant snakes, spiders, a larger spitting dinosaur who splashes some foul water in the faces of the most of the boat and a gigantic "pterodactyl" who seems to be commanding minions to attack boats of people. The final moments of the ride involve the boat pulling up to the exit doors and then rising up on a lift until you feel like you are about to tip over. Once your boat is several feet in the air, a large dinosaur head pops out o the wall near your head and sticks out it's forked tongue and roars for what felt like minutes.
About the time we hit the small spitter (not quite halfway through the ride) both kids were completely terrified. They were both sobbing and crying and TB had his head buried in my side with both hands clamped over his eyes and begged me to cover his ears. By the time we finally made it to the car, he was mess and cried most of the way back to the hotel and talked about how scary it was the whole rest of the trip.
Overall, this ride was terrible. It cost too much, it wasn't fun or interesting for the adults, it terrified the kids and it was terribly maintained. Several of the creatures had holes, a lot of the lighting didn't work properly, etc. This attraction gets 1 star and I recommend you stay far far away from it should you have the opportunity to visit Pigeon Forge.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Smoky Mountain Helicopter tours
In and around Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg TN, helicopter tours are a big thing. We saw 5 or 6 in the two miles from the interstate to our hotel. My mom decided this was the thing to do our first evening in town. Since we had no frame of reference for who was good or who was bad, we just picked the one nearest our hotel and hoped for the best.
It turned out that the nearest was pretty darn good. We found ourselves at Smoky Mountain Helicopter Tours. We initially decided to take a short tour because we weren't sure how TB would do and we weren't sure if MT would get bored. They offer several tours over various parts of the area and we settle on one that took 11 minutes. We went the kids with my dad and brother because mom and I aren't all that interested in flying. The cost was $65 per person for the 11 minute ride. The kids, surprisingly, LOVED it and begged for more.
As we stood there discussing, the guy running the place offered us a buy 3 get one free pass for the rest of the week. Of course, I realize that it was a sales gimmick but still, it ended up being a pretty good deal. We went to dinner and came back at 8 (the suggested time) to partake in the sunset ride. We sent them up for a 30 minute trip, which in the end, proved to be a little too long. MT got bored but that only speaks of her attention span, not the ride itself. The 30 minute trip was $175 per person but we had the one free so it saved us nearly $200. While my mom and I waited on the ground, the guy running the tour was telling us about all the other neat things to do in the area. Although we ended up not getting to do most of them, his suggestions could easily have made an "action adventure" trip all on their own.
Overall, the kids (and my dad and brother) really enjoyed this attraction. I would rank it 4.5 stars because it was fun, interesting, and educational. The only drawback was that it was pricey. You will find this is a standard theme in most of my reviews of this trip.
It turned out that the nearest was pretty darn good. We found ourselves at Smoky Mountain Helicopter Tours. We initially decided to take a short tour because we weren't sure how TB would do and we weren't sure if MT would get bored. They offer several tours over various parts of the area and we settle on one that took 11 minutes. We went the kids with my dad and brother because mom and I aren't all that interested in flying. The cost was $65 per person for the 11 minute ride. The kids, surprisingly, LOVED it and begged for more.
As we stood there discussing, the guy running the place offered us a buy 3 get one free pass for the rest of the week. Of course, I realize that it was a sales gimmick but still, it ended up being a pretty good deal. We went to dinner and came back at 8 (the suggested time) to partake in the sunset ride. We sent them up for a 30 minute trip, which in the end, proved to be a little too long. MT got bored but that only speaks of her attention span, not the ride itself. The 30 minute trip was $175 per person but we had the one free so it saved us nearly $200. While my mom and I waited on the ground, the guy running the tour was telling us about all the other neat things to do in the area. Although we ended up not getting to do most of them, his suggestions could easily have made an "action adventure" trip all on their own.
Overall, the kids (and my dad and brother) really enjoyed this attraction. I would rank it 4.5 stars because it was fun, interesting, and educational. The only drawback was that it was pricey. You will find this is a standard theme in most of my reviews of this trip.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Magic House review redue
Back in November, I wrote a review for the Magic House in St. Louis. At the time, I commented that I thought the expansion would help with some of the congestion. Unfortunately, I was totally wrong. It could have been the day we picked to go (Tuesday of Spring Break, not for STL schools but all the surrounding area schools) or it could have been just that busy. Either way, the expansion didn't really help and wasn't that impressive.
The new area starts with a new exhibit about fairy tales. It has the banquet table from Beauty and the Beast, some animal costumes to dress up with, a small Jack and the Beanstalk themed slide and the giant's stool from Jack and the Beanstalk.
TB proclaimed this area "for girls" and asked to leave shortly after we arrived.
On the 3rd floor are several new exhibits, including the forensic lab, the "sunshine classroom" (an outdoor area for growing things). TB wanted to be impressed with the forensics but being that he couldn't read and couldn't figure out the clues, he ended up frustrated and bored. We went through the "secret passageway" into the lab (parents, take note, this passageway is for short short people and there is a door nearby for those of us of normal height). In that area, there is a slide. It is a cool twisty black slide. The entrance to the slide is on the other side of the room. When you get there, there will likely be a line. After you stand in that line, you will find out that the slide is only for kids 5+. This will likely cause your under 5 child no end of torment and you will leave the area with a child in tears. You won't be alone. Every other parent of an under 5 child will be doing the same thing. If you are me, you are by now really angry and have written the 3rd floor off as an entire loss.
In the basement, they have a judicial process area with a mock Oval Office, a court room and a mock Congress. TB REALLY enjoyed this area.
It was very interesting for him to see how that stuff looked. Especially coming right on the heels of the election and all the time spent talking about it recently. MT was not so impressed but did like being the judge in the courtroom.
Also in basement, they have a construction zone.
There is a house frame where you can run wire and lay flooring. There is a skyscraper where you can practice bricklaying. There is a design office where you can learn about the layouts of buildings and how they are decorated. And the biggest draw of all is the rock pit, with shovels and brooms to dig or clean the area. Both kids really enjoyed it and played there longer than anywhere else in the whole section. the one major drawback to this area is that it is basically outside. It is enclosed on 3 sides and has a roof but the 4th wall is a plastic half fence, letting all the weather in. It was pouring down rain the day the we were there but it was about 65 so it was quite comfortable in there. When it opened in January, I'm sure that was a different story. There is a fan for the summer but I can't imagine too many people going there during either extreme heat or cold.
There is also one of the "airblowers" that is pretty much SOP for children's museums. It is the thing with the tubes that you put scarves or balls in and they blow out different places based on which switches you flip.
The basement also has direct access to the parking lot when you leave. This was especially great for us, with the pouring rain and all
In the new section, they have built a "climber". One of those things with platforms of varying size that kids climb around in, that also seems to be SOP for children's museums. Typically, there is one entrance so the child has to come out where they went in. Not so here. There are exits on all 3 floors of the new area, meaning if you let your child climb in, they may not come back to where you are. This is dangerous and stupid in all sorts of ways. Fortunately for us, MT is scared to climb in them and TB knows enough to come back.
They very best thing about the expansion was the new resturant! If you remember in November, I said that if not for the crowds and the lack of food, we would have stayed longer. Well they addressed at least one of those issues and it was done well.
The menu includes sandwiches, salads, soups, snacks and drinks. The prices are high, but that is too be expected when you have a captive audience. A sandwich, chips and a drink runs about $8.50. We only had the ice cream because we made a point of eating lunch before we went. The cafe area is kind of small and crowded but there is an outdoor seating area that is covered so if it isn't too bad, you can sit out there and eat.
The final issue I had was the "you can't get there from here" problem. Both sections have 3 floors but you can only get from one section to the other on the main floor. This was a problem when the kids wanted to leave the construction zone and go to the Lewis and Clark adventure. Both were in the basement, in seperate sections. Did it kill us to climb up then down the stairs? No, but it was difficult for my mom with her broken foot and it took unnecessary time.
I would say the expansion was geared mostly for older kids, which is disappointing because the rest of the museum already leaned that way for the most part. If you have kids 7-10, they would probably really enjoy this museum. My kids were just too young for most of it.
In November, I ranked it at 3.5 stars, stating that I thought the new expansion would bring it even higher. I was wrong. I give it an additional half star for the cafe but then deduct half a star for general lameness of the new area and a full star for making my kid cry twice because of no signs about age limits. Resulting in a grand total of 2.5 stars, including the new area.
The new area starts with a new exhibit about fairy tales. It has the banquet table from Beauty and the Beast, some animal costumes to dress up with, a small Jack and the Beanstalk themed slide and the giant's stool from Jack and the Beanstalk.
TB proclaimed this area "for girls" and asked to leave shortly after we arrived.
On the 3rd floor are several new exhibits, including the forensic lab, the "sunshine classroom" (an outdoor area for growing things). TB wanted to be impressed with the forensics but being that he couldn't read and couldn't figure out the clues, he ended up frustrated and bored. We went through the "secret passageway" into the lab (parents, take note, this passageway is for short short people and there is a door nearby for those of us of normal height). In that area, there is a slide. It is a cool twisty black slide. The entrance to the slide is on the other side of the room. When you get there, there will likely be a line. After you stand in that line, you will find out that the slide is only for kids 5+. This will likely cause your under 5 child no end of torment and you will leave the area with a child in tears. You won't be alone. Every other parent of an under 5 child will be doing the same thing. If you are me, you are by now really angry and have written the 3rd floor off as an entire loss.
In the basement, they have a judicial process area with a mock Oval Office, a court room and a mock Congress. TB REALLY enjoyed this area.
It was very interesting for him to see how that stuff looked. Especially coming right on the heels of the election and all the time spent talking about it recently. MT was not so impressed but did like being the judge in the courtroom.
Also in basement, they have a construction zone.
There is a house frame where you can run wire and lay flooring. There is a skyscraper where you can practice bricklaying. There is a design office where you can learn about the layouts of buildings and how they are decorated. And the biggest draw of all is the rock pit, with shovels and brooms to dig or clean the area. Both kids really enjoyed it and played there longer than anywhere else in the whole section. the one major drawback to this area is that it is basically outside. It is enclosed on 3 sides and has a roof but the 4th wall is a plastic half fence, letting all the weather in. It was pouring down rain the day the we were there but it was about 65 so it was quite comfortable in there. When it opened in January, I'm sure that was a different story. There is a fan for the summer but I can't imagine too many people going there during either extreme heat or cold.
There is also one of the "airblowers" that is pretty much SOP for children's museums. It is the thing with the tubes that you put scarves or balls in and they blow out different places based on which switches you flip.
The basement also has direct access to the parking lot when you leave. This was especially great for us, with the pouring rain and all
In the new section, they have built a "climber". One of those things with platforms of varying size that kids climb around in, that also seems to be SOP for children's museums. Typically, there is one entrance so the child has to come out where they went in. Not so here. There are exits on all 3 floors of the new area, meaning if you let your child climb in, they may not come back to where you are. This is dangerous and stupid in all sorts of ways. Fortunately for us, MT is scared to climb in them and TB knows enough to come back.
They very best thing about the expansion was the new resturant! If you remember in November, I said that if not for the crowds and the lack of food, we would have stayed longer. Well they addressed at least one of those issues and it was done well.
The menu includes sandwiches, salads, soups, snacks and drinks. The prices are high, but that is too be expected when you have a captive audience. A sandwich, chips and a drink runs about $8.50. We only had the ice cream because we made a point of eating lunch before we went. The cafe area is kind of small and crowded but there is an outdoor seating area that is covered so if it isn't too bad, you can sit out there and eat.
The final issue I had was the "you can't get there from here" problem. Both sections have 3 floors but you can only get from one section to the other on the main floor. This was a problem when the kids wanted to leave the construction zone and go to the Lewis and Clark adventure. Both were in the basement, in seperate sections. Did it kill us to climb up then down the stairs? No, but it was difficult for my mom with her broken foot and it took unnecessary time.
I would say the expansion was geared mostly for older kids, which is disappointing because the rest of the museum already leaned that way for the most part. If you have kids 7-10, they would probably really enjoy this museum. My kids were just too young for most of it.
In November, I ranked it at 3.5 stars, stating that I thought the new expansion would bring it even higher. I was wrong. I give it an additional half star for the cafe but then deduct half a star for general lameness of the new area and a full star for making my kid cry twice because of no signs about age limits. Resulting in a grand total of 2.5 stars, including the new area.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
St Louis Zoo
I will tell you right up front, this is THE SINGLE BEST ZOO I have ever been to. I love this zoo and use it as my measuring stick for every other zoo we've ever been to. Most of them don't even come close to this zoo. PS, with my dead laptop, I have no photo editing software right now. Once I get this issue taken care of, this post will have pictures as well. On to the review.
We went Wednesday. According to the weather we had tracked all week, it was was supposed to be in the mid-60s. Unfortunately, TWC was showing us mid-50s, which marred our enjoyment somewhat (not much but it was a little colder than I would have liked). I-64 is totally under construction and simply gone for a large stretch, which made actually getting to the zoo a little difficult. However, because of the detour, we found a section of the zoo we had never seen, called "Turtle Park". It has huge statues of different kinds of turtles for the kids to climb on and play around. We didn't stop to play (see the previous mention of cold) but did make a note of it for future trips. The zoo being all about conservation and saving the earth has installed fancy toilet flushers where you lift it up for liquid waste and push down for solid. MT thought this was the coolest thing ever and took to announcing, loudly, which way she was pushing the handle.
The zoo itself is free. Parking costs $11, unless you get there early (or are willing to hike in). We got there about 8:50 (the zoo opens at 9) and were able to get the second free space so I was happy with that. They also not allow but encourage people to bring in their own food and drinks. There are several outdoor eating spots throughout the zoo and people can take their food into the cafes to get inside for awhile. I would suggest taking your food if at all possible. The food at the zoo is marginal at best and pricey. It was $8.50 for a single cheeseburger, an order of fries and a small drink. The kid meals are also lacking in variety. It was a hot dog or chicken fingers. They do have some healthy side options but my kids, being my kids, opted for the fries.
Some of the attractions, including the "Endangered Species" Carousel, the Children's Zoo, the 3-D movie, the motion ride and the train do cost extra. You can get a "Safari Pass" that is $10/person and includes admission to the Children's Zoo, Zooline Railroad, Sea Lion Show (while in season), Conservation Carousel, Motion Simulator and 3-D Movie (while in season).
The Children's Zoo and the Carousel are free for the first hour. My suggestion would be to hoof it back to the carousel, ride it first and then go to the Children's Zoo and spend as much time as your kids would like. There are a bunch of climbing things, the otters, some animals the kids can touch, and in the summer, there are water sprayers to help kids cool off.
Because of my mom's broken foot, I encouraged her to rent a motorized wheel chair and it came in very handy. The process to rent one was a little tedious, including leaving a driver's license and doing an inspection of the cart before being allowed to leave with it but it was an absolute blessing to have it. Being our second straight day of going full tilt, there is no way she could have managed all the hills and stuff without it. I do need to mention that many areas of the zoo simply aren't set up for scooters or large strollers. Both the gift shops had aisle too narrow, the seating in the cafe was too crowded, and the exit to Peguin and Puffin Cove was hard to navigate, thanks to sharp turns and close quarters. Other than that, she got around remarkably well with it.
Since we were there in the off season, there was quite a bit of construction going on. they are building a new exhibit in the center with sting rays and the like and they have most of the reptile house (including the alligators, TB was devistated) roped off and inaccesable. Most of the stands weren't open as well. This was both a blessing and a curse. It meant I didn't have to keep saying no to junky toys and candy but it also meant we had to hike halfway across the zoo for a drink. Personally, I prefer the off-season because it is less crowded and the animals are more active. It was 11 before it felt like there were more than a handful of people there. We were able to get right up the exhibits and see the animals without anyone being in our way or us being in anyone's way.
The 3-D movie was LAME and so not worth the $4 per person we paid for it, but it was a new one that we hadn't seen and now we can say we've done it and don't have to mess with it the future. We didn't do the motion ride but I have in the past and they aren't for people prone to motion sickness or younger children. It is often violent motion, combined with scary scenes and generally best suited for the late tween/teen crowd.
The only con is that this zoo is BIG. If you have young children or children who aren't used to vacationing at full throttle, this is not a one day zoo. We have been many, many, many time and we have only once or twice hit every exhibit in one day. And those were the days we dropped into bed at the end of the day, wanting to die from exhaustion. Not fun for anyone.
My recommendation would be to pick up a zoo map on your way in (or check out the one on the website before you go)and spend a few minutes figuring out the must see exhibits for your family and making a point of seeing them. Our must sees were the alligators, the monkeys (we saw ONE monkey habitat out of 3 different ones), the elephants, the penguins and Bear Row (they have several different types of bears all along one pathway).
Of course, we saw the animals around those animals as well but we completely skipped the big cats, most of the primates and several other areas.
This zoo is clean, the exhibits are well cared for, the people are friendly and helpful and the price is right. Other than the 3 hour drive to get there (and STL has TONS of other things to see and do, much of it free as well), there is no reason not to make this trip at least annually.
I give St Louis Zoo 5 full stars and highly suggest you check it out.
We went Wednesday. According to the weather we had tracked all week, it was was supposed to be in the mid-60s. Unfortunately, TWC was showing us mid-50s, which marred our enjoyment somewhat (not much but it was a little colder than I would have liked). I-64 is totally under construction and simply gone for a large stretch, which made actually getting to the zoo a little difficult. However, because of the detour, we found a section of the zoo we had never seen, called "Turtle Park". It has huge statues of different kinds of turtles for the kids to climb on and play around. We didn't stop to play (see the previous mention of cold) but did make a note of it for future trips. The zoo being all about conservation and saving the earth has installed fancy toilet flushers where you lift it up for liquid waste and push down for solid. MT thought this was the coolest thing ever and took to announcing, loudly, which way she was pushing the handle.
The zoo itself is free. Parking costs $11, unless you get there early (or are willing to hike in). We got there about 8:50 (the zoo opens at 9) and were able to get the second free space so I was happy with that. They also not allow but encourage people to bring in their own food and drinks. There are several outdoor eating spots throughout the zoo and people can take their food into the cafes to get inside for awhile. I would suggest taking your food if at all possible. The food at the zoo is marginal at best and pricey. It was $8.50 for a single cheeseburger, an order of fries and a small drink. The kid meals are also lacking in variety. It was a hot dog or chicken fingers. They do have some healthy side options but my kids, being my kids, opted for the fries.
Some of the attractions, including the "Endangered Species" Carousel, the Children's Zoo, the 3-D movie, the motion ride and the train do cost extra. You can get a "Safari Pass" that is $10/person and includes admission to the Children's Zoo, Zooline Railroad, Sea Lion Show (while in season), Conservation Carousel, Motion Simulator and 3-D Movie (while in season).
The Children's Zoo and the Carousel are free for the first hour. My suggestion would be to hoof it back to the carousel, ride it first and then go to the Children's Zoo and spend as much time as your kids would like. There are a bunch of climbing things, the otters, some animals the kids can touch, and in the summer, there are water sprayers to help kids cool off.
Because of my mom's broken foot, I encouraged her to rent a motorized wheel chair and it came in very handy. The process to rent one was a little tedious, including leaving a driver's license and doing an inspection of the cart before being allowed to leave with it but it was an absolute blessing to have it. Being our second straight day of going full tilt, there is no way she could have managed all the hills and stuff without it. I do need to mention that many areas of the zoo simply aren't set up for scooters or large strollers. Both the gift shops had aisle too narrow, the seating in the cafe was too crowded, and the exit to Peguin and Puffin Cove was hard to navigate, thanks to sharp turns and close quarters. Other than that, she got around remarkably well with it.
Since we were there in the off season, there was quite a bit of construction going on. they are building a new exhibit in the center with sting rays and the like and they have most of the reptile house (including the alligators, TB was devistated) roped off and inaccesable. Most of the stands weren't open as well. This was both a blessing and a curse. It meant I didn't have to keep saying no to junky toys and candy but it also meant we had to hike halfway across the zoo for a drink. Personally, I prefer the off-season because it is less crowded and the animals are more active. It was 11 before it felt like there were more than a handful of people there. We were able to get right up the exhibits and see the animals without anyone being in our way or us being in anyone's way.
The 3-D movie was LAME and so not worth the $4 per person we paid for it, but it was a new one that we hadn't seen and now we can say we've done it and don't have to mess with it the future. We didn't do the motion ride but I have in the past and they aren't for people prone to motion sickness or younger children. It is often violent motion, combined with scary scenes and generally best suited for the late tween/teen crowd.
The only con is that this zoo is BIG. If you have young children or children who aren't used to vacationing at full throttle, this is not a one day zoo. We have been many, many, many time and we have only once or twice hit every exhibit in one day. And those were the days we dropped into bed at the end of the day, wanting to die from exhaustion. Not fun for anyone.
My recommendation would be to pick up a zoo map on your way in (or check out the one on the website before you go)and spend a few minutes figuring out the must see exhibits for your family and making a point of seeing them. Our must sees were the alligators, the monkeys (we saw ONE monkey habitat out of 3 different ones), the elephants, the penguins and Bear Row (they have several different types of bears all along one pathway).
Of course, we saw the animals around those animals as well but we completely skipped the big cats, most of the primates and several other areas.
This zoo is clean, the exhibits are well cared for, the people are friendly and helpful and the price is right. Other than the 3 hour drive to get there (and STL has TONS of other things to see and do, much of it free as well), there is no reason not to make this trip at least annually.
I give St Louis Zoo 5 full stars and highly suggest you check it out.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Lego Land Discovery Center
This weekend, we visited the Lego Land Discovery Center in Schaumburg.
We were really excited about the visit because of other good reviews we've heard and the website makes it look awesome. I'm sad to say that it didn't live up to expectations. It wasn't terrible but I doubt we will be back. The coolest part, by far, are all the Lego models on display.
Through the front door, you have the option to go left into the retail shop or right into the exhibit. Obviously, we went right. We bought our tickets online and printed them at home so all we had to do when they opened was present our tickets and go on in. A word of caution, they do have some coat racks but the space is highly limited so either leave your coat in the car or be prepared to haul it around all day.
The first thing you see is Miniland
It is a replica of the Chicago waterfront done in Lego. They have Navy Pier (which the kids thought was fantastic since that was were we had been the day before), The Sears Tower, the Hancock Building, Millinium Park, etc. They have lights on timer to simulate day and night and even have a little Lego Batman standing on the Sears Tower. I really liked Miniland and was impressed with the level of detail that was included.
Miniland is also the "staging area" for the Jungle Tour.
I was totally unimpressed with the Jungle Tour. Basically, it is an area of models that you go through as group. They let between 40-50 people in at a time and every group is given a test sheet. As you go through, you are supposed to stop and look at the models and answer questions about them. Unfortunately, because you aren't allowed to go through on your own, there are too many people in too small of a space and not only can you not answer any of the questions, you can barely see the models. I was really disappointed and we ended up just walking through and getting out of the way.
The Jungle Trail exits into the Hall of Fame These models were absolutely the kids' favorites. This is where you find the life-sized models of Darth Vader (complete with light saber), Batman, Indian Jones, Harry Potter, Hagrid and R2-D2. The kids spent more time looking at those models (and posing for pictures) than at any other part of the place.
The Hall of Fame is next to the
Dragon Ride. It is a very cute ride through a castle, although it does get dark towards the end and young kids might be scared. It is not a roller coaster but closer to a train ride. I recommend going through 2 or 3 times to see everything because there are lots of details that are easy to miss on the first trip through.
Once done there, we headed upstairs to the
Lego Factory Tour. This looks a lot better on the website but is basically cheesy. The best part was getting our commemorative brick at the end. The first machine is really loud and once it starts up, it is impossible to hear what they are telling you about the making of the Legos. Our tour guide also talked to fast and wasn't able to tailor her spiel to a specific age group. Fortunately, I had a basic understanding of how Legos are made and was able to explain it to MT so she could understand.
After the factory tour, we went to the
4-D theater. I entered this with fear and trepidation because I dislike 3-D in general and 4-D is usually so over done that it is just a miserable exprience. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the end of the movie. It is currently "SpellBreaker" about a wizard who takes over a kingdom with his spell that destroys weapons. We were told that there are water effects in the movie but that the day before they came on as a waterfall instead of a mist and were turned off on Saturday. My first comment about the movie was that it was REALLY well done 3-D. Most 3-D is still a little blurry, even with the glasses on, but this was really crisp and looked great (so great, in fact, that TB nearly jumped out of his seat during the scene where the rhino charged the cage). My other comment is that the 4-D was also well done, in that it wasn't over done. There were a few spots when I thought a 4-D effect was warrented that they didn't have one but I'd rather it be under than over, when it comes to that kind of stuff. It was also subtle. Air blew around when you were falling, bubbles fell when it was snowing but there was nothing to scare the younger crowd.
After the theater, we went into the building center, where they have tons and tons of Lego bricks to build all kinds of stuff. There are several test tracks to test your model cars on.
There were earthquake similator where you build a building and then it shakes it to see if it is stable.
There is a large climbing structure for kids that are done with the blocks to run around in. There is a large Duplo area for the toddlers and there is a section with huge soft blocks for even littler kids to play in. TB had a great time building and testing cars and MT liked the earthquakes. She was too practical though, and never got anything to fall because she built them too well. There were a couple of employees walking around, helping the kids build their models who seemed to work really well with kids. They both knew what they were doing, as far as building, as well.
This was also the area where the cafe was. It was pretty basic and not somewhere I would have eaten a meal. However, we go too many places that have no food of any kind so I was glad to see it. We did have some snacks and drinks there and it was fine.
After the building area, we had seen and done everything there was to see and headed for the gift shop. I was disappointed with the gift shop. Besides being over-priced (the theme to the whole place), there wasn't much unique there. I expected to find hard to find pieces, unique sets, etc. Unfortunately, they had a lot of wall space devoted to the same kits you can buy at any Toys R Us. We did find a new Lego Star Wars shirt for TB, but it was the ONLY youth shirt in the whole store. The big find of the day was the Lego figure keychains. Lego people will know that people are often the big draw of the kits because they can't be bought seperately. What we found were characters from most of the major sets made as keychains. They were $3.99 a piece and we bought several of them. When we got home, we took a pair of pliers and opened up the O-ring holding the keychain on and took it off. They all have little metal knobs stuck in their heads but the kids don't care. They have Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Harry Potter.
Finally, the only model picture I took with my phone so the only that is getting uploaded. MT hanging with Spongebob
Overall, it was neat to see the models and things and the kids had a decent time in the building area. I would go back again just to see the new 4-D movies that are coming out.
This would be a really great trip for a crazy Lego fanatic and is best for ages 6 and up.
I'm giving this 2.5 stars because there wasn't enough bang for our buck, in my opinion. If I'm paying $20 to get into something, it better give the kids more than a couple of hours entertainment. And that couple of hours included going back and doing some things a couple of times, just to kill time.
We were really excited about the visit because of other good reviews we've heard and the website makes it look awesome. I'm sad to say that it didn't live up to expectations. It wasn't terrible but I doubt we will be back. The coolest part, by far, are all the Lego models on display.
Through the front door, you have the option to go left into the retail shop or right into the exhibit. Obviously, we went right. We bought our tickets online and printed them at home so all we had to do when they opened was present our tickets and go on in. A word of caution, they do have some coat racks but the space is highly limited so either leave your coat in the car or be prepared to haul it around all day.
The first thing you see is Miniland
It is a replica of the Chicago waterfront done in Lego. They have Navy Pier (which the kids thought was fantastic since that was were we had been the day before), The Sears Tower, the Hancock Building, Millinium Park, etc. They have lights on timer to simulate day and night and even have a little Lego Batman standing on the Sears Tower. I really liked Miniland and was impressed with the level of detail that was included.
Miniland is also the "staging area" for the Jungle Tour.
I was totally unimpressed with the Jungle Tour. Basically, it is an area of models that you go through as group. They let between 40-50 people in at a time and every group is given a test sheet. As you go through, you are supposed to stop and look at the models and answer questions about them. Unfortunately, because you aren't allowed to go through on your own, there are too many people in too small of a space and not only can you not answer any of the questions, you can barely see the models. I was really disappointed and we ended up just walking through and getting out of the way.
The Jungle Trail exits into the Hall of Fame These models were absolutely the kids' favorites. This is where you find the life-sized models of Darth Vader (complete with light saber), Batman, Indian Jones, Harry Potter, Hagrid and R2-D2. The kids spent more time looking at those models (and posing for pictures) than at any other part of the place.
The Hall of Fame is next to the
Dragon Ride. It is a very cute ride through a castle, although it does get dark towards the end and young kids might be scared. It is not a roller coaster but closer to a train ride. I recommend going through 2 or 3 times to see everything because there are lots of details that are easy to miss on the first trip through.
Once done there, we headed upstairs to the
Lego Factory Tour. This looks a lot better on the website but is basically cheesy. The best part was getting our commemorative brick at the end. The first machine is really loud and once it starts up, it is impossible to hear what they are telling you about the making of the Legos. Our tour guide also talked to fast and wasn't able to tailor her spiel to a specific age group. Fortunately, I had a basic understanding of how Legos are made and was able to explain it to MT so she could understand.
After the factory tour, we went to the
4-D theater. I entered this with fear and trepidation because I dislike 3-D in general and 4-D is usually so over done that it is just a miserable exprience. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the end of the movie. It is currently "SpellBreaker" about a wizard who takes over a kingdom with his spell that destroys weapons. We were told that there are water effects in the movie but that the day before they came on as a waterfall instead of a mist and were turned off on Saturday. My first comment about the movie was that it was REALLY well done 3-D. Most 3-D is still a little blurry, even with the glasses on, but this was really crisp and looked great (so great, in fact, that TB nearly jumped out of his seat during the scene where the rhino charged the cage). My other comment is that the 4-D was also well done, in that it wasn't over done. There were a few spots when I thought a 4-D effect was warrented that they didn't have one but I'd rather it be under than over, when it comes to that kind of stuff. It was also subtle. Air blew around when you were falling, bubbles fell when it was snowing but there was nothing to scare the younger crowd.
After the theater, we went into the building center, where they have tons and tons of Lego bricks to build all kinds of stuff. There are several test tracks to test your model cars on.
There were earthquake similator where you build a building and then it shakes it to see if it is stable.
There is a large climbing structure for kids that are done with the blocks to run around in. There is a large Duplo area for the toddlers and there is a section with huge soft blocks for even littler kids to play in. TB had a great time building and testing cars and MT liked the earthquakes. She was too practical though, and never got anything to fall because she built them too well. There were a couple of employees walking around, helping the kids build their models who seemed to work really well with kids. They both knew what they were doing, as far as building, as well.
This was also the area where the cafe was. It was pretty basic and not somewhere I would have eaten a meal. However, we go too many places that have no food of any kind so I was glad to see it. We did have some snacks and drinks there and it was fine.
After the building area, we had seen and done everything there was to see and headed for the gift shop. I was disappointed with the gift shop. Besides being over-priced (the theme to the whole place), there wasn't much unique there. I expected to find hard to find pieces, unique sets, etc. Unfortunately, they had a lot of wall space devoted to the same kits you can buy at any Toys R Us. We did find a new Lego Star Wars shirt for TB, but it was the ONLY youth shirt in the whole store. The big find of the day was the Lego figure keychains. Lego people will know that people are often the big draw of the kits because they can't be bought seperately. What we found were characters from most of the major sets made as keychains. They were $3.99 a piece and we bought several of them. When we got home, we took a pair of pliers and opened up the O-ring holding the keychain on and took it off. They all have little metal knobs stuck in their heads but the kids don't care. They have Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Harry Potter.
Finally, the only model picture I took with my phone so the only that is getting uploaded. MT hanging with Spongebob
Overall, it was neat to see the models and things and the kids had a decent time in the building area. I would go back again just to see the new 4-D movies that are coming out.
This would be a really great trip for a crazy Lego fanatic and is best for ages 6 and up.
I'm giving this 2.5 stars because there wasn't enough bang for our buck, in my opinion. If I'm paying $20 to get into something, it better give the kids more than a couple of hours entertainment. And that couple of hours included going back and doing some things a couple of times, just to kill time.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Magic house Review
While we were in St Louis last weekend, we went to the Magic House. I had been several times when I was kid but hadn't been in about 20 years. Apparently, according to my mom because I didn't remember, it is COMPLETELY different.
When you walk in the door, there is the admission desk where you pay and get your sticker, letting people know you have paid. To the left are a few benches and the gift shop. Beyond the benches, there is a large expansion area, which is opening next week. To the right is the actual museum area. As you head down the hallway, they have the "Little bit of magic" area for kids under 6 (shh, don't tell but we snuck TB in). In it, they have some slides, a sand table, a water play table, a climbing area. In the back corner, they have a baby area for kids under 2.
Around the corner from the LBOM area, there is the Math Path, which is all numbers. From math puzzles and guess the number of items to giant calculators and build the fastest Lego car, the Math Path is a dream come true for your budding Einstein.
Beyond the Math Path, you will find the Children's Village. It includes magnetic fishing, a mechanic's shop with a car up on a lift, an electric company, a store, a pizza palor and a tree fort. This also were the elevator to the basement is located. MT loved playing in the mechanic's shop, changing the tires and the license plate on the cars (this tells me she will either be a mechanic or a car thief LOL) TB liked the tree house and the pizza palor.
From there, we took the elevator down to the basement because the kids were hungry and there was a vending area marked on the map. We were disappointed to find that their vending area consisted of a couple of drink machines and no food. Both kids ended up getting sugary caffinated drinks so they were really hopped up for the rest of the visit.
After our drink stop, we continued down the hall, past the experiment center. It looked like something TB would have enjoyed but there was really nothing for MT so we bypassed it. The majority of the basement is given over to Lewis and Clark. In one area, they have a Lewis and Clark camp site, with a wooden canoe, a teepee and a fire, as well as some costumes to dress up in. MT proclaimed it "boring" and insisted on going elsewhere. Off of the camp site, they have a Lewis and Clark Trail setup. WARNING, this exhibit is NOT for young children, old people, or anyone with any kind of limited mobility. The age range for it is 5-12 but we took MT in because wouldn't allow us to leave her out. 10 feet into the exhibit, there is a rope you have to use to swing across a gap in the floor (you can walk across if you must, but what is the fun in that), that leads to stumps to step on, ladders to climb and slides to slide down. Over all the whole exhibit was pretty dark, with some pitch black spots. It was also pretty physical and quite fun. The kids wanted to make a repeat trip through but each guest is only allowed through once, for some reason.
Then it was up to the third floor to see the fitness center, the shadow wall and the coolest of all, the electro-static generator. That is the machine that when you touch it, makes your hair stand up all wild. Unfortunately, it didn't work at all for TB. It worked fairly well for MT but because I had to hold her to reach it, I didn't get a picture of it. However, we found that my hair worked GREAT so I went back and TB took a picture of my crazy hair.
By then the kids were hungry and tired and we decided to call it a day. We stopped off in the gift shop which was pretty much to be expected. It had the components of the various exhibits, highly priced for children to beg for. We picked up a couple of things and got some ideas for Christmas as well.
I remember it being mostly a museum for older kids, but MT had a really great time. There were a few things she couldn't do (the Lego racers were for kids 4+ but I think that was because they are considered chocking hazards) but she didn't lack for things to keep her busy.
Over all, I would give it 3.5 stars. I think it will be better when the new expansion opens up and when it is warmer, the outside stuff will be available. As it is right now, the really fun exhibits (LBOM, Math Path, etc) were really crowed and moving around and keeping your kids in sight was fairly difficult. With more space, some of that congestion would be relieved. I was also umimpressed with the lack of snack machines. If we had something to eat and if the crowds had been less, we probably would have stayed longer. As it was, we rushed through some exhibits and bypassed other completely, just to move things
When you walk in the door, there is the admission desk where you pay and get your sticker, letting people know you have paid. To the left are a few benches and the gift shop. Beyond the benches, there is a large expansion area, which is opening next week. To the right is the actual museum area. As you head down the hallway, they have the "Little bit of magic" area for kids under 6 (shh, don't tell but we snuck TB in). In it, they have some slides, a sand table, a water play table, a climbing area. In the back corner, they have a baby area for kids under 2.
Around the corner from the LBOM area, there is the Math Path, which is all numbers. From math puzzles and guess the number of items to giant calculators and build the fastest Lego car, the Math Path is a dream come true for your budding Einstein.
Beyond the Math Path, you will find the Children's Village. It includes magnetic fishing, a mechanic's shop with a car up on a lift, an electric company, a store, a pizza palor and a tree fort. This also were the elevator to the basement is located. MT loved playing in the mechanic's shop, changing the tires and the license plate on the cars (this tells me she will either be a mechanic or a car thief LOL) TB liked the tree house and the pizza palor.
From there, we took the elevator down to the basement because the kids were hungry and there was a vending area marked on the map. We were disappointed to find that their vending area consisted of a couple of drink machines and no food. Both kids ended up getting sugary caffinated drinks so they were really hopped up for the rest of the visit.
After our drink stop, we continued down the hall, past the experiment center. It looked like something TB would have enjoyed but there was really nothing for MT so we bypassed it. The majority of the basement is given over to Lewis and Clark. In one area, they have a Lewis and Clark camp site, with a wooden canoe, a teepee and a fire, as well as some costumes to dress up in. MT proclaimed it "boring" and insisted on going elsewhere. Off of the camp site, they have a Lewis and Clark Trail setup. WARNING, this exhibit is NOT for young children, old people, or anyone with any kind of limited mobility. The age range for it is 5-12 but we took MT in because wouldn't allow us to leave her out. 10 feet into the exhibit, there is a rope you have to use to swing across a gap in the floor (you can walk across if you must, but what is the fun in that), that leads to stumps to step on, ladders to climb and slides to slide down. Over all the whole exhibit was pretty dark, with some pitch black spots. It was also pretty physical and quite fun. The kids wanted to make a repeat trip through but each guest is only allowed through once, for some reason.
Then it was up to the third floor to see the fitness center, the shadow wall and the coolest of all, the electro-static generator. That is the machine that when you touch it, makes your hair stand up all wild. Unfortunately, it didn't work at all for TB. It worked fairly well for MT but because I had to hold her to reach it, I didn't get a picture of it. However, we found that my hair worked GREAT so I went back and TB took a picture of my crazy hair.
By then the kids were hungry and tired and we decided to call it a day. We stopped off in the gift shop which was pretty much to be expected. It had the components of the various exhibits, highly priced for children to beg for. We picked up a couple of things and got some ideas for Christmas as well.
I remember it being mostly a museum for older kids, but MT had a really great time. There were a few things she couldn't do (the Lego racers were for kids 4+ but I think that was because they are considered chocking hazards) but she didn't lack for things to keep her busy.
Over all, I would give it 3.5 stars. I think it will be better when the new expansion opens up and when it is warmer, the outside stuff will be available. As it is right now, the really fun exhibits (LBOM, Math Path, etc) were really crowed and moving around and keeping your kids in sight was fairly difficult. With more space, some of that congestion would be relieved. I was also umimpressed with the lack of snack machines. If we had something to eat and if the crowds had been less, we probably would have stayed longer. As it was, we rushed through some exhibits and bypassed other completely, just to move things
Kick's in Springfield
Yesterday, we went to Kick's in Springfield. I was fully prepared to hate it because it is one of those places where you have to pay, individually, for everything you do and I hate that crap. I was pleasantly suprised once we got there. For startes they offer several package deals, including $10, $20 and $30 dollars, at a discount or you can buy an hour of unlimited play. For us, the by the hour deal was the best deal at $16.99 per kid for an hour of everything they wanted to do. Instead of hauling around handfuls of tokens, they give you a swipe card, that you swipe in the reader at each thing and it deducts your money or activates the game if you have the unlimited. Then, when you win tickets, you feed them into the counter and swipe your card, which records your tickets right there. The major drawback to the swipe card system is that you can only swipe once every 60 seconds. This is designed to prevent sharing of the card but causes problem with quicky games. MT likes the games of chance, where you put money in, the light goes around and you hit the button to stop it. It takes all of 10 seconds for her to play, then she had to sit and wait for the card to reactivate.
In addition to the video games, they also have bumper cars for older kids (TB did great at them but MT was a little too small to be able to drive them), go carts that kids as small as 42 inches can be passengers in (they have to be 54 inches to drive but as long as there is an adult driving, they can ride along), laser tag and mini-bowling. While we were there, the mini bowling was down so that was disappointing.
The games were your standard ticket games for the most part. They had some "drop the token" games which MT loves and took me a while to figure out how to use with the swipe card. There are a couple of token machines that you swipe the card and they dispense tokens for those games. Very handy! I was really impessed with the amount of tickets the games paid out, as well. Skee ball at somewhere like Chuck E Cheese will pay out 3 tickets for 150,000 points where these paid out 20 for 20,000. MT won 150 tickets on one drop on the ball game! The other part of the games were heavy on shooting games and racing games. MT couldn't manage those (although she tried) but TB loved them.
In addition to all the games and attractions, they have an all you eat buffet. The food is "fine". Nothing spectacular and kind of expensive. It is 10.99 for adults and 9.99 for kids. The thing about the kid's meals is that with the purchase of their meal, you get a free $5 of game play. The food was fairly kid friendly, with fried chicken, pizza, chicken fingers, and ice cream. However, it wasn't that good. We all got full but I wouldn't get the buffet again.
All in all, I would give 3.5 out of 5 stars and we will be going back again.
Update to the orignal post: The second and third times we went, the food was much better. The fried chicken was tender and juicy and quite tasty and with the food being better, I would bump this up to 4 full stars
In addition to the video games, they also have bumper cars for older kids (TB did great at them but MT was a little too small to be able to drive them), go carts that kids as small as 42 inches can be passengers in (they have to be 54 inches to drive but as long as there is an adult driving, they can ride along), laser tag and mini-bowling. While we were there, the mini bowling was down so that was disappointing.
The games were your standard ticket games for the most part. They had some "drop the token" games which MT loves and took me a while to figure out how to use with the swipe card. There are a couple of token machines that you swipe the card and they dispense tokens for those games. Very handy! I was really impessed with the amount of tickets the games paid out, as well. Skee ball at somewhere like Chuck E Cheese will pay out 3 tickets for 150,000 points where these paid out 20 for 20,000. MT won 150 tickets on one drop on the ball game! The other part of the games were heavy on shooting games and racing games. MT couldn't manage those (although she tried) but TB loved them.
In addition to all the games and attractions, they have an all you eat buffet. The food is "fine". Nothing spectacular and kind of expensive. It is 10.99 for adults and 9.99 for kids. The thing about the kid's meals is that with the purchase of their meal, you get a free $5 of game play. The food was fairly kid friendly, with fried chicken, pizza, chicken fingers, and ice cream. However, it wasn't that good. We all got full but I wouldn't get the buffet again.
All in all, I would give 3.5 out of 5 stars and we will be going back again.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Holiday World 2
Day 2 was very much the same as day one. We got there just as they were opening. We went directly to the Scrambler because the kids had been begging since the night before to ride it. Fortunately, MT was big enough to ride because we would have had a serious problem is she hadn't been. I kept telling her "you may not be big enough" and every time she would respond with "I'm big and I'm tall and I'm brave and I'm GOING to ride the Scrambler" She spent the whole ride laughing her head off and as soon as we got off, she was ready to go again. RF and I neither one could take another trip on it and they couldn't go alone so I had to convince them to go ride the old time cars.
After the cars (much shorter wait this time), we got measured again then MT rode teh salmon run and TB and I went to ride the swings. We stood and watched for a minute before he decided he was too scared to do it so we browsed in one of the shops while we waited for RF and MT to be done on their ride. Then we headed to the waterpark.
RF was done before the day even started but he did an amazing job not bitching too much about it. We rode the slides, played in the wave pools, played at Kima Bay, etc etc etc until lunch time. TB had wanted Goblin Burgers for dinner the night before so I promised him that for lunch. We all got dressed (Holiday world does not allow uncovered swimsuits in the park, everyone has to wear a shirt, shoes and shorts while in the park) and headed to Halloweentown for lunch. Fortunately, they weren't just burgers so MT was able to have chicken fingers. The burgers were super tasty and I liked that they offered a "veggie pack" (lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions) with the burgers, which is something most food stands don't offer.
After we ate, we had to ride the Scrambler again since we were directly across the walk from it. Then we talked MT into going on the Log Flume ride. She didn't want to but we convinced her it was just like the Indian River Canoe ride, not mentioning the drop at the end. She likes roller coasters and so forth so I didn't think it would be a big deal, we just had to get past her refusal to get on the ride. We did convince her on the ride and she really enjoyed it. After we got off, she kept saying to herself "That was awesome, that was so awesome" When we would ask her what she thought about it all she would tell us was "that was really fast" LOL
After the log ride, we asked if she wanted to go on Thunder RIver (what it called at Six Flags and the only name I've ever called it)and she wanted no part of that. So I asked her if she would rather go on "the splashing river" That was an absolute yes!. She didn't even hesitate getting on and she laughed and giggled and squealed her way through the ride.
Then it was back to the water park for more water play for another couple of hours. Finally, RF couldn't take anymore and we decided to head out. But first we needed funnel cakes from the "Funnel Cake Factory" They were very tasty but I must comment that the funnel cake on their sign looks more like a soft pretzel! More canoes and salmon then we went and did the kiddie rides they hadn't had time to do yet. It was really sad to see that TB was tall enough that he was being measured to make sure he wasn't TOO TALL for the kiddie rides :( I geave them each one turn on each of the rides they were willing to ride (neither wanted anything to do with "Reindeer Games"). Fortunately, it was not too busy and they were able to pretty much walk on to each ride. We were all tired and it was hot and I was ready to GO. T
After riding all the kiddie rides and meeting 2 other boys with completely awesome spiked mohawks and their little brother who had a cute faux-hawk, we made a bathroom stop and a stop at guest relations to check on my missing sunglasses (which were never found :( ) and then got in the van and headed for our hotel. An hour later and we got checked in and unloaded. Dinner, a little TV and it was time for bed. Once I turned the TV off, the kids were asleep within 10 minutes and slept like the dead all night.
We got up, had breakfast, listened to some people debate the time in China for the Olympics (they were debating if they were 12 hours ahead or 36, the answer is 12-ish depending on time zone, if you are interested), listened to MT tell everyone in the breakfast area about the slides and how "they were FREAKIN' fast" LOL and then headed for home. We made worse time coming home, despite only one stop for bathrooms, which was disappointing.
After the cars (much shorter wait this time), we got measured again then MT rode teh salmon run and TB and I went to ride the swings. We stood and watched for a minute before he decided he was too scared to do it so we browsed in one of the shops while we waited for RF and MT to be done on their ride. Then we headed to the waterpark.
RF was done before the day even started but he did an amazing job not bitching too much about it. We rode the slides, played in the wave pools, played at Kima Bay, etc etc etc until lunch time. TB had wanted Goblin Burgers for dinner the night before so I promised him that for lunch. We all got dressed (Holiday world does not allow uncovered swimsuits in the park, everyone has to wear a shirt, shoes and shorts while in the park) and headed to Halloweentown for lunch. Fortunately, they weren't just burgers so MT was able to have chicken fingers. The burgers were super tasty and I liked that they offered a "veggie pack" (lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions) with the burgers, which is something most food stands don't offer.
After we ate, we had to ride the Scrambler again since we were directly across the walk from it. Then we talked MT into going on the Log Flume ride. She didn't want to but we convinced her it was just like the Indian River Canoe ride, not mentioning the drop at the end. She likes roller coasters and so forth so I didn't think it would be a big deal, we just had to get past her refusal to get on the ride. We did convince her on the ride and she really enjoyed it. After we got off, she kept saying to herself "That was awesome, that was so awesome" When we would ask her what she thought about it all she would tell us was "that was really fast" LOL
After the log ride, we asked if she wanted to go on Thunder RIver (what it called at Six Flags and the only name I've ever called it)and she wanted no part of that. So I asked her if she would rather go on "the splashing river" That was an absolute yes!. She didn't even hesitate getting on and she laughed and giggled and squealed her way through the ride.
Then it was back to the water park for more water play for another couple of hours. Finally, RF couldn't take anymore and we decided to head out. But first we needed funnel cakes from the "Funnel Cake Factory" They were very tasty but I must comment that the funnel cake on their sign looks more like a soft pretzel! More canoes and salmon then we went and did the kiddie rides they hadn't had time to do yet. It was really sad to see that TB was tall enough that he was being measured to make sure he wasn't TOO TALL for the kiddie rides :( I geave them each one turn on each of the rides they were willing to ride (neither wanted anything to do with "Reindeer Games"). Fortunately, it was not too busy and they were able to pretty much walk on to each ride. We were all tired and it was hot and I was ready to GO. T
After riding all the kiddie rides and meeting 2 other boys with completely awesome spiked mohawks and their little brother who had a cute faux-hawk, we made a bathroom stop and a stop at guest relations to check on my missing sunglasses (which were never found :( ) and then got in the van and headed for our hotel. An hour later and we got checked in and unloaded. Dinner, a little TV and it was time for bed. Once I turned the TV off, the kids were asleep within 10 minutes and slept like the dead all night.
We got up, had breakfast, listened to some people debate the time in China for the Olympics (they were debating if they were 12 hours ahead or 36, the answer is 12-ish depending on time zone, if you are interested), listened to MT tell everyone in the breakfast area about the slides and how "they were FREAKIN' fast" LOL and then headed for home. We made worse time coming home, despite only one stop for bathrooms, which was disappointing.
Holiday World
We left here at 7 on Tuesday morning. We drove, except for a quick break at McDonald's for breakfast and bathrooms, straight through to Holiday World. Unfortunately, we had some of the worst directions I've ever had from Google maps
:( It first off routed down a road that was closed (not Google's fault but a pain none the less). Then, once we took the detour and got back on the right road, it wound us around down through these little towns with 25 mile an hour speed limits, around hairpin turns, up and down hills etc. For the last half hour of the trip, we couldn't go over 40, which was extremely frustrating. We got in just before 11, so we still made pretty good time. The weather was dreadfully hot so our first stop was "Kringle's Cafe" to get drinks before we headed for the water park. Before we made it to the waterpark, we had the kids' official height measured so they could get wrist bands and we wouldn't have to mess with having the measured at every ride all day long. The waterpark measures shoes off and the other rides are all shoes on. Ms Thang was absolutetly over 36 inches and The Boy was just barely 48. He actually had to put his shoes on to top 48, but that was ok. He was actually the best height he could be. They charge a reduced price for anyone under 54 inches, but the max height of any of the rides is 48 inches. He fell in that "golden zone", which was fantastic for us.
After getting measured, we went around the corner and down into the waterpark. We got changed and went to get sunscreen. Unfortunately, they were nearly out so we got a little and went to find a spot for "home base". The water park was crazy busy so we ended up just parking the stroller (which neither kid rides in, but it makes a nice container for our stuff) near a fence and moving on. Ms Thang wanted to play in "Crocodile Isle" which has a nice all ages slide but is really too small for anyone but her. It has a small kids' slide and some sprayers and is absolutely perfect for younger kids. The Boy was more interested in going to the wave pool (of which there are 2) so we rounded her up and headed for The Wave (the smaller of the 2 wave pools). After she got over having her fit, she decided that the wave pool was pretty cool and figured out quite quickly that she could jump over the waves and they were fun to play in. She was insistant that she could go past the "strong swimmer" line. After the cycle of waves, the kids wanted to go to the treehouse, but I suggested the new feature "Kima Bay", which was similar to the tree house.
Kima Bay was awesome! It was a long walk from The Wave (and appeared to be a long way from everything else except the Bakuli slide but we found out later, there was a bathroom/sunscreen station and an Oasis just around the corner). It is all spraying water, climbing things and slides. It has 7 slides, 3 that are able to be used by the 36 inch and under crowd. TB and RF took off and did the big id stuff and MT and I did the stuff she could do. We went down the slides and up the stairs and under the spayers a million times. We finally drug her out to have lunch because it was 1 o'clock and we were all getting hungry. We ate at Safari Pizza, which is centrally located. They offer combos that are 2 pieces of pizza, one order of fries and one cookies. We decided to get 2 of them and split them, which caused lunch to be all of $14. That is one of my big selling points about the park, is that food is VERY reasonably priced. After lunch, TB decided he wanted to ride the "jungle racers", which Ms. Thang was too small for (and quite pissed about, at that) so I took him on it and RF took MT to the "jungle jets" which is right next door and a "sprayer garden" that she could play in. The racer was really awesome, but watch out for the second hill. It is a rough one!
TB and I went to play in the jets, for about 5 minutes until TB banged heads with another kid and decided to go to Bahari, the other wave pool. Bahari is huge, more like 2 wave pools smushed together. One side has big aggressive waves, suitable for older kids and adults. The other side has much smaller, softer, less consistant waves. It is perfect for younger kids and worn out adults (us by that point in the day LOL). MT refused to play in the smaller waves so huge pounding waves it was. When that cycle was over, we went and got more sunscreen (I love the free sunscreen) and then went back to Kima Bay. By then MT was melting down so nothing was working well for her. We played for a few minutes but it didn't work out too well. RF tweaked his leg and wanted to sit down. I took the kids to the only place in the whole park where I could watch 2 kids by myself, the lazy river (also one of 2). Plus, I thought if she would lay quitely on me for a few minutes, she would fall asleep. There was a problem with wrong sized tubes and I ended up dumped in the water, twice. Once by myself, once with MT on my lap. The second time, I also managed to lose my sunglasses which sucked. :( We finally got some right sized tubes and started around. Part way around, the radios cut out and changed to a warning that storms were in the area and that all rides were being shut down. There went my idea for a nap! We got out and camped out, waiting for all the people to leave. It wasn't raining so it wasn't that big of a deal. Then it started to rain in huge fat drops and we booked to shelter. Not for us, I was drier in the rain than I was at Kima Bay, but for all of our stuff that we didn't want soaked. The rain was short lived, too short to really chase many people out of the park, sadly.
By then it was nearing 6 so we decided to ride the family raft slide, which MT loved. It was good, calm ride for the over 36 inch crowd. After the slide, MT and RF changed clothes, but TB and I stayed in swimwear so that we could ride Raging Rapids, a Thunder River type ride that I took TB on last year and he loved it. MT rode the Salmon Run and the Indian River Canoes, both of which were super. After the river ride, we changed clothes then RF and I had dinner at The Alamo resturant. Tacos, burritos, fajitas, etc. The food was fantastic, which was pretty standard for the park. I didn't have anything there that wasn't good. The fajitas where enormous and the tacos were so full of filling that RF ended up having to eat at least of it with a for because it all fell out. The kids wanted a cheeseburger (TB) and pizza (MT) and the only place in the park that had both of those items together was Kringles Cafe. We took the kids there to eat and then rode the antique cars.
My major complaint about the park was it's lack of correct line use. All of the rides have several rows so the lines can wonder up and down and back an forth, because walking is always better than just standing in line. So many of the lines didn't have any of them open, causing the line, while not terribly long to seem much longer than it was. It was super frustrating to to see all those open lanes and no one in them.
After the antique cars, we went to our hotel. After a bit of a disaster checking in (we were booked under my mom's name so she would get the points but because I was paying with cash, they wanted my ID which was forcing them to check me in under my name, costing her the points, we did get everything fixed and finally got into our room, where everyone promptly crashed.
:( It first off routed down a road that was closed (not Google's fault but a pain none the less). Then, once we took the detour and got back on the right road, it wound us around down through these little towns with 25 mile an hour speed limits, around hairpin turns, up and down hills etc. For the last half hour of the trip, we couldn't go over 40, which was extremely frustrating. We got in just before 11, so we still made pretty good time. The weather was dreadfully hot so our first stop was "Kringle's Cafe" to get drinks before we headed for the water park. Before we made it to the waterpark, we had the kids' official height measured so they could get wrist bands and we wouldn't have to mess with having the measured at every ride all day long. The waterpark measures shoes off and the other rides are all shoes on. Ms Thang was absolutetly over 36 inches and The Boy was just barely 48. He actually had to put his shoes on to top 48, but that was ok. He was actually the best height he could be. They charge a reduced price for anyone under 54 inches, but the max height of any of the rides is 48 inches. He fell in that "golden zone", which was fantastic for us.
After getting measured, we went around the corner and down into the waterpark. We got changed and went to get sunscreen. Unfortunately, they were nearly out so we got a little and went to find a spot for "home base". The water park was crazy busy so we ended up just parking the stroller (which neither kid rides in, but it makes a nice container for our stuff) near a fence and moving on. Ms Thang wanted to play in "Crocodile Isle" which has a nice all ages slide but is really too small for anyone but her. It has a small kids' slide and some sprayers and is absolutely perfect for younger kids. The Boy was more interested in going to the wave pool (of which there are 2) so we rounded her up and headed for The Wave (the smaller of the 2 wave pools). After she got over having her fit, she decided that the wave pool was pretty cool and figured out quite quickly that she could jump over the waves and they were fun to play in. She was insistant that she could go past the "strong swimmer" line. After the cycle of waves, the kids wanted to go to the treehouse, but I suggested the new feature "Kima Bay", which was similar to the tree house.
Kima Bay was awesome! It was a long walk from The Wave (and appeared to be a long way from everything else except the Bakuli slide but we found out later, there was a bathroom/sunscreen station and an Oasis just around the corner). It is all spraying water, climbing things and slides. It has 7 slides, 3 that are able to be used by the 36 inch and under crowd. TB and RF took off and did the big id stuff and MT and I did the stuff she could do. We went down the slides and up the stairs and under the spayers a million times. We finally drug her out to have lunch because it was 1 o'clock and we were all getting hungry. We ate at Safari Pizza, which is centrally located. They offer combos that are 2 pieces of pizza, one order of fries and one cookies. We decided to get 2 of them and split them, which caused lunch to be all of $14. That is one of my big selling points about the park, is that food is VERY reasonably priced. After lunch, TB decided he wanted to ride the "jungle racers", which Ms. Thang was too small for (and quite pissed about, at that) so I took him on it and RF took MT to the "jungle jets" which is right next door and a "sprayer garden" that she could play in. The racer was really awesome, but watch out for the second hill. It is a rough one!
TB and I went to play in the jets, for about 5 minutes until TB banged heads with another kid and decided to go to Bahari, the other wave pool. Bahari is huge, more like 2 wave pools smushed together. One side has big aggressive waves, suitable for older kids and adults. The other side has much smaller, softer, less consistant waves. It is perfect for younger kids and worn out adults (us by that point in the day LOL). MT refused to play in the smaller waves so huge pounding waves it was. When that cycle was over, we went and got more sunscreen (I love the free sunscreen) and then went back to Kima Bay. By then MT was melting down so nothing was working well for her. We played for a few minutes but it didn't work out too well. RF tweaked his leg and wanted to sit down. I took the kids to the only place in the whole park where I could watch 2 kids by myself, the lazy river (also one of 2). Plus, I thought if she would lay quitely on me for a few minutes, she would fall asleep. There was a problem with wrong sized tubes and I ended up dumped in the water, twice. Once by myself, once with MT on my lap. The second time, I also managed to lose my sunglasses which sucked. :( We finally got some right sized tubes and started around. Part way around, the radios cut out and changed to a warning that storms were in the area and that all rides were being shut down. There went my idea for a nap! We got out and camped out, waiting for all the people to leave. It wasn't raining so it wasn't that big of a deal. Then it started to rain in huge fat drops and we booked to shelter. Not for us, I was drier in the rain than I was at Kima Bay, but for all of our stuff that we didn't want soaked. The rain was short lived, too short to really chase many people out of the park, sadly.
By then it was nearing 6 so we decided to ride the family raft slide, which MT loved. It was good, calm ride for the over 36 inch crowd. After the slide, MT and RF changed clothes, but TB and I stayed in swimwear so that we could ride Raging Rapids, a Thunder River type ride that I took TB on last year and he loved it. MT rode the Salmon Run and the Indian River Canoes, both of which were super. After the river ride, we changed clothes then RF and I had dinner at The Alamo resturant. Tacos, burritos, fajitas, etc. The food was fantastic, which was pretty standard for the park. I didn't have anything there that wasn't good. The fajitas where enormous and the tacos were so full of filling that RF ended up having to eat at least of it with a for because it all fell out. The kids wanted a cheeseburger (TB) and pizza (MT) and the only place in the park that had both of those items together was Kringles Cafe. We took the kids there to eat and then rode the antique cars.
My major complaint about the park was it's lack of correct line use. All of the rides have several rows so the lines can wonder up and down and back an forth, because walking is always better than just standing in line. So many of the lines didn't have any of them open, causing the line, while not terribly long to seem much longer than it was. It was super frustrating to to see all those open lanes and no one in them.
After the antique cars, we went to our hotel. After a bit of a disaster checking in (we were booked under my mom's name so she would get the points but because I was paying with cash, they wanted my ID which was forcing them to check me in under my name, costing her the points, we did get everything fixed and finally got into our room, where everyone promptly crashed.
Wisconsin Dells - Knuckleheads
Next was Knucklesheads. It is an indoor family entertainment and gaming center. It had a few carnival style rides and a lot of video games. They also have bowling, food and a play structure for the younger kids. Again, pricey (2 or 3 dollars for each ride) but fun. If you go, plan to spend quite a bit of time (we spent 2 hours before we had to head for home but we could have spent a fair amount more time) and even more money. It was a good activity for a rainy yucky day where the kids could run and play. I give it 4 stars
Wisconsin Dells - Top Secret
First up is Top Secret it is an upside down white house that also houses many government secrets, including Nessy, Big Foot and some Roswell aliens (and some other things that I can't talk about here LOL) It was pretty cheesy but we had a good time. There were some neat effects and The Boy had a good time. There were a few spots where he was a little scared but overall, he thought it was fun. This is not a place for young children. There are many places that have dim lighting, mazes and loud noise. Ms Thang would have HATED it and the other kids on our tour weren't too impressed with it either. Our tour guide moved us through a little faster than I would have like but some of the kids were getting antsy so he did a good job of reading the general mood of the group and tailoring his speil to that. Over priced but then what isn't. Enjoyable to older kids and young tweens (and adults that act/think like kids :) ) and gets 3.5 stars from me.
Wisconsin Dells - Tommy Bartlett Exploratory
Next was the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory. It was basically a small children's museum/science center. The kids really enjoyed it and we spent over 2 hours working our way through the whole place. It was small and was a little pricey (nearly the same price as the Indy Children's Museum which is the pinnacle of children's museums), but we had a coupon that saved some money, plus I think it was worth it to have something that the kids really liked. There were small exhibits but there was enough stuff that Ms Thang could do and TB was entertained as well. It is truely a rare event when we find something that keeps both kids entertained for any length of time.
If you go to the Dells with young children, take some time and visit the Exploratory (especially if the weather is yucky and you need to do something indoors for a few hours).
This attraction ranks 4 stars
If you go to the Dells with young children, take some time and visit the Exploratory (especially if the weather is yucky and you need to do something indoors for a few hours).
This attraction ranks 4 stars
Wisconsin Dells - Dell 4D FX Theater
The Dells 4D special FX Theater runs a 15 minute double feature of a Funhouse ride and Marvin the Martian cartoon or a dinosaur attack and runaway log ride. I thought that it was 4 seperate movies so we picked Marvin the Martian because he is AWESOME! Ms Thang and I went in and she freaked out at the fun house ride. She didn't like the 4D effects and the stuff was too much "in your face" even without the glasses. Unfortunately, the 3D was poorly done as well and instead of feeling like things were coming at us, it felt like things were fuzzy and just ended up giving me a headache. The Boy thought the dinosaur attack was really awesome and highly recommends it. It isn't something I would do again but it wasn't the most terrible thing I've ever done.
I'm giving this attraction 2 stars
I'm giving this attraction 2 stars
Wisconin Dells - Wizard Quest
The next morning we went to Wizard Quest. This one gets another negative review, sadly :( The Boy and I did it together and neither one of us enjoyed it. We chose to do the easier level since he can't read and it would have been too hard to try and do all the challenges in the alloted time. As it turned out, we still couldn't solve all the puzzles and TB got bored after an hour and we left only partly done. The premise is that 4 wizards, one from each realm, has been captured and you have to solve some puzzles to get enough magic to free them. The easier level starts you with enough magic points, all you have to do is find the wizards. In reality, you spend a lot of time crawling around on your hands and knees, in the dark or semi dark, looking for symbols on things and doing a TON of reading. You start in the air realm, although they don't tell you that until you have gone through the other 3 and then have to go back to that realm. We wondered through the Earth, Fire and Water Realms, finding little or nothing. In the Earth Realm, we were able to dance with the fairies (which did nothing but deduct magic from us). Other than that, we couldn't find the wizard or complete any of the challenges in the level. We moved on to Fire, where it was nearly dark and there was nothing to do or see. There was a ball pit to cralw through but I couldn't fit and TB was scared because it was pitch black inside. Moving on to the Water realm, we crawled through some seaweed and found black light posters. We also crawled through some tunnels and found a puzzle to solve that was actually broken so it didn't count for anything. Still no wizard. At that point, TB was done and we headed upstairs to leave. Once upstairs, I figured out that that was the Air realm so we looked around in it for a minute. We found another puzzle that was broken and didn't count for anything, again. We did manage to find and free the wizard of that realm. After we found it, we went back to the other 3 trying to find them one more time and busted again. TB asked to leave so we did.
This would be an ok attraction for adults or possibly even much older children but for TB and I, it was boring and difficult and confusing and just generally not much fun. If you go as an adult, make sure you are small, limber and in good health. Also, make sure you take all your smart friends that are good at puzzles.
This would be an ok attraction for adults or possibly even much older children but for TB and I, it was boring and difficult and confusing and just generally not much fun. If you go as an adult, make sure you are small, limber and in good health. Also, make sure you take all your smart friends that are good at puzzles.
Wisconsin Dells - Kalahari Resort
Our first night here, we stayed at Kalahari Resorts. It gets a serious 5 stars. It is kind of expensive (twice what we paid at the Comfort Inn) but well worth the price if you or your kids like water parks. They say they are "America's Largest Indoor Waterpark" and they aren't kidding. They have a wave pool, 2 activity pools with basketball and "jungle crossings". They also have a lazy river, several body slides, 2 raft/family slides, a kiddie play area with sprayers and the very best thing is the Flow-rider. Besides having all of that to do, there is an entire outdoor water park to enjoy. We didn't spend much time there because it was cool and over cast pretty much the entire time we were there. In addition to the water, they have 2 different resturants plus several snack bars and a "Damon's Resturant" on the property. They have several gift shops, including a sweet shop. My recommendation is to save your money at the candy shop and head into the down town Wisconsin Dells where there is a candy store every block or so and the candy there is cheaper :) They have a kids areas as well, where, for a fee, you can decorate cookies, color take home souveniers and participate in scavenger hunts (we did and won a free large pizza and drinks for our efforts).
Besides, the all inclusive nature of the resort (they also have a day spa, but we did not indulge because it was really pricey), the staff is fantastic! Every person I dealt with was friendly and VERY helpful. Special consideration goes to Jeremy G and Tyler, lifeguards in the waterpark. They certainly worked hard for their money the night we saw them. They were both working the Flow-rider and were stellar with the kids (and some nervous adults). Tyler was the first to mention that Ms Thang could ride with a guard and he took her on her ride. When we motioned that she was ready to get off, he promptly pulled her off and then apologized that he couldn't see her face so he didn't know. He also chatted with the people waiting, keeping them entertained. Jeremy G was at the bottom of the ride and he was showing people how to do the various tricks that could be done on the ride. He would lay on his board and demonstrate, repeatedly, getting to his knees, then how to barrel roll, etc. All the while watching the person's form and yelling (the surf is really loud, you couldn't hear without screaming) instructions and motioning for them to do things.
Besides, the all inclusive nature of the resort (they also have a day spa, but we did not indulge because it was really pricey), the staff is fantastic! Every person I dealt with was friendly and VERY helpful. Special consideration goes to Jeremy G and Tyler, lifeguards in the waterpark. They certainly worked hard for their money the night we saw them. They were both working the Flow-rider and were stellar with the kids (and some nervous adults). Tyler was the first to mention that Ms Thang could ride with a guard and he took her on her ride. When we motioned that she was ready to get off, he promptly pulled her off and then apologized that he couldn't see her face so he didn't know. He also chatted with the people waiting, keeping them entertained. Jeremy G was at the bottom of the ride and he was showing people how to do the various tricks that could be done on the ride. He would lay on his board and demonstrate, repeatedly, getting to his knees, then how to barrel roll, etc. All the while watching the person's form and yelling (the surf is really loud, you couldn't hear without screaming) instructions and motioning for them to do things.
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