On Friday, June 26th we headed to Adventureland for a day of fun!
I am excited that this has become an almost yearly tradition- we've gone twice in the past, skipping last year since I was incapacitated due to my twin pregnancy. This year my parents drove up early on Friday morning and then we headed to the park. We booked a room that night at the Adventureland Inn and were excited for our mini vacation. We actually parked at the hotel parking lot and then checked in to our room, letting them know we were here and they could call us when our room was ready. We also got our wristbands to ride the trolley to the park from the hotel and could leave our car there. Score- we saved $10 instead of parking in the regular lot!
We headed into the park around 11 and walked straight towards the Raging River. This ride has the longest waits in the park due to the extremely slow loading and unloading and popularity of the ride. Even though we had to bypass some fun attractions, I knew I would not want to be spending an hour waiting in this line later in the day. As it turns out, there was no line!!!
It was early and cool in the day and so mom and I wore our cool ponchos to stay dry on the ride. They worked well and I could tell everyone thought we were really cool and were jealous of our smarts. Lucky for me I have a huge ziploc of ponchos left over from my Disney travels that I threw in at the last minute. I actually kept mine on for a while after the ride since it had started raining just a tiny bit off and on.
After the Raging River, Michael and I headed to the Log Ride since we were already wet. This ride also had no line, and it usually does. We got right on and had a fun time. The big drop always makes me nervous! Afterwards we hit up a few more rides in the area and then headed over to the Saloon for the Magic Show at noon.
The magic show was a black light show that was about 20 minutes long. It was nice to get out of the weather for a bit and take a rest. We all enjoyed it and it gave the girls a chance to had their bottles. I would recommend it!
We also wanted to watch the 1:00 circus performance so we headed towards it with stops at Puff the Dragon and the Outlaw on the way. The above photo was taken because the park looked so pretty with everyone bright and green!
(Sorry for the unflattering photo, teenage girls.)
Michael rode the outlaw and did great! It was pretty scary but I held on tight to him. I was proud of him for being brave! The drops aren't that big but it goes fast and has some tight corners.
After the circus we were getting hungry so we decided to head back to the hotel. At the trolley stop we ran into Scott who was meeting us after working in the morning. Unfortunately, our room was not quite ready yet so we ate our sack lunch in the lobby of the hotel and took a little break. After about 45 minutes, the front desk let us know it was ready so we hauled all our stuff upstairs, got our swimsuits on and went for a little swim. We booked a balcony suite overlooking the west pool area and it was really nice. It was essentially two rooms that were adjoined for a price that was slightly less than two actual rooms. It worked out well!
After our little break it was about 4:00 and we headed back to the park for some more rides. At this time the rain had totally cleared off and it was a beautiful, cool late afternoon. Perfect weather!
Scott wanted to take a turn on some of the more thrilling rides so he did the log ride, outlaw and river gulch again with Michael. I was happy to sit these out for a second round! Scott and I were brave and went for a spin on the Storm Chaser- so high and fast! Eek!
We also enjoyed the Underground (just like minecraft!), bumper cars and a wild animal show.
Wrapping things up, we did a round trip on the Sky Glider and rode the Carousel. Michael vetoed the ferris wheel and thought the wait was too long for the train so we headed out of the park around 8:00. It was a perfect night and there was hardly anyone in the park at all! I wish we could have made it another hour but we were hungry for dinner and getting a little tired. We did everything we wanted to do with no waits and really had a nice time. I think the cool temperatures really kept everyone's spirits up. We did not plan on doing the waterpark this trip but I think if we had we would have been bummed out that it was so cool. It seemed like a lot of the people in the park were just waiting around for the sun to come out so they could go swim.
The girls did awesome in their stroller all day. They didn't really take any rests except for some short cat naps but were happy campers. I was worried about them not sleeping because we were going to be in the same room as them but they did great. They just went to bed the same time we did and as soon as the lights were turned out, they settled right down.
It was so nice staying at the Adventureland Inn. Scott and Dad got takeout from Jethros for us (across the street) while the kids decompressed and mom and I enjoyed a beer on our balcony. The next morning we all had a breakfast buffet downstairs and then squeezed in a little swimming before it was time to check out. I wished we had more time for swimming but it was hard since we all slept in late due to the very dark rooms- a treat for sure!
There are two pool areas the the hotel and lots of rooms that have direct pool access. I think it would be fun to stay in a pool room sometime this winter- rates were extremely reasonable for the hotel. One of the pools even has a swim up bar so mom and dad can enjoy a drink while watching the kids swim! I had an awesome margarita the afternoon before while Michael was swimming in the kiddie pool and the girls were with Grandma in the room. You can even charge it to your room!
Overall, we had a great time at Adventureland and the Adventureland Inn. The weather kept the crowds away but it wasn't anything that was a pain to deal with. It was fun staying at the hotel but as always it seemed the the time seemed to fly with all the fun we were having. Thanks for treating us, Mom & Dad and we can't wait to do it next summer!
Here's a few links from our past adventures:
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