<p>My wife and I are very busy people, primarily busy with doing things with our kids. Things like hiking, fishing, bike riding, playing in the park, and other normal family activities. It’s county fair season, and we’re getting exhibit entries ready and will be spending the day at our local fair in the near future, looking at exhibits, animals, doing the rodeo, and the whole 9 yards. However, I don’t think we’ll have time to visit the carnival and do the amusement park ride thing.</p>
<p>So, I’m asking myself. If we never get around to setting aside time to do the whole amusement park ride thing (tilt o whirl, octopus, rollercoaster, Ferris Wheel, etc), will this be a problem for our kids? I’m not opposed to them (one exception below) but simply don’t have time in our life for it now.</p>
<p>The only reason I’m opposed to them in our silly local fair doesn’t do the daily pass thing, so each ride has to be purchased on their own. For me as a kid, I always had the wrist band and it was fun that I could do any ride that I wanted as many times as I wanted until I was finished for the day. I can try a different fair that does the wrist band thing, but that is the part that we don’t have much time for.</p>
<p>Of course your aren’t “obligated” to take your kids to an amusement park. (The experiences you are providing sound much more valuable to me.) Nevertheless, the rides are fun, and pretty harmless. I don’t know how old your kids are, but can’t you just buy them some tickets and let them go while you are busy with your exhibit? (I agree that the wrist band thing is more fun, but if they don’t have it, they don’t have it. I’m surprised, though.)</p>
<p>Of course you’re not obligated. But really, wouldn’t you like them to have that memory? It’s one afternoon out of your life. My parents had next to no money while we were growing up, but when my Dad would pull into a church parking lot so we could go on the crummy rides, paid for individually (wrist bands not having been invented yet) - well, it might as well have been Disneyland, as far as we kids were concerned.</p>
<p>It’s a wonderful memory and easy enough to give your kids. How old are they?</p>
<p>We took our kids to Paris last year, and one of their fondest memories is doing the amusement park style rides that were set up in the Jardin des Tuileries! </p>
<p>I think you’re overthinking this whole thing. 1) Not everything needs to be “educational” in life. 2) Won’t there be plenty of other chances to go to amusement parks at some point in their lives?</p>
<p>I agree with the above, and take the rest of my post for what it’s worth…the cyberink it occupies. Your kids are elementary age if I recall correctly. Your posts seem to be about other parents, your in-laws, what you have time for, money, in short…you seem wound pretty tightly. You certainly have as much right to be here as anyone else, however I find it curious that you choose to spend your time here when your kids are FAR from the age where college is on the horizon. So, back to your question…your kids will treasure the memories of having the afternoon on the rides. Part with the money if you can afford it even if you are opposed to the concept of a wrist band not being offered. What your kids will remember most is if they grow up with a dad that is wound tighter then a top and their life is regimented beyond belief…I’m a survivor of such a dad and speak from experience. I love and respect him, we did a lot of fun things (that were highly planned and regimented) and I knew he loved me, but he NEVER relaxed, and as a result it was very hard for anyone else to.</p>
<p>What do your kids want to do? Are THEY more interested in the exhibits and the rodeo, or would they rather do some rides? We go to our Big Fair every year, and while we don’t enter exhibits (we don’t farm), H and I enjoy that far more than the rides. When the kids were younger, we let them do a few rides while we stood around but now that even the youngest is 12, we have her bring a friend and go off and do the rides together while we look at what we like. Can you do something like that?</p>
<p>I’m not opposed to rides, just wish the county fair had wrist bands. I don’t think everything needs to be educational (I did them when I was a kid), but they charge $5 a ride and that gets expensive quick if you kid wants to do 10 or 20 rides.</p>
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<p>It’s a good point. I’m from a small town and we had the carinval come to town once a year for our county fair, and no more. I live in a city now, and I’m sure there will be lots of opportunities and it will probably just work out.</p>
<p>The reason I’m here is that you guys - parents whose kids are in college - have time to answer my questions and take the time to write well, and have experience that I do not as a parent. On the forums for parents of little kids, nobody writes clearly nor has the time to really answer questions and the answers aren’t well thought out.</p>
<p>As to whether I’m wound tightly or not, in this case, my question can be taken at face value. I have no issue with amusement rides, etc, and want to provide experiences that my kids cherish, including amusement rides. I do want to keep my cost reasonable and not get carried away, but don’t want to take away fun things for my kids.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread. Youngest is home for a few days, perhaps she would like to go- although my favorites are the smaller fairs. I remember when they had rides @ the zoo( well before your time, I’m sure:) ) & at the Seattle Center, now they don’t have either, so the summer fairs are about the only place, unless you go to Disneyland which we never did. ( although there is a theme park about an hour & miserable traffic away- but their rides aren’t really that great)</p>
<p>Going on amusement park rides are part of childhood. Sounds like you are going to be at the fair anyway, it’s worth making time to spend a few hours on the rides. Think of it as getting your children’s vestibular and limbic systems stimulated if you need to. ;)</p>
<p>Also check at area businessess to buy tickets beforehand, it can save money. ( you can also save money by bringing your own food, I’m not really a fan of fair food, except for snow cones & scones)</p>
<p>Again, with the overthinking. No one said you had to let your kid go on 20 rides. Pick whatever level you can afford or are comfortable with - maybe 2 rides per kid, 4 rides per kid, I don’t know your budget, and do that. Problem solved. I’m really not understanding what the issue is. Sounds like a fun thing to do. Most people make these decisions on the spot, anyway (“hey, let’s go buy x number of tickets”) and don’t need to strategize ahead of time.</p>
<p>While I rode some as a kid, and my kids have done some, I am not very comfortable with the safety of traveling amusement rides. I grew up going to Cedar Point every year, and we took ours to Kennywood when they were younger, certainly not cheap either!</p>
<p>Actually, now that I think about it, 17 year old just went to Kennywood with a ride all day ticket through the band for $26, so not bad at all. Food is expensive though.</p>
<p>D2 was always the daredevil growing up, she wanted go on the most daring rides. Both D1 and I would just say no, and H would always oblige. There were few times when I thought H would throw up and D2 would have a grin from face to face. </p>
<p>There was a ride like the bouncy swing, up and down, up and down. Another ride was the boat ride where it went from side to side. If you sat at the end of the boat, you would swing the highest (almost upside down). D2 tricked H into sitting at the end. The log flumes at Universal studios - that sudden drop. Run away train at Disney was also D2’s favorite. Many, many merry-go-round - Central park, RI beach, Paris. I did go on the London’s ferris wheel.</p>
<p>My “children” are finishing grad school this year and next. When they were all home for the last holiday, they told us how much they appreciated us taking them to Disney World and that they now understood what very good parents we had been :), considering how very much we detest that sort of thing ourselves. This had evidently just occurred to them and they wanted to share the realization with us. They are excellent young people.</p>
<p>We took them to Disney when they were early elementary school age, waiting till they were tall enough to get on all the rides, because we were only going to do this trip once. We spent a week on site at that hotel with the parrots. We went to a luau with the worst food ever. The waiters brought them a kids meals of chicken fingers and we were very envious. We had breakfast with people dressed as cartoon characters and the second worst food ever. We did a water park. I rode an in-the-dark roller coaster (space mountain?) with them, even though I hate roller coasters and had only been on one previously in my entire life. When I was a child. And I did that log roller coaster and got soaking wet. Every night my husband and I put them to bed and checked off another day. For us - Worst Vacation Ever. For kids - really wonderful life-long memories. At the time this was a really major expense for us. We delayed some house updates we were planning.</p>
<p>I always took my kids to the carnival and fair for the rides. They didn’t necessarily ride all day AND I was the mom questioning the man in charge about safety.</p>
<p>Your kids are only young once. You don’t get a do-over.</p>
<p>I would be willing to take grandchildren to Disney, but hope to be able to consolidate it into one trip.</p>
<p>ps: I don’t think any child is deprived whose parents can’t afford Disney. It is, after all, quite a luxury and not an essential in any way.</p>
<p>Fair enough, we are good company most of the time. ;)</p>
<p>If you want to take them on some rides and not drive up the costs, determine a budget you are comfortable with and tell the kids they can each pick X # of rides to enjoy, or they each have X # of tickets (however the system works there…some rides may take more tickets). Then your children are in control, the budget is set, everyone can relax and have fun. You know your children best. This would have worked fine with my three, others would melt down trying to make choices or be prone to whining when the tickets were gone, so you have to decide if this might be a decent compromise.</p>
<p>edit: because I’m exceptionally slow I crossed posts with #'s 11-17! Looks like we have the same idea though.</p>
<p>No scrambler? No tilt-a-whirl? Not even a ferris wheel?</p>
<p>I don’t think you’re “obligated,” but I think you HAVE to let them go. A chidlhood that has no memory of screaming your guts out on the tilt-a-whirl is kind of sad. Besides, where else will you learn one of life’s little trueisms: Never ride the scrambler after eating cotton candy? (It’s ride first, candy second)</p>
<p>mamabear, I worked at both Cedar Point AND Kennywood during college (obviously different summers). Met my husband at Cedar Point. Still go to Kennywood now and again when we visit family in Pittsburgh. Took kids to Kennywood,Idlewild,Cedar Point, Disney,Universal, Busch Gardens, Kings Dominion as kids. So, I guess you could say I like amusement parks and think they’re fun for kids. Took them to tons of museums,science types of things, historical stuff,too. Variety is fun! Go, engineer4life, to the fair, let your kids go on a couple of rides and have fun!</p>