<p>Oh,PackMom, What a beautiful story. I’m so sorry about your dad.</p>
<p>Awww. I hope the memory makes you happy. </p>
<p>Jym, we shared Rye Playland memories a few pages ago, along with the Palisades Amusement park jingle. </p>
<p>Now I live near “SEVEN FLAGS! … marine world” . I liked it better when it was just “Marine World”. Anybody been?</p>
<p>oh Packmom, that brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing such a heartwarming memory. that’s the thing, we can share special moments when we share what brings joy to our kids and spending time with us, relaxed, having fun can create those moments.</p>
<p>engineer4life, OK, so they go to this country fair and go on NO rides and you promise them an all day pass at another amusement park instead. OK, that is a good option IF you follow through on this with a specific date rather soon or else seeing those rides but not being able to go on them will be a big tease.</p>
<p>Thumper1, the last time I was at Cedar Point was 3 years ago and they still had the French fries, funny that is what other people remember also. How they had malt vinegar to put on them. Remember the salt water taffy machine by the front gate? Not a big fan but seem to always want it at cp. The thing I remember most is they had these waffle ice cream sandwiches, the waffles were warm and oh my! </p>
<p>There is something about fried dough that is so enticing, gives me such a stomach ache but oh how I loved it. I wonder about the Texas State Fair where they fry almost everything, and oh how about the lemon shake ups! Did everyone have those lol!</p>
<p>Now my D worked one summer at Cedar Point. They have a Famous Dave’s and that would be what she associates with Cedar Point and what she craves.</p>
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<p>The amusement park is before the fair, so they will have already got their day doing rides, etc prior to the county fair. Our county fair is late in season.</p>
<p>As a family of 7 we didn’t do amusement parks much but every year we went to the county fair. Even as teenagers that was one place we didn’t mind being seen with our parents. I think we probably got a limit to the number of rides because I don’t remember going on rides all day long. I remember the spinning swings. We always wanted to go on those a few times. I remember the purple chicken-no idea if it was dyed or what. I remember the amazing fresh Vermont sharp cheddar, still my favorite kind of cheese. I remember the side show we weren’t allowed into. I remember my sister falling into a pile of cow manure and having to hose her down in the middle of the farm section. We all still take our kids to whatever fair we live close to every fall.</p>
<p>It’s really not about the number of rides, it’s about the family experience. My own kids never had a problem with “X number of rides and that’s it.” My youngest doesn’t even LIKE rides. </p>
<p>My two oldest are well, older now. Grown. And they still like to talk about the things we did with them as kids. We always looked at the exhibits but we found things they liked too-the animals, the free music, whatever. You’re making memories-that’s what it’s all about.</p>
<p>I don’t remember going to amusement parks with the family as a child but all 6th graders went to the safety patrol picnic at Lake Lansing Amusement Park at the end of elementary school. [Lake</a> Lansing Amusement Park - Lansing MI](<a href=“Lake Lansing Amusement Park Lansing MI - WaterWinterWonderland.com - A”>Lake Lansing Amusement Park Lansing MI - WaterWinterWonderland.com - A). I was so sorry for my brother because he skipped 6th grade and never got to go (late October birthday; my mother had held him back from kindergarten originally - yes, it even happened n the 50’s).</p>
<p>Ah, Packmom … what a wonderful story. Yes, life can be short. It’s great that your dad realized that & made memories to sustain you.</p>
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<p>Sounds like two nice family days. Enjoy!</p>
<p>Oh Packmom…I’m teary-eyed here…
Wonderful, wonderful memory…</p>
<p>engineer4life, glad you have come to a reasonable decision. Therefore, the thread seems to have been beneficial after all.</p>
<p>I just want to point out that the OP said that they were going to be exhibiting something at this fair, not just attending for the fun of it. Since they like to do things as a family, this involves taking the kids along. He is not taking his kids to the fair to conduct a forced march through the exhibits and torture them by not allowing them to go on the rides! </p>
<p>Sounds like you have found a reasonable compromise. Have fun!</p>
<p>When we were young my parents started dragging my brother and I (about 6 & 9) to this dumpy old house where all we did was stay out of the way with board games and books while my folks worked like dogs to repair this home. This went on for months. Then it stopped and low & behold a surprise trip to Disney World! It was so magical. We stayed at the Polynesian Village which had just opened. The monorail took us everywhere and was like something from the future. No expense was spared. I remember getting mouse ears with my name embroidered on the back. I slept in them. So many amazing memories from that trip. It was only as an adult that I understood my parents had bought that house which had been gutted by fire, renovated it, flipped it, and used the proceeds for the trip. They had never done it before or sense. It was a labor of love…the only way our family could have ever afforded a trip like that. My parents could have used that money for so many other things, but they gave it to our family vacation just that once. It ment the world.</p>
<p>What a wonderful story, Packmom! You have shown just why these little experiences are so important. It’s definitely worth a few dollars to have a lifetime of enjoyment from the memories.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip on the previous convresation about Playland in Rye, Shrinkrap. Glad to see you and Consolation enjoyed it. I spent a lot of time there as a kid and young adult (college summers). Lots of stories to tell!</p>
<p>OK-- who remembers FREEDOMLAND in the Bronx, now home to Co-Op City?? We ate at the Chun King restaurant there all the time!</p>
<p>Quick funny story from the state fair days. Bro and I were gtting a little bored looking at the prize winning sheep and cows and pigs. So my dad takes us over to the brue ribbon rooster cage and says “I know how to make him a real prize winner” and quietly slips an eggo or two from the hen cage and puts them in the rooster cage. It doesnt sound so funny now but it was hysterical when he did it. Fun memory. Miss ya, dad.</p>
<p>While I am glad the OP came up with a solution that works for him, I am trouble by that fact-- that it is FOR HIM… HE wants to be able to ride unlimited rides 40 or so times (I’d be barfing over the edge if I did that) and I enjoy carnival rides. Doesn’t seem to matter what the kids want, its about what he wants. That makes me sad.</p>
<p>*** OMG serious flashback here for anyone who remembers Freedomland. Watch the video and relive your childhood memories. [Freedomland:</a> the Bronx’s 1960s theme park Ephemeral New York](<a href=“http://ephemeralnewyork.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2010/04/09/freedomland-the-bronxs-own-theme-park/]Freedomland:”>Freedomland: the Bronx’s 1960s theme park | Ephemeral New York)</p>
<p>My mom thought fair rides were poorly constructed and unsafe, so we never went on them.</p>
<p>My family went to Disneyland as part of a long-promised family trip when my dad earned his bachelor’s degree (after 22 almost continuous years of college!). I don’t think any of the four of us really loved the amusement park circuit, but to this day, the trip still holds great symbolic meaning to me. :)</p>
<p>I visited Disneyland as part of a cross country train trip at age 13, and the parts I remember most were that my sixteen year old sister was allowed to stay home alone, my brother choked (but survived) on an ice cube from a motel we stayed in, and kids in Anaheim were riding horses near the parking lot.</p>
<p>Isnt the Knotts berry farm across the street?</p>
<p>Has anyone here taken their kids to Land of Make Believe in NJ? It was one of the most understated playland, those rides were so ancient that only kids under age of 5 could appreciate. Our kids used to love to go there every summer. We only went once a year because that was all I could deal with. We used to take our kids 2-3 times a year to Disney, but they always asked to go back to that place every year. We still have a picture of D2(age 3) falling asleep on a canoe ride (2 feet off the ground, not in the water).</p>