<p>It’s funny- a lot of people prefer the “pay by the ride” method because you haven’t spent $40 on a pass and your kid throws up or decided he/she hates the rides! Also, then the parents don’t have to pay for a pass, too.</p>
<p>I’ve always had the impression that the traveling rides, were inspected more often than the ones at stationary theme parks.
Of course they probably need to be.</p>
<p>[Are</a> Amusement Park Rides Safe? | Travel Tips - USAToday.com](<a href=“http://traveltips.usatoday.com/amusement-park-rides-safe-17340.html]Are”>Are Amusement Park Rides Safe? | USA Today)</p>
<p>We took our kids to amusement parks a lot–Great Adventure a few times, Wildwood Boardwalk every year, and lots of smaller ones. </p>
<p>But we never took them to Disney. Which sometimes seems like it is seen in some circles as child abuse. But they seem no worse for the wear.</p>
<p>I think rides are great. When I was a kid, we went to Asbury Park, and we’d each get one card of tickets, which meant about three rides usually. We chose carefully and I rmemeber having a great time (except for chipping my tooth on the Scrambler…)</p>
<p>garland, I forgot about Wildwood. Have great memories from there. “Watch the tram car please!”</p>
<p>The timing on this thread is funny. I was at a farewell party last weekend for a young man going away to college. Parents are wealthy, super-educated people who are just amazing, loving, supportive. The kids are superstars. Parents provided every enrichment, world travel, lessons, anything they could ever want. They were the “no tv, organic only” kind of parents. When the son gave his speech thanking his parents, the only complaint he had with how they had raised him was that they had never allowed him to go to an amusement park.</p>
<p>Sevmom–:)</p>
<p>Set the budget, and make it clear there will be renegotiation. That’s where I’ve seen the most parents go wrong. They tell the kids 2 rides, then when those 2 are over, they whine about one more ride, how they don’t like the choice they made.</p>
<p>At $5 a pop for carnival rides, it makes Disney and the other major parks not seem to expensive after all. My kids don’t do carnival rides, and would rather “save up” the expense to use on a day at Six Flags or a local amusement park. They would do the same with their own money. </p>
<p>Depending on their age, I would set my budget, and let them know the relative value of that budget. They might surprise you with their choice.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine kids going to a county fair without going on a few rides…that was always the highlight of the whole thing. The best part was that they would run into friends from school and then all go on rides together. The exhibits were OK, but I would have to say that was more for the adults than the kids. They liked the pig races, but in the end, it was the rides that did it. We do have wristbands here and I have to admit it is very expensive without them. I would probably set an amount for each kid and let them go on as many as they can get for their money. Also, unless they are very young, they might have more fun if you follow from a distance and just watch. When I was young, the best part about County Fairs was running around without our parents. While I would never let my younger kids do that in this day and age, I definitely would try to stand back a bit!</p>
<p>But we never took them to Disney. Which sometimes seems like it is seen in some circles as child abuse.</p>
<p>One of my sils and her H went to Disneyland when their daughter was four.
They left their daughter at home with the grandparents.
The next year the grandparents took the granddaughter to Disneyland and let the parents tag along.
:rolleyes:</p>
<p>My very much younger sister missed our family trip to Disney (back in the days when it only existed in CA) and went to Disney World for her honeymoon.</p>
<p>okay I’m sorry I brought up Disney… just trying to give example of silly things that are meaningful to children even years later… it could be anything at all</p>
<p>I’m echoing others when I say that you are not OBLIGATED to take your kids anywhere. But the best memories our family has are the time that we spent together…be it at Disneyland or sitting in the den and watching sports.</p>
<p>I think all of us can lose sight of what is important in families…money can be a factor as is time. My son’s girlfriend told me a story that my son told her about Knotts. We were on the train and we were “held” up. He said that he turned white (he did). He laughed about it later…but he knew that we were there for him. You can’t recreate those childhood memories.</p>
<p>Engineer4life, are the rides visible from the areas that you expect to visit? If so and the kids can see the rides but are not allowed to go on any, they will remember this and curse you for it on your deathbed! (I’m kidding. Mostly.)</p>
<p>Totally flabergasted that this thread was started just two hours ago, and is already this long!</p>
<p>You are not obligated to set foot near an amusement park or ride. Ever. That sort of thing isn’t for everyone.</p>
<p>However, if you do, take some deep slow breaths beforehand, and consciously choose to go with the flow. Smile, do not look at your watch, do not have any preconceived notions about what should happen, how long it will take, what you all will or will not ride. Just live in the moment.</p>
<p>We are a family who has spent way more time and money at Disney (both coasts, last count 10 visits in the past 20 years, plus several during our own college years, plus all three of our kids have been there with high school music department trips), Hershey Park, several Six Flags, and a number of county fairs. </p>
<p>We enjoy them for what they are. Pure entertainment. Our only family rule is to try to go during off seasons and off peak times to lessen the lines. We have had trips when our daughter rode the Tower of Terror a dozen times in a row, which was fine because we weren’t trying to do everything in one day.</p>
<p>Enjoy yourself, and try not to think too much. Plan ahead for good times and good days to attend, what to wear, where to meet if you get separated, etc., but then relax about everything once you are there.</p>
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<p>Hence, why I want to go to a place that I can buy a wristband.</p>
<p>No whining about wanting to do one more ride. No trying to say that the last ride doesn’t count. No fretting about the cost of each ride. Just go and use it for however long you want on any ride that accepts it. </p>
<p>Hence, I should not do rides at this county fair that doesn’t do wristbands. I need to do rides somewhere where wristbands can be purchased, otherwise, I probably won’t relax.It’s just me.</p>
<p>Then you shouldn’t go to that fair if the kids can see the rides but not go on them. That’s pretty mean.</p>
<p>So, where are you? Aren’t there any amusement parks fairly nearby that have a system where you pay one price and ride all day? Even if it means a bit of a drive or staying overnight somewhere. Or you really should try to not get so hung up on this wristband thing.</p>
<p>A close friend has told me how he pined to go to Disney Land as a kid (there was no Disney World then). He finally paid to go as a young adult, but by then it wasn’t very magical. He felt sad about it.</p>
<p>I don’t know what this means, but certain things mean a lot when you are a kid.</p>
<p>Just for a different viewpoint, we went to Disneyland quite a bit when the kids were young. I’d say we went perhaps every year or two, from when they were 6 months. They thought it was OK but were never “crazy” or even particularly fond of the place. Their favorite thing there was a petting zoo on an island that is no longer part of Disneyland. They went to college in LA & mostly only get to Disney when they got in free because it was their bday or had out-of-town visitors. The kids generally did NOT want to spend their own money for rides at local fairs/carnivals, opting for games or food instead.</p>
<p>My kids generally are not very fond of rides, partly because they are very light & not well restrained by the restraints in the ride (especially when they were very little & developed earliest memories of Disney). We went to several character meals over the years & they were fine eating the meals UNTIL they saw the characters approach & burst into tears.</p>
<p>I guess the bottom line for us is we were glad we spent way more of our family time & resources at national parks & other outdoors activities, but did do a bit of rides on amusement parks. One of our last memories of my FIL was when he went with all the grandkids & us to Disneyland, a week or two before he had a stroke and died a month later.</p>
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<p>Then you need to do this more than the kids do. If you can’t set a budget for the kids’ rides, make them understand it and move on, then you need to learn how to do that. If you can afford for them to ride anything they want and don’t really need a budget, do that. The world won’t end with a splurge. Maybe they won’t like it that much and they’ll beg to go fishing again.</p>
<p>I love amusement parks, love to ride roller coasters, love Disney World, which is different than a Cedar Point.</p>
<p>So sad the kids are grown, live far away and we don’t get to take them :(</p>