We live only about 5 miles from a big amusement park called Valleyfair! The last few years, we have gone for 1 fun day in the fall each year. In the fall, the crowds are less so we don't have to wait in line (or at worst we wait in a short line) for most rides, the weather is cooler, and they have fun fall additions to the park (Valley Scare for older kids/teens and the Peanuts Great Pumpkin Fest for the little kids). The park is decorated for Halloween with pumpkins, skeletons, etc. around, but isn't scary until later in the evening when the scary dressed up employees come out and the haunted house and other scary attractions open. During the day, they have the little kid rides open, trick-or-treat stations by the rides, fun decorations, etc. This year, we went on October 15th and enjoyed pretty nice weather (great temperature and only a few sprinkles of rain near the end of the afternoon) and had lots of fun!
The big pumpkin they had set up decorating the lawn by one of the (now closed) water rides.
In the Dinosaurs Alive part of the park, they have life sized animatronic dinosaurs with music playing and speakers putting out what are presumed to be dinosaur noises. Because it is the fall "Valley Scare" time of year, they have extended the Halloween decorations to include a skeleton in the jaws of the dinosaur out in front of the entrance to the Dinosaurs Alive park. Sarah thought it was funny.
But Trevor was terrified!
Trevor loved the same dinosaur park last year when we went, but was terrified of it this year, despite multiple reassurances from Mommy and Daddy that dinosaurs have never eaten a human and that these are fake dinosaurs that can't hurt us. He did settle down enough to try some of the dinosaurs that had buttons to control which parts of their bodies moved.
But he still wasn't quite at ease and continued to intermittently freak out during our whole visit to the dinosaur park.
We got some smiles out of him along the way.
Austin and Sarah enjoyed it.
Sarah looking like she'll be lunch for the Carnitor
Trevor didn't even want to pose with the T Rex (or the Trevor-saurus Rex as he refers to it), but Austin did.
I got Trevor to stand with Sarah in front of Sarah's dinosaur, the Triceratops (Tri-Sarah-tops).
Then had him stand by the Triceratops, but angle so I got him in front of the juvenile T. Rex.
After the dinosaur park, we headed out into the main amusement park. First we ALL went on the "Monster" (which I call the octopus because that's what it looks like to me). That one always makes me a little queasy, but not as bad as the air balloons (more to come on that one). I used to be able to ride any ride with no problem, but now I'm getting to old for this! hehehe.
Trevor and I rode together. This was his first time on this ride.
Austin had his own seat.
And Sarah went with Daddy
Then it was off to the little kid area of the park for a while...
(One downside of going during a slower time of year is that the staffing is less, so they alternate which kid rides are open for a half hour at a time, so at any given time, half the little rides are closed.)
The little kid part of the park is Peanuts character themed and has fun rides going along with that theme (like the Red Baron Airplanes, Lucy's Tugboat, the Kite Eating Tree, etc.)
Austin was too tall, but Sarah and Trevor had fun on the Red Baron Airplane ride.
The big kids wanted to ride the "Mad Mouse" roller coaster ride, but Trevor was too small, so while Daddy took the big kids on that ride, Trevor and I checked out the petting zoo they have there in the fall. We met Chester the Raccoon and other fun animals.
We got back to the Mad Mouse ride before they got on, so we go to see Austin, Sarah, and Daddy on the ride. They had fun!
Then to the favorite - the race cars (aka the Peanuts 500).
All 3 kids love this ride and I love it because their enjoyment of it is so fun to watch. The face they make and the squeals of laughter are priceless!
Then Daddy took one for the team by going on the air balloon ride with the big kids. We didn't think Trevor was big enough to go on it, so just the big kids went with Daddy while Trevor hung out with me. We figured out later that Treovr can go on it if there is an adult riding with him. This ride, in particular, is the one that makes Daddy and Mommy the most nauseous. We hate this ride! The kids love this ride and always want to go on it, so we usually grant them 1 ride. Maybe soon they can go on it without us!
Then while Daddy recovered from the air balloon ride, Mommy took the 3 kiddos on the little "Snoopy's Deep Sea Divers" (submarine) ride that goes up in the air and gives you a little view of the little kids' part of the park.
Back to the race cars...
Trevor went on the Woodstock Whirlybirds with Daddy. It is basically the Peanuts version of the Disney spinning teacups ride. He went on it later with Mommy, but was disappointed I couldn't get it spinning as fast as Daddy with my bad arm.
Then the big kids decided to go on the Corkscrew (a bit roller coaster that goes upside down in corkscrew pattern and has another upside down loop before that) with Daddy, so Mommy took Trevor and a whole bunch of rides until they came back.
He rode the train...
The Kite Eating Tree
Lucy's Tugboat, the Snoopy Bouncy House, the Whirlybirds, the Linus Beetle Bugs...
When the big kids and Daddy came back from the Corkscrew, it was almost time to go. During the "Valley Scare" time of year, the little kid rides close at 6pm and they warn you that the scary characters come out at 6:30pm, so we didn't want to still be in the park by then. The kids wanted to go on the air balloon ride again, and since we didn't know Trevor could go the first time, we let them do it again so Trevor could ride. Mommy's turn to take one for the team this time...
(Side note: I did not look this happy after the ride! Ugh!)
After the balloon ride, Mommy was feeling pretty sick and it was time to head out anyway, so we headed toward the front of the park and rode the carousel before heading out.
After leaving the park, we let the kids choose Pizza Ranch for dinner. We had a really fun day and all went to bed exhausted that night!
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