Halfway There |
|
Here I sit wearing one of my many happy Disneyland T-shirts. I love thinking about the park, but sadly, there is one part I’m unlikely ever to see, and that is the fabulous Club 33. Technically, anyone can join the club. Anyone, that is, who still can pay the membership fee of about $30,000 after surviving the huge waitlist, plus the annual dues of $10,000 of course. We’re not quite in that category. We’re in the category of when our daughter worked at Disneyworld and could get us free tickets plus 50% off a hotel, we still couldn’t afford the Grand Floridian. I’m not complaining. Much as I like my creature comforts, I think the more, let’s call them “quirky” experiences provide more entertainment. And last year I not only got the thrill of a quirky experience, but I also became a member of a group so rarified that admittance cannot be bought for any amount of money. I am, ahem, one of the few people who have ridden only half of the Incredicoaster.
I’m not sure anyone else was quite as delighted with the experience as I was. Especially my daughter’s best friend. I haven’t dared to ask her. Her family isn’t much into amusement parks, so this was going to be only the third roller coaster she had ridden in her entire life. It remains to be seen if she’ll come with us again.
Anyway, the first half of the ride was great. Then we stopped dramatically at the top of the second biggest hill ready to plunge into a tunnel. And we stayed stopped. On my left was a straight drop down, but on the right was a walkway. This was great! I have no fear of being trapped, provided that I’m not trapped while also needing to go to the bathroom. That wasn’t a problem, so to my mind this was an ADVENTURE! I got a good, satisfying look at the interior of that coaster. After about 10 minutes two cast members came huffing up the stairs, and asked if we were all okay? As far as I could tell everyone was. The entire purpose of these cast members was to make sure that no one was panicking. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t lead a sing-along, after all, this was Disney, but you can’t have everything. They said that they weren’t trained to get us off the ride, but maintenance was on their way. Great! I was having the time of my life. About ten minutes later they arrived tied into the coaster with straps and carabiners like they were ascending the Himalayas. This made my Adventure seem even more adventurous. I would have loved to have rappelled down the coaster or been hooked in and walked the track down to the bottom. But anti-climatically, they simply released us one at a time and helped us onto the walkway. After climbing down a surprising number of metal stairs we were given passes to any ride in the park to help our emotional distress.
The most important part of this coaster is that next to it is the place where one can buy Jack Jack cookie num nums (enormous, browned butter chocolate chip cookies). That took care of any lingering distress I might have felt. We came back the next day and rode the entire ride. Clearly, we are superheroes!
I’m not sure anyone else was quite as delighted with the experience as I was. Especially my daughter’s best friend. I haven’t dared to ask her. Her family isn’t much into amusement parks, so this was going to be only the third roller coaster she had ridden in her entire life. It remains to be seen if she’ll come with us again.
Anyway, the first half of the ride was great. Then we stopped dramatically at the top of the second biggest hill ready to plunge into a tunnel. And we stayed stopped. On my left was a straight drop down, but on the right was a walkway. This was great! I have no fear of being trapped, provided that I’m not trapped while also needing to go to the bathroom. That wasn’t a problem, so to my mind this was an ADVENTURE! I got a good, satisfying look at the interior of that coaster. After about 10 minutes two cast members came huffing up the stairs, and asked if we were all okay? As far as I could tell everyone was. The entire purpose of these cast members was to make sure that no one was panicking. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t lead a sing-along, after all, this was Disney, but you can’t have everything. They said that they weren’t trained to get us off the ride, but maintenance was on their way. Great! I was having the time of my life. About ten minutes later they arrived tied into the coaster with straps and carabiners like they were ascending the Himalayas. This made my Adventure seem even more adventurous. I would have loved to have rappelled down the coaster or been hooked in and walked the track down to the bottom. But anti-climatically, they simply released us one at a time and helped us onto the walkway. After climbing down a surprising number of metal stairs we were given passes to any ride in the park to help our emotional distress.
The most important part of this coaster is that next to it is the place where one can buy Jack Jack cookie num nums (enormous, browned butter chocolate chip cookies). That took care of any lingering distress I might have felt. We came back the next day and rode the entire ride. Clearly, we are superheroes!