A different fall, without our favorite tradition

posted by Jeff | Sunday, September 1, 2013, 10:17 PM | comments: 0

I can't believe it's already September. This fall is going to feel very different for us, because of the difference in weather here in Florida. Our first shot at any kind of real evening "jacket weather" won't come until late October at best.

I really learned to hate winter and cold weather, and never cared much for spring either, but I did love fall in Northern Ohio, as well as Seattle. But the thing I will miss the most is Halloweekend Fridays at Cedar Point. That has become my single favorite thing about fall, and it will be hard to not have that this year. So many good times with friends there, along with the smells of kettlecorn, the Nutty Bavarian and of course the fries. Cool air coming off of Lake Erie, the sound of Arrow roller coasters climbing up their hills, and the warning of, "Arms down, head back and hold on!"

I remember way back when Stephanie and I first started buying season passes, and in those days there was no Halloween event. You had a few "bonus weekends" to visit the park in September, and that was it. Now they find a way to open all the way through the end of October, and the crowds are completely insane. I introduced Diana to the phenomenon in 2007, and we had another two great fall seasons in 2008 and 2009 before we moved.

The way our moves landed, we only had one fall back in Cleveland where we had season passes. We did sneak in a couple of times in 2011 on some comps, but of course this year we are already relocated. It definitely makes me sad. We could probably make it up there, but taking time off costs more than the travel itself, and I'm trying to be fiscally conservative the next few months as we approach our move to the new house. It just wouldn't be very smart this year.

Moving away from Cleveland did not have many downsides, and we've actually come to realize that the only thing we truly felt strongly about was Cedar Point anyway. Living here, Universal is too intense at Halloween (and not included in passes), and Disney is almost too tame (also not included with passes). And of course, it's not jacket weather and we won't see our friends.

Hopefully we can get up there next year, and perhaps take in the new and improved Breakers. In the mean time, the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot starts in a few weeks, and after that, the epic Christmas stuff around WDW.


Comments

No comments yet.


Post your comment: