I've been a fan of roller coasters for a very long time now. A big plus for friends (and significant others) has been the sharing of that enthusiasm, and I think it's fair to say most of my friends I know because of this nerdness. When Simon was born, it occurred to me that I had high hopes that it was something I could share with him, though at the time it wasn't something I thought much about given our residency in Seattle.
Still, at about a year and a half, I dragged him on to the Tiny Toot at Silverwood in Idaho. It's a small powered coaster, and he was not a huge fan. I hoped that I didn't ruin him forever at that point! A month or two later, we were back in Cleveland, and I hoped he would do Jr. Gemini at Cedar Point. He only sat in the ride, but gave it another shot the next spring and he was hooked. Before long, he also took on Woodstock Express. I was very proud of him, and very excited.
When we got to Orlando in July, he was still asking to go to Cedar Point. He didn't quite understand that Disney World had all kinds of rides, but he was immediately pulled in by the transport rides like the monorail, train, People Mover, etc. Eventually we got on Barnstormer at Magic Kingdom, and he really enjoyed it.
Our visits have leveled off a little, but last weekend we spontaneously went to Magic Kingdom on a whim. We went to Animal Kingdom late in the afternoon, where we could catch his favorite shows (Nemo: The Musical and Festival of The Lion King), play in the big playground and run off some energy. We closed the park, and we asked if he wanted to go to Magic Kingdom, even though it was late. He was all in. Simon was now into the circular rides, doing the Triceratops at AK, and Dumbo and Flying Carpets at MK. This was also the first time I heard him do his roller coaster howl on Barnstormer, and it was hilarious.
Today, we made our first priority some Fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The height requirement is 40", so he qualifies. It's really not any more aggressive than Barnstormer, just longer. He was apprehensive, but Diana asked him to try it, and he agreed. The really cool thing is that they allow three across because it has bench seats with a single lap bar, so we got to ride together.
Simon wasn't sure at first, probably because of the noisy anti-rollbacks in the tunnel, but by the time we hit the final brake run, he gave a clap and a "yay," and clearly loved it. Once we got off, he was asking to go again! I told him we would get more Fastpasses and come back.
And that we did. This time, a little girl sitting in front of us had her hands up, and peer pressure kicked in. Simon did much of the ride with his hands up! It was a proud moment for me, to watch him enjoy the ride like he did. He wanted to ride again, but we told him he would have to wait until next time.
It's really exciting to share something a little more grown up with Simon. I don't want him to grow up too fast, but I love the idea of sharing something like this with him. We're pretty fortunate to have the theme parks so close to us, where we can have adventures any time we want. Being a little vacation constrained this winter, it's a relief that we can have really fun half-days like this.
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