Sun Moon Stars Girl )-(

Welcome to my little place to vent…

Today marked the beginning of our summer tour of various amusement parks throughout the grand US. Kris and I traveled to Six Flags New England, in Agawam (might as well be Springfield), MA with a coworker of mine and a couple of her friends. The day was hot and sunny - in the high 80’s - but not muggy. We’d decided a few months ago to purchase a season pass, so we picked those up right away, and shortly after rented a Q-bot for the day.

Ah, the screw-bot, I mean, Q-bot…and theme parks’ integration of “virtual waiting” systems. My first experience with one was a few years back at Walt Disney World in Florida. They issue you a ticket for a specific ride to come back during an hour window later in the day - sometimes five minutes later, and sometimes five hours later. In any case, we were able to finish the entire park’s attractions in less than a day, and ride the more popular ones twice or more, much unlike any previous time I’d been there. Since then, I also got to use a similar system in Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in Orlando. For me, there’s been no going back.

The Six Flags thing is a little different. You have to pay extra to rent the “Queueing Robot” for the day (but, honestly, what don’t you have to pay extra for???). It is an electronic pager-like device that holds your place in line. It tells you what time to come back so you can ride other attractions until that time, however only gives you a ten-minute window once the wait is over. If you work it right, you can have several rides queued up so once you are done with one attraction, the next one on the list is only a few minutes later. It’s definitely worth it if you go on a busy day, or want to ride the latest and greatest attractions several times in one day.

Our first experience with the Q-bot was when we rented one at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ last summer. I knew it was a good deal when I saw the lines we passed entirely by for the two newest roller coasters, Nitro and Superman, the Ultimate Flight - and we able to ride them both twice. That’s where we came up with the term screw-bot, which we lovingly refer to it as now.

Today was defiantly worth the fee, especially because with the season pass we received a coupon book for many things in the park, including one for the Q-bot rental. Having the screwbot definitely made it feel like we weren’t there on a busy Saturday, even though we were. (Although I think a lot of the crowd was concentrated in the water park for a good portion of the day, which also helped.) We were able to ride the most popular roller coasters 2-3 times, with absolutely no wait, along with the two park water rides, and enjoy the water park for as long as we wanted.

However - my two stories of the day…
Batman had a pretty big line, but of course that didn’t really affect us. Except once. They were trying to do the “efficient” Disney thing, where they line everyone up in the rows according to how many people there are in a party, but not being as efficient as WDW is. There were many times when I saw trains leave the stations with half-empty rows. Towards the end of the day so many people wanted to be in the first row (which I think is a big mistake - the bigger thrill is the last row, because that row is pulled up over the top of the hill, whereas the first row can theoretically be halfway down the hill before the last row gets to the top. In any case…) that there was a “separate” line of these people. For some reason the attendant was completely ignoring the fastlane people because of the first rowers. I was irritated that we had to wait longer.

Second, use of the screw-bot and social engineering at work: We wanted to ride just a few more coasters before we left. The wait for the Mind Eraser was too long considering the other rides we had queued and the time we had left. Noting the attendant at Superman had barely glanced at our Q-bot, Kris tried to pass it off at the Mind Eraser. Unfortunately the attendant there was more of a nazi, and actually looked at the thing, (”Batman is your next ride.” “Oh, oops, sorry.”) and a guy laughed at us. But Kris was right - buddy, the joke’s on YOU, ’cause who have we been passing in line all day? That’s right, YOU! It was worth a shot, and not a huge deal that we couldn’t go on it. Instead we got on Batman, and Superman, and that guy was probably STILL waiting for the Mind Eraser. *Ha, ha*

I’m looking forward to the other outings we have planned for Cedar Point in Ohio (pray for a nice day in Ohio on August 30th!), Six Flag Great Adventure (NJ), and Six Flags Magic Mountain (once we get to CA). We’ll also check out various other Six Flags (Chicago, St. Louis, Over Texas) if we hit them when they are still open for the season.

Last night I attended my first class of power yoga and pilates. Needless to say, right now I am very sore. It was a great class though, and basically what I’ve been looking for in a yoga class for a long time. Granted, I also enjoy the slow, relaxing breathing and stretching, but I really wanted something that was more of a workout - which is exactly what this was.

I felt kinda bad afterwards, as I had dragged Kris to this extremely intense workout. Kelly, the instructor, asked what he usually did to work out, and if he had done yoga or pilates before. The answer to both of those questions: not formally. So I think it might have been a little much for his very first session.

I enjoyed class so much it made me wish both kickboxing and yoga weren’t on the same night. So from now until the end of August I’ll have to decide which one I would rather go to.

This was the first 4th of July I haven’t spent stuck indoors, with family, or both. Not to say that being stuck with family is bad. I used to love the family reunion picnic we had on the 4th. I really miss seeing all the extended family. And I know that if we go see the fireworks in Moutainside to bring a blanket - not to sit on, but to hold over your head so the cardboard from the fireworks doesn’t knock you out.

Being stuck indoors isn’t so bad either. There’s always the marathons of shows you love on. My favorite is the Sci-Fi channel “Twilight Zone” marathon. I have a scar to prove it. And last year I got to see T3 with Ray. Going to the movies on the 4th was a lot less crowded than I thought it was going to be.

So this year was quite different for me. James hosted a 4th of July party. I think it’s the first time almost the entire Trunkmonkey group was together. I was happy when I saw who was there, because although I might see them again at Maine Forest, this was probably the last time I’ll see them socially before we leave for CA (see my past entry regarding massively full weekends).

I had a great time soaking up the sun and in the pool - I think even Kris was able to get a tan! Inside with the guys playing video games later was enjoyable too (note to self: must do entry about “video game watching addiction” or VGWA…the first step is admitting you have a problem). I missed the big downtown fireworks display (thanks to stupid Manchester for having them on the 3rd! Argh!), but Kris assured me that James had purchased some pretty awesome fireworks for a spectacular backyard display in NH. (For those of you who may be unaware, yes, fireworks are legally available for purchase in NH. After all, the state motto - which is on their license plates - is “Live free or die.”) Admittedly, a couple of them were these ultra-stupid parachutes things with sparklers that lasted about 15 seconds before the whole things landed smoking on the roof. For the most part, though, it was really fun. I’m glad we didn’t have to leave to see a fireworks show.

I wonder what the 4th will be like next summer in California. I think I’ll miss my family, but I had a good time this year and I didn’t see them. By the 4th I should be celebrating the end of my year of classes, and passing my exams. Well, Happy 4th everyone!