Sunday May 24th trip

so I went to the Park for the 1st time this year on Sunday, May 24th. The weather in Toledo was gloomy and looked as if it would rain at any second (7:50am). After stopping at the Woodville Road McDonalds, we took 579 to Rte 2 to Sandusky.

Traffic was non existent and we had no troubles on the causeway or parking lot. We entered the park without the barrage of employees toting cameras for photo ops which was refreshing!! We saw "Lucy" from the Peanuts, but wondered why it was only her and not the entire group of characters within the Ticket Sales/Front Midway area.

We stood and waited like cattle before the queue lines opened and people stampeded through to the back of the park. While the National Anthem was a nice added touch, we were hoping for something more substantial and eventful to welcome the day ala Disney.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the only lines that we noticed were for Top Thrill Dragster (which was down a LOT), Millenium Force and Maverick. However, the longest wait was maybe 1.5 hours which is not bad AT ALL!!

One of our 1st rides, (on Paddlewheel Excursions) we encountered a ridiculous, unruly, disrespectful family. The two children (1st grade age or so) refused to sit, walking up and down on the boat, while the parents talked and texted on phones. When the boat captain gently reminded them to remain seated- they refused. When she came into dock, bumping the boat- the Dad screamed at her for "purposely hurting his children" and remained on the boat for a nose to nose confrontation. The boat captain was exceedingly professional, polite and ideal in every way. She is to be commended for dealing with this moron who obviously had no idea how to control his children.

Stopped for the 1st showing of "Got Country" at Red Garter. It was delayed by 10 minutes or so due to technical difficulties with the pre recorded music. The cast was fantastic and full of high energy. The show was very enjoyable not only for us but for the wait staff as well it seemed! Everyone at the Red Garter was bobbing their head and tapping their feet to the music.

By 4:30, we took part in the "Backyard BB-Q" at the Coral Courtyard. This was by far the "best" deal that the park has offered in a long time! For $2 more, we got an All You Can Eat BB-Q with fried chicken, hot dogs, potato salad, pork n' beans, cookies and ice cream. The fried chicken was amazing...and since this is a "hush hush" event- there were no crowds and it was a great, relaxing time. Not to be missed!!

The next few hours were spent riding as many rides as possible and taking in all of the atmosphere. The new jumping fountain on the Midway is a great cooling spot for the young set- but as we nervously laughed...isn't recycled water being used? Sounds unsanitary. But it "looks" fun! Ha!

Ran into a delay at the Corral at the front of the park. Apparently not enough batter had been made for funnel cakes, and it turned into a half hour wait with only maybe 6 of us in line. The cashier was not aware of the issue but apoligized profusely and was very nice.

The staff on the Space Spiral (Travis & Stephen & Vadim) were especially talkative and nice. It was a nice respite at sunset and the sky was a phenomenol pink. A true Kodak moment.

Remembered to buy some infamous taffy on the way out of the gate, and then stopped at the Causeway McDonalds for jumbo drinks before an hour drive back to Toledo on Route 2.