(Un)amusing park August 4, 2008
Posted by Good Fountain in Sensory Integration, The kids.Tags: amusement parks, sensory processing disorder, vacation, water slides
trackback
The beach and the pool and eating out for dinner were the main events for this particular vacation.
However, there was an outing to a small water park which Chee and Ess both loved. With winding water slides they moved slowly down and shallow water to land in, it was the ideal place for my two small non-swimmers. We floated down a lazy river and in shallow pools together.
We took one other outing to an amusement park. The kiddie rides were too little for the parents to go on and Ess is too young to be trusted alone or with Chee on a ride, so many of them were nixed. Chee was up for trying the swings though.
She was not thrilled.
I have to hand it to her though in that she held it together for the duration of the ride. She didn’t cry on the swings, waiting instead till she was wrapped securely in her daddy’s arms to let loose. She recovered quickly and we headed for a family ride on the trains. Much more our speed. Slow and together as a family.
It wasn’t the motion of the swings or the height they reached that upset Chee, I don’t think. It was that she was by herself. No Mommy or Daddy to hold safely onto until this something new was finished. She wanted to ride the canoe a little later and the same thing happened. She was upset, I believe, because she was by herself in the canoe, a slow-moving little ride through a smooth canal of water. By herself and in a noisy, bright, highly-stimulating unfamiliar environment.
I’m glad we went to the amusement park even though it wasn’t quite the experience I was hoping for. I understand Chee a little better for it.
I understand we won’t be taking on Disney anytime soon.
Yeah, GF — we are in the same
boattrain. The Tongginator really wants to be with Momma or Daddy when it’s something new. I actually had to ride the Ferris Wheel at the boardwalk last week. (Remember – I have over-sensitive SPD!). She loved it; I struggled the entire ride. The things we do for our little ones! LOL.Us, too. Little Man will NOT go on any rides. When he was two he went on a bunch and loved them, but for some reason he won’t go on rides any more. He says they’re too scary. It’s too bad, but that’s just who he is right now.
I’m glad someone else understands, as most friends/family of ours are always asking why we don’t go to Disney or Canada’s Wonderland with Little Man. There’s no point yet. He’s just not interested and he’d get overstimulated way too quickly.
Those water slides sound awesome…
Don’t discount Disney just yet.
If I recall correctly, there aren’t any rides that are “kid-only”. They are all family rides. Sure, a few have minimum height restrictions, but the vast majority are for the whole family to go on together — even the ones that might make Chee want to hold tight to Mommy or Daddy through the new experience, at least she CAN hold tight to you or Daddy.
[...] She and Ess rode the cars together. Perhaps having her sister with her made it easier for her than when she rode the rides at the amusement park on vacation. [...]