Vacations Are Exhausting!

I had the privilege of presenting two workshops to the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America August 8, 2015. Not only did I get to meet some of my readers and authors I know, I met Tessa Dare!  

Hubby’s from California, so he went with me and we made a mini vacation out of it. 

After I finished my presentations, we headed to the Pirate’s Dinner Adventure where we had front row seats!  The dinner show was a blast, though the meal wasn’t very impressive and it cost us nearly $30.00 for one drink and a glass of orange juice. 

We were up at the crack of dawn and headed to San Diego to visit Sea World and to see my oldest son. I hadn’t seen him since Christmas!

 

 

Then it was back to Anaheim and Knott’s Berry Farm on Monday. To my utter horror, hubby and I accidentally got on Ghost Rider, a wicked wooden roller coaster that had me calling on the Lord. I’d meant for us to get on the sedate Calico Mine ride, not the stomach-turning,  neck-wrenching, I’m-gonna-die, 56 MPH atrocity we found ourselves on.

NEVER AGAIN!

 

 

 

 

Disneyland was our destination Tuesday. I have to say, I wish we hadn’t gone a the park’s 60th anniversary. It

was crazy busy; to much so for this small town girl, though an employee told us it was a slow day. Compared to what?   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our final day of play saw us at California Adventure Park, a first for both Hubby and I.  The Cars ride was my favorite!

 

Yes, I ate more than I should have, walked until my feet ached, and didn’t get more than 4 hours sleep any night. I was ready to drop by the time we got home. Vacations are always like that for me. I cram in too much. 

All the theme parks we visited were extremely busy and for the most part, people were polite and considerate.

I did see a young couple with a toddler steal food from a restaurant at Sea World, and another woman there picked her daughter a bouquet of flowers from the park’s flowerbeds. We had a few instances of people cutting lines and putting their kids over barriers in Fastpass lanes as well as some ruder people who plowed into guests, pushing those who had waited in line for over an hour out of the way, so they could get the best seats for Disney’s Fantasmic show. When the employees asked them to stop shoving and running (both the parents and their children) the offenders ignored them.

Then there were the people who refused to share rides, insisting each person in their party sit alone, or those who thought they were the exception to the No Smoking rules and harassed employees who told them they could only smoke in designated areas. 

Perhaps it’s because I’m  older, but I still thought a family was thoughtless when they all decided to start shrieking in the Haunted Mansion’s Ride entry. Later, those same people stood on seats in a ride, getting mud on them when other riders were loading. I almost said something when people took a table another family had been waiting for. Hubby and I gave them our table and finished eating while standing beside the trash cans. 

I know people are excited, and for many, they might never have another opportunity to visit these places (though the couple that stole the food had the routine down to a fine art, and I’m betting they do it regularly). Still, if everyone behaved so badly, imagine the chaos. On the other hand, considering there were thousands of people at each park, the few dozen boorish behaviors I witnessed only reinforces my belief that most people are decent.

What’s your favorite part about visiting a theme park?  What don’t you like?