Ok…After a crazy day of naked Lego Batman and paying HUGE library fees, I decided to bundle the kids up, go pick up daddy and head down to check out the Stanley Park Ghost Train.
Because I was slow to think on all this, I had not bought tickets in advance…meaning that despite arriving around 6:30, we would not be allowed in a train until closer to 8 pm.
No problem we thought..there is lots to do around here…..for a price.
EVER:YTHING COST EXTRA!!
So after shelling out around $30 bucks for a family of four to ride the train…we were going to have to pay more for things like FACE PAINTING!!!
And the kids were getting hungry.
The only thing extra was the pitch black petting zoo, where poor tired goats were trying to sleep amidst LOUD spooky music. ….and the snippy lady telling me I couldn’t come in unless I had the tickets…which the husband had and he was at the washroom.
So..ten minutes killed.
The kids are getting hungry.
The line up for the train is either crazy long or empty…the guys seem to be very confused about how to run it all.
The Stanley Park Ecology Society was doing a ‘Creatures of the Night’ walk..which is cool..but after paying for the train..really pushng our budget for extreme spending for ‘fun.’
Which I feel bad about. I like helping causes and so on. But the pocket book can only go so far.
And the kids were getting hungry.
The highlight was while waiting we were visited by a family of Racoons..this caused quite a stir. “What! Racoons in Stanley Park! Gosh what a surprise!”
Sigh.
I sort of exploded at a doofus tween who decided chucking bunches leaves at them was a good idea. Seriously…Heloooooo???
Then we were finally allowed to line up for the train.
As you can see, I took no pictures. It just wasn’t worth it.
I don’t know how tiny their budget was..but I kind of wonder how people decorating their homes for Halloween can make it better than this was.
Mortal Coil….we were not impressed.
This is the one at Bear Creek Park in Surrey. I think this one is mostly manned by volunteers and sponsors.
This looks way better and way more fun. Though a tad too scary for the wee one’s.
I think there is a balance…and think with a bit more imagination, better shopping for spooky stuff (the deals at HomeSense and Home Outfitters right now on Halloween stuff is INSANE!
If you are trying to do a spooky show every year, you try to buy a bit more stuff each year and add to it all.
You also try to get volunteers to partake in the Scaring of kids etc.
This was a Ghost Train only because of the absence of Life during the ride.
Even scaredy Caity was like WTF? – the four year old’s version of WTF – and so that says a lot.
We won’t be going next year.
I can only imagine how disapointed all the ‘tweens’ were….no shrieking for the boys..nothing.
We had more fun eating appies and warm soup at Milestones down on English Bay.
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Which brings me to another tale…..just something we wondered as we drove through English Bay and Yaletown.
It was late. It was late and damp and cold.
Yet we saw SCORES of people out with babies. Not KIDS. Babes..in trendy mutant jogging strollers…or totting along between their parents hands.
Now..if you have been out visitiing..you might have the kids out late…OR and this was my theory….when Adam was a baby he wouldn’t sleep.
We instead would go for long late night drives to get him to go to sleep.
I am assuming that many in Yaletown don’t have cars..so what do you do when the baby won’t sleep? Go for a long and freezing walk.
This is what I hope….I hope these people just weren’t stupid.
patois says
You could have just come to my backyard and had a nature walk. I wouldn’t have charged you to pet the dog or the cat or to visit the raccoons, deer, wild turkeys or squirrels.
patoiss last blog post..Sunday Scribblings: I’m Crazy About Myself
claudia says
LOL! we went last night too!! We actually tried to buy tix for Video Games Live, but the guy said it was sold out a long time ago.. funny the Province didn’t mention that. Also there was misprint that said it was at the Center, not the Orpheum. So we wasted time today trying to surprise our older daughters and it didn’t pan out. THEN hubby got the idea, Hey, Ghost Train! after dinner.
So we donated $2 to get Leah’s face painted.. made the hats, looked at the dark petting zoo, the others ate three bags of organic popcorn (damn that bag was small),we DID shell out the money for the walk in the park and it was cheesy but it killed time until our *hold on to your hats* 9:30 train ride!
I was sitting there, holding Leah’s hand, cause she was a little unsure, in the train, waiting to go.. when dh taps my shoulder. I look back, and he’s smiling. Then the tap again. Irritated, I look back. This happens one more time, I turn back and he says laughingly “LOOK THE OTHER WAY, why do you always look the opposite way?” (I don’t know why, ever since I was a kid, you tap me on the right shoulder from behind, I crank my head all the way back from my left… while people snicker. I suppose it would have been easier for me to just look in the right, but meh.)
So I look to my right and a little Chinese guy in a black Pirate head scarf yells “ARRRRRRRRGH!” in my face.
I shrieked, and dh laughed uproariously.
yeah.
The train ride was ok, cute for my little one, and I didn’t know what to expect, but all I know is if I am taking them to the Christmas one, I am buying tix in advace LOL.
claudias last blog post..The last party until next year
Lisa says
ok I had to laugh about the late night stroller walking – I used to shake my head at my sis for their late night drives. I will admit that was hubby and I….especially when Anika was croupy, did late night walks. There’s nothing like a good cold night walk to get a little one to crash – our favorite was walking late at night after a fresh snowfall – the world has this amazing quietness – we had the best conversations while walking through the snow pushing our huge SUV of a stroller.
It’s not like we live in a sub-arctic climate here! lol