Wonderland

I went to Canada's Wonderland in the fist time in at least a decade.
I don't consider myself a fan of rollercoasters, but I'm become accustomed to going on them. When I was a little kid, my dad (I guess the daredevil in the family) would take us on the classics like Thunder Run, Klockwerks, Swings of the Century, bumper cars and all those kinds of rides. My brother and I would go on the octopus ride at the end of the night when there was no line, over and over again and swing our pod around as much as possible. I remember going on a ride which I think was called So Loco (or something like that) with my dad as well. I think these two rides are now gone and replaced with Psyclone and Behemoth - but I could be wrong). I was coerced into going on the Ghoster Coaster and HATED every moment of it. I also hated the big swinging boat (apparently called The Rage - but I'm sure this wasn't it's name back in the day).
I remember going with my family and some relatives who were from out of town and my dad went with my uncle (?!?) on The Bat. I think this might have been the first time that my dad had gone on a hard-core roller coaster (no one else in the family would - remember the Ghoster Coaster experience?) and I remember him saying that he enjoyed it. Time passed and our family didn't really go as much to Wonderland.
High school hits and teenagers love that stuff. In an attempt to be social, I go too and not wanting to look like a whimp (oh, the joys of adolescence) I go on a bunch of roller coasters. The only thing about them that I don't like is that feeling in your stomach you get on the first big hill. The other stuff is uncomfortable, but I'm okay with it. It took a couple of visits for me to build up the courage to go on the Skyrider, Dragon Fire and The Bat, but I have done them all. Of course the Ghoster Coaster isn't a big deal anymore, but I still don't go on anything similar to that big swinging boat and I don't go on Drop Zone.
So, this past Saturday, I make my big return to Wonderland pretty sure that I'm not going to go on the Behemoth because every time I drive by there, I see how big the thing is and I still don't want to subject my stomach to that gross sensation. So my friends are nice enough to let me work my way up to the Behemoth - we start with Thunder Run, then The Vortex (which really doesn't seem as bad as I remember), then Top Gun (which also doesn't seem as bad as I remember - although my ear/head still hurt afterwards from rattling back and forth)...I was starting to think that maybe I could handle the Behemoth. We go to Splashworks to cool off and this is where we realize that the days of yore when a full day at the Wonderland consisted on riding every single ride multiple times is no more. After looking at the clock, calculating how long we'd been waiting in lines and all the rides we still wanted to go on - it looked bleak. Half of the rides at Splashworks weren't even running and due to an accident the wave pool was just a big swimming pool. Sigh - oh well.
On the plus side - funnel cakes are still really tasty. Oh wait, there is a downside to that too...when did everything get SO expensive. I know stuff was always expensive, but $11 for a funnel cake? C'mon. Is there tax on top of that too?
Anyway, by the end of the day, I was thinking that maybe I would have the nerve to go on the Behemoth. But for some unknown reason, it shut down for a little while and by the time it was up and running and we were ready to go for it...they were suggesting a 1.5 hour wait time. Seriously? Also, it was around 15 minutes to closing time when we found this out and they were still letting people line up. That just doesn't seem right - I would have thought that they'd cut the line off at 9pm or something.
I did learn, however that I still do get that gross feeling in my stomach, so I'm not completely cured. For the briefest of moments on The Bat I got that feeling, but surprisingly it was the twisting and turning that really threw me off. I come off the ride feeling a little loopy - something that I've never felt before. Hmmm.
So in 8 hours at the park, we went on 8 rides?!? That just doesn't seem right.
Maybe next year the strategy should be: one day @ Wild Water Kingdom, one day @ Wonderland (no Splashworks)...and only on days that somehow I get a psychic vibe that the parks won't be busy.