Castles N' Coasters

Strap on your weapons, brush up on your gang signs, We are having a Castles N' Coasters birthday party!

Jack has been begging to go to this place, and I keep saying, "We'll go for your birthday next year". I was just trying to put him off, hoping that he would forget about it, but of course he turned five and had but one request. Instead of having a full blown party there I called Kristen and had her come out with Emma and Ella.

We have been to Castles N' Coasters before so I thought I that I was pretty familiar with how it works. Apparently there have been some policy changes since last time. There we were at the gates, with three little kids so excited they could hardly see straight. The plan was to go in, ride the roller coaster and leave to have cake and ice cream at home.

I stood in line to buy the tickets.

Me: Six tickets to ride the roller coaster, please.

Minimum wage guy at the window: Uh, we only sell all day ride passes. If you want to ride anything you have to buy one of those. They are $25.00 apiece.

Me: Maybe you don't understand. We don't want to be here all day, we couldn't spend all day here even if we wanted to. We just want six tickets to ride the roller coaster ONE TIME.

Minimum wage guy at the window: We changed our policy last summer and I can't even ring that up on the computer. You can spend $25 bucks per person for a day pass or you can't go in at all.

John and Kristen in the back ground: Hey Jack, there are a million things we could go do that are better than a stupid old roller coaster!

Me: (getting a crazy look in my eye and a scary inflection in my voice) No. This kid has been waiting pretty much his entire life to ride the roller coaster and these guys just drove 60 miles to ride the roller coaster. We. Are. Riding. The. Freaking. Roller. Coaster.

Minimum wage guy: Sorry. I can't do it. I'm really sorry.

Me: (in a really really nice voice, that was clearly more terrifying than the scary voice because it made the guy wonder if I was emotionally stable.) We are not leaving until we get this little problem solved so I'm going to need to speak with your manager.

It was funny to see them all scrambling around back there. They might as well have had a flashing red light and alarm. CRAZY LADY ALERT! CRAZY LADY ALERT! THIS IN NOT A DRILL!

Eventually the manager came out, obviously having been briefed about what was going on. Everyone (including my husband) looking on nervously to see how this battle of wills would go down.

Long story short: The manager welcomed us in for FREE, and offered to personally escort us onto the roller coaster. He also gave us his name and told us that if we had any problems or questions to have him paged and he would take care of us himself.

Moral of the story: Being a total bitch pays off.

Ironic ending to the story: Jack REFUSED to ride the roller coaster.

Jack and Ella were so happy to see each other . They threw their arms around each other and hugged for the longest time. They are the cutest little pair of best friend cousins in the world.

The kids had more fun climbing on the rocks than anything inside of the park.

Happy Birthday, Jack!