A Mothers Horizon

It will be a long weekend for most of us. Here in HongKong, the holidays will start tomorrow until Monday.

If you’re planning for a visit to your local amusement park or travel in a cross-country for a Disney extravaganza, I would like to share these couple of tips, which I got from babycenter.com and make most of your day without feeling so haggard.

Pack smart
Don’t leave home without hats, sunscreen, and extra diapers (if needed). And even if your child has pretty much outgrown a stroller, this may be the time to dust off the lightweight, collapsible model in your basement. After all, a young child being forced to stand in long, hot lines — or worse, insisting on being carried around a ten-acre park — can ruin the day for everyone.

If you don’t have a stroller with you, you can usually rent one near the park entrance. (HK Disneyland have this one) … Label the stroller with your name and mark it with a brightly colored tag or scarf — you’ll have to leave it in the stroller corral whenever boarding a ride, and it’s not easy to find yours in a sea of strollers.

Plan your day wisely
Pick up a schedule of shows, parades, and other special events when you enter the park, then use it to map out your day while you’re waiting in line for your first ride.

If the park has animal exhibits, for instance, plan to visit them in the morning or evening, when temperatures are cooler and the animals are most lively, or during feeding times, which can be wildly entertaining. And hold off on water rides until the heat of the afternoon, when you’ll actually appreciate getting wet.

                                        Photo from Branson Missouri site

Take a break at the park
What would a day at an amusement park be without musical revues, animal performances, magic shows, ice skating exhibitions, Imax films, and virtual reality “experiences”?

While these attractions differ greatly in quality — and some are just plain awful — they’re often the only place to sit and take a much-needed rest in the shade or in an air-conditioned theater. Unless you’re just dying to see something and will take any slot you can get, save these shows for the heat of the afternoon or for when you need a breather from stomach-jostling rides, such as after meals.

To head off disappointment and tears, check park rules before you go and discuss them with your child. On the other hand, some parks have kiddie rides that ban those over a certain height — so at least your youngest will get a chance to lord it over big brother or sister for a while, too.

And most of all: Enjoy and have fun with the whole family…

Entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 12:18 pm under on the web Category.
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