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Geez, what an amazing day we've had...
I suppose most of you would have figured out that the specialness of today was the celebration of Jo's birthday. It's her big day of the year, and we went all out to make sure it was a day she would remember. We started by letting her sleep in, and making her pancakes for breakfast. This was followed with a showering of birthday cards and gifts, and songs and hugs and kisses. I think the whole park, or at least our nearest neighbours, are aware of the significance of today...
We headed back to Dreamworld (a suitable location for a birthday party, don't you think?), and birthday messages and wishes started arriving via text message and facebook etc. Thank you to all those who've remembered, and took the time to pass on your thoughts, it's trully appreciated. And to all those that forgot, don't worry, we know who you are!!
Anyway, as part of a prior deal that had been made, Jo had agreed to do a decent roller coaster ride, if Dylan did the Cyclone, and Jeremy did the Buzz Saw. So the Buzz Saw was the first stop of the day. It's a relatively new ride, last couple of years, and it's really good. I mean pants wrecking, good. Jeremy and I did it, and it's scarey as hell. It takes your breath away, and doesn't let you have it back, until the ride is finished. The ride has you vertical or upside down, and going backwards more than you're actually going forwards, and you just have no clue where you are or what's going on. You just hang on for dear life, and hope and pray it's over soon and you can get off... We loved it! It doesn't beat Superman on the roller coaster scale, mainly because it's too short, and is over just as you're coming to grips with it, but it's still an awesome ride. We then headed over to the Rocky Hollow Log Ride, which is an old favourite, and one that has to be done every time we're in Dreamworld. This was the warm up for Jo's end of the bargain, as it's a fairly mild ride, but has a bit of a hill at the end, just to create a sense of excitement. We all went on together, and got mildly wet, and it was a good lead in for Jo and Dylan to start the bigger rides. The next stop was the Mick Doohan Moto Extreme roller coaster, which is the one we'd chosen for Jo to 'cut her teeth' on. It's also a newer ride, but for a roller coaster, is very smooth, and not too fast. It has no real ups and downs, or sharp corners, but flows along the track twisting around itself, nice and smooth, until it comes to the end. She really enjoyed it, and admitted at the end, that she would do it again. So that left Dylan to keep his end of the bargain, and we went to the Cyclone. It's one of the older rides in Dreamworld, and is a fair dinkum roller coaster. You know, the old winch and chain pulls you to the top of a massive hill, and lets gravity take over for the ride back. It's fast and loud and jerky, and has two loops and twists and turns, that really shake you up if it's your first time. Dylan admitted he was scared, but he lived up to his commitment, and unlike Jeremy's first time, he didn't do a wee in his pants... Ha, that's true, by the way... So, now that everybody had fulfilled their agreements, we were on free time. Jeremy and I did the Claw, which he really, really loved, and by that time, we were all ready for an Dreamworld Icecream Sundae. After our icecreams, Jeremy and I queued up for the Tower Of Terror, and Jo and Dylan went to the tiger show. Jeremy had earlier stated implicitly, that he was not going to do the Tower of Terror, but after doing Buzz Saw and the Claw, he was feeling a bit bulletproof, and we took the chance... The queue was long, and the build up and anticipation was excruciating. He kept looking like he was going to chicken out, but every time he looked at me and was going to say something, I'd look away, and not give him the chance. There was no way he was going to walk back through that queue on his own, and I knew it. By the time we got to the holding room, prior to boarding the ride, he was committed, and had nowhere to run. The music was playing, like in Jaws before the shark attacked, and our hearts were racing a hundred miles an hour. It was an awesome feeling, to be so scared, but knowing that we were going to do it anyway... The ride was incredible! If you've done Superman, you'll have an understanding of the speed and acceleration, but we were going backwards, through a tunnel, in the dark... We burst into the daylight, going 100kph backwards, straight up the big pole behind us, vertical, until it washed off our speed... Then we plummeted back down. Straight down, along the same track, back into the same long, dark tunnel, with our hearts and stomachs left back up on the pole at the top of the ride... It's just impossible to describe how good you feel when you do a ride like that, and you can only understand, if you've done one. The Buzz Saw, Tower of Terror, Wipeout and to a lesser extent, the Claw, all give you a rush of excitement that's worth every cent of the cost of admission... and it's all legal...
Dreamworld is an amazing place. These theme parks are about more than fun and rides and excitement and foot long hot dogs. They're about family and memories and good times. They're the days when it's ok to have a bad burger for lunch, followed by a churros and an icecream cone, and skip dinner. It's about challenging yourself to do or try something you normally wouldn't, and being able to talk and laugh about it afterwards. The stories and the memories... That's the valuable stuff right there. The rides and excitement are over when you get in the car to come home, but the memories are there to stay... That's why we went back today, and will go again tomorrow... The memories created for our family, and seeing our kids grow and challenge themselves, and succeed or not, the reward is in seeing them try...
And it's a bloody great place to celebrate a birthday!!
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