My son asked if we could go to Busch Gardens theme park this summer. In general, I’m not into theme parks, but I actually enjoyed Busch Gardens the last time we were there, because it’s beautifully maintained and has things to do besides rides. I get sick on rides.
Then Facebook reminded me of this photo I took and posted six years ago today. We were at Cedar Point Amusement Park, and were staying in the hotel right inside the park. Good move. If you got tired or wanted a clean bathroom or a snack that wasn’t awful and didn’t cost a fortune, you could go inside to your room and come back out into the park whenever you wanted. And it is kind of a cool view.
We had planned a stop Cedar Point for a few days on the way home from a longer trip. Jon Morgan, 13 at the time, had been wanting to visit there ever since his roller coaster obsession began. At the time, Cedar Point had more roller coasters than any other park in the U.S. I don’t remember if he actually went on the roller coasters; maybe a few of them. After years of intense academic interest in roller coasters, he’d finally had a chance to ride one a few years earlier, at Six Flags near home, and discovered to his disappointment that they give him motion sickness. He could tell you height, type, ride time, maximum speed, and g-forces for every major roller coaster in the world, but he couldn’t ride them. He seems to have mostly outgrown his motion sickness (unlike his poor mom; I can get carsick riding the Metro) so he would like to ride some now.
If motion sickness was the only thing he could catch at an amusement park, we would definitely go this summer. But theme parks are covid-19 super-spreaders. So, no, we will not visit Busch Gardens this summer, in the midst of the pandemic. Next summer, though, is looking good.
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