2000.07.03 - The Paid Holiday

The beauty of working in high-tech (where the companies are rich and the demand for qualified employees is high) is all the perks. Like the big huge parties at rented out sports arenas, the flexible hours, and my favourite - the paid holidays. This year, the 4th of July was on a Tuesday. This meant that the 3rd (Monday) was also a holiday in most senses. The really cool thing is that for me, it was a paid holiday, meaning I would earn my usual daily salary without even showing up. Nice, eh?

So Great America was Ted's idea. Or Tracy's. Same difference. Tracy says it's all in preparation for the huge post-graduation trip to Disneyland in evil soCal in May 2001. Whatever; all I knew is that I may as well go spend all that money that I was getting paid anyway. And being the lazy anti-social type myself, I didn't look too long or hard to see if I could drag anyone there with me, so it was three of us.

As it was, I hadn't been to that place (or any amusement park for that matter) in about ten years or so (chalk it up to being cheap and deprived), and I quickly discovered that indeed, I hadn't missed much. Prices were still high, the average person there was an immature junior-high school student who was trying to weasel his way on to rides, etc. The biggest change I noticed was in the rides - nowdays they're all designed to make you lose track of which way is up and to make it tough for you to walk afterwards. And that was awesome (except for the lines, maybe)

One of the mainstays at the park - the revolution. Going around and around in circles and hoping that no change falls out of your pocket...yup yup.

There were a number of changes to existing things though - for one, the Tidal Wave had been renamed "Grease Lightning" or something gay like that. Also, the Yankee Clipper had been taken out so they could put in Stealth - the newest and baddest thing out there.

And here, the white track shows Stealth, the supposed "flying coaster." In reality, it's just like any other ride, except that the seats fall back so you're laying down horizontally; then for most the ride, the thing goes upside down, so you're face down toward the ground when the thing drops, spins, etc. And the only holding you in is a shoulder harness and the seat.

Yeah, so with Stealth, there was a 2-hour wait. Easiest $42 I've ever made in my life, if you ask me, and all it cost was getting a little sunburned and having to put up with the heat. While waiting in line, we went ahead and figured out where the "ride photo" (another marketing ploy) was being snapped along the ride, and so by the time we got on, we were all posing Dr. Evil style - right pinky to mouth. For kicks, I made sure to stick my tongue out too. And if the pictures didn't cost $9 each, I'd have one to put up here...oh well.

And this is the colourful, happy happy kid area. Ok, I don't have much to say on this one, other than it was a picture that I took...and that it's changed considerably since I last remembered it; it used to be this big bad Smurf thing, but now, nothing of the sort.

And yeah, on the whole, not a bad way to spend a day, but only because I knew that despite the money I spent there, I'd get enough from the paid holiday thing to have made a profit. On looking back, I realise that there really isn't much more to Great America than the rides, and getting snubbed on The Demon all the time (people with exit passes should at least ask before sneaking in), but hey, I'm easily amused.

Tracy's too short to go on Top Gun.

Actually, this is interesting because Top Gun was the first time I'd actually ever seen the people try to enforce that minimum height thing - there were a few kids that they asked to get off and stand against one of these height things. They were tall enough, but hey, they actually use these things....wow.