Monday, February 18, 2013

Luna Park at Last

A few weeks ago, I finally went to Luna Park! We used to have a view over this Melbourne area icon when we lived in St Kilda, but we had never been inside or rode any of the rides. It was time to change that, so we met up with Kristy and Nigel on a nice Friday night and finally went inside Luna Park.


















Kristy and I got the unlimited rides pass (not cheap at $45 apiece!), and the boys got single ride passes and then played a few games. Here's Zack trying to get tennis balls into the jugs. He got one in and won the awesome blow-up bat pictured below. Nigel did the same, and the boys had fun hitting each other (and us) all night with them. 


After a bit, the boys headed off to the bar, and Kristy and I stuck around to get our money's worth by riding every ride possible.
Some rides were surprisingly fun; others were kind of lame. I did enjoy the sunset view from atop the ferris wheel; we couldn't have timed that ride more perfectly!
The Great Scenic Railway, which is the 100-year-old wooden roller coaster that goes around the outside of the park, was the one ride we just HAD to try. They were closing it on and off throughout the night due to high winds, but it finally seemed open and we waited in line for our turn. We finally got to ride it, and it was TERRIBLE. I mean seriously awful. If you're American and have been to Cedar Point, you know how rickety some of those old wooden roller coasters can be. Well, multiply that times 100. It honestly hurt, and I wanted off almost as soon as it started. It jostled you and banged you and shook you beyond belief. I would never never never ride it again, though I'm glad I can say I did it once. Anyway, we can cross Luna Park off of our bucket list, which is a good thing, because we may not be in Australia much longer! More about that in a future post...

4 comments:

  1. Wooden roller coasters should be disassembled. As a kid, all I remember is how much fun they were. Now that I am older, I agree with your statement in that they just hurt. They need to provide the riders with mouthguards and the seats need inflated airbags surrounding them. I'm glad you finally went.

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  2. I went to Luna Park last April (you can see my entry on it here if you like: http://stumbledownunder.com/2012/04/16/luna-park/) and enjoyed it very much. You are totally right about that roller coaster. I don't think I'd ever been on a more painful one. Theo and I felt very old after we got off it.

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  3. I used to love the wooden coasters growing up, but now they are painful! Never again!

    P.S. Molly says hello and would like to put in a birthday request for treats and toys! (She wanted to make sure you had plently of time to prepare :))

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    1. Tell Molly that her birthday present will be me coming home for her! Well, maybe her present will be a month late.

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