Arrived yesterday, December 30 about 1:45. Traffic was backed up past 465 intersection, but moved steadily. We were parked in lot 7, which I have never been to before, and really isn't a lot more like a field next to a substation on Indian Point Rd. I'm guessing this is the "Deer Run" lot as it was within walking distance. As an aside, on the way back the bus said he was going to lot 7 and JD. Where is JD and why do they call it that?
It was about 70 degrees when we entered the park but there was a pretty good wind so a hooded sweatshirt actually felt pretty good. Turnstyle lines were short and moving quickly, there was a good crowd inside but not overwhelming, nothing like what I expected from the traffic coming in, yet each area in the park was "busy", but not to an extreme. It was a great feeling. I normally don't like large crowds and getting stepped on, ran over, backed into, etc. but everyone seemed to be in a great mood, polite and there was enough room to avoid physical contact with the other guests.
Our 3 teens and one bf split off as soon as we entered which is the norm. Wife, 5yo and myself first took some pics in front of the tree, then wandered about the square a bit, is was strangely devoid of people but all the shops and surrounding buildings were bustling. First stop was GM and I have to say this was the first time I've actually noticed the moving floor working. Not saying it's always broke down, but I could really tell it was doing something this time. Then down to HDH for a merry go round ride and a trip through the tree houses. While there I noticed Terry Sanders drawing lines on the street to mark the wait times and line for the train. Found it odd that he would be doing that, but I guess all the citizens seem to be jack of all trades to an extent. From there off to the FM, pretty good line for that, but it moved fairly quickly. They were doubling up groups in boats to keep the line moving quickly. I think there's only been one other time I've seen them do this. I didn't mind, just an observation. Then off to GE to ride the elephants, line was almost all the way out to the street. There was a group of about 6 mildly obnoxious teenagers in front of us, I wasn't really sure why they were wanting to ride that and figured that each would want to ride their own elephant which was probably going to add one cycle to our wait time. It was really hard for me to keep from laughing out loud when the ride op made them double up so she could get more people on!
After that back up top for some ice cream from Hannah's for Max while the wife and I got a burger from next door. Then down to the train. It was about 4:45 pm and the line was up to the 50 minute mark, but they were loading so we decided to see how far it moved after they loaded and that put us up almost to the station, so we decided to stick it out. They were running two trains however I think it takes a bit longer for the Christmas story and for some reason they have to stop behind FITH to make sure they "see each other" before either can move. I guess I understand the safety aspect here, but we sat for close to 5 minutes after we could clearly see the other train and they could obviously see us. At any rate, Terry was now running crowd control for the train line and announced that the park would stay open until 9:30 instead of 9. There was a rope line setup outside of the station to form the que line and I wondered if it they couldn't leave that up all year, there's been several times I've seen just a flood of people trying to enter the station at once. One thing I did find a bit annoying is how many people kept coming up to Terry with the "I'm with them" excuse so they could get into the line. And yes, he left every one of them in. I really have an issue with "saving me a place" when you've got an hour long line. A child or maybe a spouse I can see, but there were groups of 6 or 7 people doing this and getting in line with one person that had been waiting. We got on the train about 5:15 or so and I was really hoping it would be dark by the time we got to Grandpa but it wasn't so. The ride was still great however and I could see some activity for the new coaster which I posted about in the 2013 development thread. By the time we got around to Lake Silver it was dark and the City looked absolutely amazing. It's really hard to capture either in words or pictures how it looks with all those lights and the surrounding woods. Just breathtaking.
After debarking the train I set off to reunite with the aforementioned teens who weren't answering cell call or texts while the wife and young 'un when up to get ready for the parade. I made a complete clockwise circle around the park and noticed the show lines were extremely long, the rides moderate and the shops very busy. I also noticed the line to get into the store to buy season passes was backed up almost to the bridge. This year it's in a building across from the magic shop/TNT for reference. About the time I was passing LR I finally made contact and they claimed they didn't "have any service" and were in line for WF. I continued around and back up to the square where the three of us watched the parade which I thought was pretty neat although not very long. I guess it really didn't need to be since it was only going around the park and if it was too long it would catch up to itself.
Listened to some music while watching the tree lights, went into HH and milled around a bit then finally met up with the rest of our group and headed out to the tram stop. It was about 7:00 now and there were still people coming through the turnstyles. Not many, mind you, but I was still surprised to see anyone. Made a quick stop at the bakery for a cupcake then into the tram line. We go on the bus that was waiting there, but did have to stand which we did not mind. Another guest asked why we were being parked so far away, driver said that "we filled every lot yesterday and today". So it sounds like a good closing weekend for the park as well as for us.
Here's a link to some pics:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2299716344140.2100055.1586105200&type=3&l=84af349e37 I made this album public so you don't need a facebook account to see the pics.
A couple of side notes:
sanddunerider, I kept my eyes open for ya, but never did positively see you. You weren't wearing a blue jacket and Navy hat were you?
tiffanylynnt, I hope you enjoyed the "realtime" updates as much as I've found I enjoy our new friendship. Thanks for accepting my request.
