The Summer Of 2015 Has Come Full Circle - Turbulance - Back To Adventureland & Jones Beach & Carpenters

Life is funny sometimes. After an early season of posts regarding a trip I took to Adventureland that I have apoligized for and put behind me, I ended up back at Adventureland in an unusual way.

Turns out I went to a fundraising event where you eat anjoy some light music and purchase raffle tickets at a fancy / schmancy golf course and guess what. I won one of the raffles...two wristbands to Adventureland that were good until September 15.

I used them yesterday with my son.

The camps around here have ended, so we entered the park on or close to 4:30. We waited 5 cycles for a front row seat on Turbulance and it was my first time on this ride. I found it to be smooth as silk, the spinning in the three seat trains was effortless and non-jolting. The speed at times was impressive and this is a huge improvement over the jarring Hurricane that was sacrificed to make space for this. For it's size this ride was fun and very entertaining. If you want to spin "more" try to plan for a seat that doesn't have riders behind you in the car. Those folks spun even more. Adventureland as has been said before doesn';t have a lot of room to grow, but it does well with what it has. THere was heavy metal music playing around the ride. I couldn't decipher the lyrics, but it felt a little out of place for a small family park. Maybe it was to add to the effect of the ride. Who knows.

Went on the bumper cars (no island in the middle of the platform) the cycle was about 5 min long. We waited 2 cycles. Some cars light up. Some don't they are good not great. MY son and I both liked it. While waiting for our turn I heard the standard pop music stop and out from the speakers came Karen Carpenter singing "Yesterday Once More." It was almost like a religous experience. Whether care for the Carpenters or not, you can't deny how clean and pleasant their songs from the mid 70s sound and when conpared to what counts for pop music now there was now comparisson. And that song is a personsal favorite. After that one song it went right back to current pop music. It was a really cool moment for me and I don't think anyone else appreciated it.

ALso went on the swings, the balloon ferris wheel and the Pirates Plunge water flume ride. (By the way, I HATE ACCUMULATING GUM WADS!)

A fun but brief stay at the park which wasn't too busy at all at the time.

Bathrooms were clean and I had a kosher hot dog for 3 buck. Preflux had a pretzel for $2.75.

THe reason we got off to a late start was that we first went to Jones Beach. The New York State Parks system has a Season Pass option that I have used extensively this year. For 65 bucks, you have a yearly parking pass (not just for the summer) at Jones Beach, Robert Moses State Park, Captree, etc. It is an incredible value if you use it a lot and I do either for swimming with my kid or for fishing. Daily fees to Jones Beach I think is 10 bucks. Captree is 8 bucks.

If you do make it to Long Island and want to visit the state beaches try to go on Week Days (Weekends are MOBBED!) and just enjoy. Not too many amenities. (Very pricy concessions) But not too many are needed.

Darn it....summer is almost over. (Sigh.....)

I consider Karen Carpenter to be one of the greatest tenors ever.

That NY beach pass for $65...reading between your lines, it sounds like it's only for parking, not the beach fees which you mentioned separately. Yes? No?

Mike - - -> The $65 parking pass is good for parking. THere is no admission fee for the beaches or parks other than parking. The parking pass can get a carload of people in and there are public transportation options as well. The beaches have life gurads on duty during the summer season.

There are some up-sale things for the concession stands, the beach shop, mini golf, shuffle board court rentals and the pool.

Bar-b-que pits are provided in some areas but you need to bring your own supplies. In the case of playgrounds and basketball courts...those are free as are the fishing piers.

It's really a great value.

They also offer for $500 a lifetime usage pass that gets embeded onto a drivers liscense.

Oh, I see. When you referred to the daily fees at Jones and Captree, I misunderstood. I thought you were talking about beach fees., but you were referencing the price of daily parking compared to the full year pass. Thanks for the clarification, Richie.