Went to the park for the first time today with the...

Went to the park for the first time today with the family. Looked at several reviews before we left, and most of them were spot on.

THE MAIN CONSENSUS OF REVIEWS I READ (and my opinion follows)

1.) THE PARK IS QUITE CLEAN - absolutely true. Given the number of people in the park, they do a great job keeping the ground and most of the rides clean.

2.) THE LINES ARE LONG AND DISORGANIZED - yes and yes; we went on a Wednesday in summertime (on a beautiful day) and there was a good crowd... sadly, most of the crew said it gets much worse on weekends; most lines were between a 15-25 minute way time, which is long, but could be worse, so you do need to bring your patience. One of the frustrating things is that most of the lines are meant to handle about 10 minutes for of people.... you'll find that most lines spill out into the open pavement and can become very disorganized... get ready to start asking 'Are you in line?'

3.) THE FOOD IS EXPENSIVE AND SUBPAR - yes and it depends; prices are comparable to a state fair, which means you'll shell out $30-$40 for a meal for your family of 4; we sampled a whole pizza ($16), french fries ($4), onion rings ($4), ice cream ($3.50), and slushes ($5/each).... Everything was pretty good except the pizza which was AWFUL.... please find something else... it was completely tasteless...

4.) BRINGING FOOD IN IS A NO-NO - we ended up NOT bringing waters for the kids since so many said that staff would confiscate them at the entrance... one of our parents brought in Gatorades... they saw them in the bag... didn't say anything.... also, I overheard the staff saying "we don't check the bags of kids" so if you really want to bring your own food in, have your child bring a backpack to increase your odds

5.) ADMISSION PRICE TOO HIGH - While $36 is a bit high (go to AAA and get $30 tix).... there are more than 80 rides... you can have up to 11 hours in the park during the summer..... there are free shows for you to watch (which were pretty neat)... and you get free parking and free admission to a very cool waterpark; overall, I think it's a decent deal.... what stinks is that there are no season passes (since we live within a few miles)

6.) NOT ENOUGH RIDES FOR THE YOUNG OR OLDER - Not true; there are plenty for those under 48" and for those OVER 48"... the problem WE ran into is that we have one child over 48" and one UNDER 48".... in many cases, they couldn't ride the same rides.... either our taller child was too big to ride or the smaller child was too short... eliminated several of the options.... despite that, there was still PLENTY to do for the 7 hours we were there.

CONCLUSION: Be prepared to spend about $60 per person for the day (admission, food, games). Be prepared to wait in lines for most (if not all). Be prepared to play a few games and win junky prizes. But, despite all that, your kids should have a fantastic time.... ours did, and we'll likely be back!