During the weekend of October 5-6, we returned to Kings Island for their Halloween festivities. On Saturday we went to the Kids' "Hallopalooza" event housed in the water park area. There, Emma enjoyed seeing the Peanuts characters dressed up in Halloween costumes, playing games, walking through a Mother Goose-themed candy maze, talking to a witch, going to a petting zoo, and riding a kid-sized tractor, and decorating a Halloween cookie. The highlight of our visit to this area was the costume parade, where Emma got to wear her new costume for the first time. She decided to be a Lalaloopsy doll this year, which is kind of like a Raggedy Ann doll. The yarn hair wig was adorable! Even though she didn't win a prize for her costume, we of course thought she was the cutest contestant! We also enjoyed some of the "regular" rides and attractions throughout the park, and Emma went on the adult-sized bumper cars for the first time(riding with Mom). As the day wore on, the park became more and more crowded as people showed up for the "scary" stuff that only happens after dark. When we'd had enough of the crowds and rain, we went to our hotel, where we enjoyed the indoor pool and hot tub. The next day we returned to Kings Island. The rain was just letting up when we arrived around noon, and the sun even came out for a while. It was quite a contrast from the day before...Saturday was one of the busiest days we've ever seen there, and Sunday was one of the least crowded ever! We rode most of the rides with little or no wait. We got a good look at the new roller coaster being built, which was barely started a month ago and now has the entire first lift hill finished. Emma also enjoyed trick-or-treating with the dinosaurs in the "Dinosaurs Alive!" area. The animatronic dinosaurs were dressed in Halloween costumes designed by kids with serious illnesses. After that, we were able to squeeze in a few more rides before the rain set in again, driving us indoors for a magic show. We also took a few turns on Emma's favorite indoor ride, "Boo Blasters" haunted house, as well as 5 consecutive rides on her favorite roller coaster, "Woodstock Express." Todd broke away for a few minutes to ride his favorite coaster, "The Beast," while I took 2 consecutive rides on my favorite, "Diamondback." In spite of the rain, having such small crowds made us feel like we owned the place!
