Happy Valley

I can officially say I've ridden a roller coaster in China....and survived! Shanghai currently has one theme park, Disney is breaking ground as we speak and building their own theme park set to open in about two years! We decided to join our friends from Florida, Todd and Rebecca, who happen to work for Disney on a trip to Happy Valley. The park has monthly themes and we went the weekend after Halloween, and naturally we were curious to see China's interpretation of Halloween, it did not disappoint. We went on two roller coasters and participated in this "Western" gun shooting attraction. Where we each sat on a mechanical horse and had to shoot at bad guys on a screen it was hilarious! Trent came in first place and Todd came in third place for number of bad guys shot. Theme parks are not really something I go to often because I get motion sickness, but the non-drowsy dramamine really helped and we had a blast. My favorite of the two coasters we rode, was the wooden one called the "Fireball" which Trent pointed out is a curious name for a wooden roller coaster, TIC (this is China)! We had to fight for our spot in the hour long line because some of the people in line didn't feel like waiting and started pushing their way through to the front. Now, the Chinese were fine with it but we couldn't stand it! So we formed a human barricade which worked for the most part, there was a moment where Todd and I got goosed by the same girl trying to wriggle her way in through our arm pits. We've discussed this experience with a lot of other people and while it's hard for the ex-pats to understand but one of our friends explained it that Chinese people are really good about just letting something go. Maybe it makes them mad when it happens but after they get shoved out of the way its over and they don't care. This explains why they don't have road rage, and I think it is a trait I could learn to live by.

We walked around and you'll see some photos from around the park, there were all of these signs that said no taking pumpkins but everyone was walking out of the park with a pumpkin in hand. Trent attempted but I told him I didn't want to get kicked out of the park. There was also a KFC on every corner. We followed the path around and discovered an indoor area called Ant Valley or something like that for kids, where we discovered a tea cup ride. Now, I should mention my history with tea cup rides. My mom couldn't believe I was going to a theme park when I told her because as a small child at a county fair I decided to ride the teacups and spent the entire time crying. Which, my mom found pitiful and hysterical all at the same time. So naturally I included photos of me laughing and then wanting to cry at the thought of riding the tea cups again. You're welcome Mom :) We stuck around until after dark waiting in line for the Fireball and got to see the park all lit up, including this funny little show with acrobats and fire throwers. All in all it was a truly Chinese experience and we enjoyed every minute of it.