Wonderwall - Our Trip To Canada's Wonderland

Sometimes a splurge is worth it.  This was the case for our day at Canada's Wonderland - Only we didn't know the return on our investment until after the day was over!

There's a couple more weeks left until summer is officially over, so we're still knocking the items off of our summer bucket list.  We had received coupons with their report cards for $12 off admission and I thought that would make things a lot more affordable (little did I know that this discount only applied to adults and parking alone would cost $22).

We still had some money left over from Nana and Papa for the minions birthdays, so thankfully we could use that towards a really great day, with a really hefty price-tag. With our discounts adult admission was still $58 and $45.50 for each child.  So when you include a pizza lunch (because there is no outside food allowed within the park gates), two drinks which we all shared and the promised funnel cake they'd try, a day for a family of four costs close to $275.00 (YOWZA!)  If you want to save a bit of cash you can bring a picnic, you just need to leave the park to enjoy it.

I now totally understand why people pay a little bit more to secure a season's pass, because it is worth it, but at this point we didn't know how the kids would fare at Wonderland, so it wasn't worth the gamble.  But for anyone interested in going, they currently have a deal going on where you can purchase a 2018 season pass and get one entry for this fall.

The kids were so excited to ride the red baron

Jack decided it would be fun to zip up his hoodie and pretend to be Dr. Scorpion for many of his ride experiences at the park. Which was pretty amusing for us to watch.

Flying high on the Great Pumpkin

Dr. Scorpion rides again

Chilling with Peppermint Patty

Checking out the iconic waterfall with Aunt S.

The trip was great, and the kids had a blast.  We really got to explore some roller coasters with them, and both kids love rides.  Favourites included the Ghoster-Coaster, and The Fly.  Both liked taking Thunder Run through the mountain, however there was some hesitation about going into the dark and seeing the dragon.

I'm on the fence as to whether or not this goes on our bucket list for next year, although both kids have said this was the most amazing day ever, so odds are we'll get a little more organized and make another visit next September, pay a few more bucks, and end up with 2019 season passes for our little thrill seekers.  Or I'll be keeping an eye out for a killer Groupon deal.

What are your favourite annual traditions with your kid?  What are their favourite theme parks?  I'm always looking for suggestions!

To get access to the newest posts from Multiple Momstrosity and more on Facebook click here and follow today

Follow Multiple Momstrosity on Twitter @Sarabethbug

Symbol In My Driveway: The Emoji Movie Review

We wanted to take the kids to the Drive In this summer. In fact, it was on our summer bucket list, so despite the abysmal reviews on Rotten Tomatoes we decided to give it a go and check out The Emoji Movie. We went to the Drive In on 5 in Oakville and were all able to see the film for under $28 for the entire family, and added in $10 worth of slushies from the concession to share.

Image Courtesy of YouTube

The Emoji Movie

What's in it for the Kids?
A story about characters that have been marketed to kids since they were capable of understanding ads.  Meh has one job, to be Meh, only he's full of a bunch of emotions. Poop Emoji, Romeo Love Emoji and plenty of jokes to match. If your kids enjoyed Inside Out they'll probably also like this movie which has the feel of a lesser, recycled app ad adaptation of Inside Out (try saying that three times fast).

What's in it for the Adults?
Not much.  There are some familiar adult voices in the film, but it's mostly geared towards kids. Voices you will recognize include Ana Faris, T.J. Miller, James Corden, Maya Rudolph, Patrick Stewart, and Stifler's Mom (Jennifer Coolidge).

Image Courtesy of The Emoji Movie

Best Parts of the Movie
This movie was pretty formulaic, boring and forgettable. You could see where it was going from the opening credits, but just the same my kids liked it.  There is a 'like who you are message' which is something?


Worst Parts of the Movie
T.J. Miller is an excellent sidekick or foil, but he's no leading man (love him in Deadpool and Silicon Valley).  Hearing him even attempt to voice vulnerable (granted in a pretty meh script that we can't blame him for) is grating.  For a movie about emotion, there are no characters here to really care about - basically they picked the most annoying possible traits for each specific emoji and run with it for an hour and a half.

Overall Rating
I would rate this movie 2/5, it wasn't leave the theatre bad, but I have no interest in ever watching it again.  Molly and Jack say they liked it, but couldn't point out anything specific they enjoyed, and I'm guessing more of that had to do with the novelty of being at the Drive In and seeing a movie than anything remotely to do with the film.

To Read My review of Despicable Me 3 click here

To read my review of Captain Underpants click here

To read my review of Boss Baby click here

To read my review of the Lego Batman movie click here

To get access to the newest posts from Multiple Momstrosity and more on Facebook click here and follow today

Follow Multiple Momstrosity on Twitter @Sarabethbug

Santa Baby: Our Trip To Santa's Village

Along with their report cards the minions got little coupon books, as did all Ontario children, to help them enjoy some summer attractions at a discount.  One of the coupons in the booklet was for Muskoka attraction, Santa's Village in Bracebridge Ontario.  Since I'd been to Santa's Village as a kid, as had Chris, we decided it was high time for Molly and Jack to visit Santa in his "Summer Home".

This park is a great place for kids age three to ten to dip their toes into the water to theme park attractions. We ended up spending a good five to six hours there (including a stop for lunch) and there were only tears once (Jack's) when I wouldn't carry him back from a ride - it got a little brutal with the time outs but we made it through.  Just like regular Christmas, admission to Santa's Village comes with a fairly hefty cost. General admission is $34.95 per person, so even with our $5 per person coupon, admission alone was $120 for a family of four (special thanks to grandma and grandpa for covering the cost of a ticket to help us with this rather pricey day).

Santa's Splash Pad

While the grown-ups were a little nervous, the kids had so much fun on the Christmas Balls Ferris Wheel

Growing up I remember riding on the swans with my parents, so I really enjoyed my "girl time" with Molly on the swan

Molly loved that the swans looked as if they were about to kiss

While we paddled around on the swan, Jack, Dad, Grandma & Grandpa paddled this boat around the pond 

An introduction to kiddy coasters was a success

Riding Santa's Summer Sleigh (a boat) on the river, complete with great tunes and donuts was one of the highlights of our day!

Santa's Village was fun enough to go back to again, but pricey enough that it won't be on our "every year" summer bucket list.  The favourite ride of the day from the kids perspective was Santa's Sleigh roller coaster which was led by Rudolph. I regret not being better prepared with snacks for the kids since food lines were lengthy, but the price for lunch at the park wasn't that bad.  It was great to travel back to memory lane from our own childhoods, and watch Molly stress about not knowing what she wanted for Christmas when meeting Santa.  At Grandpa's suggestion we simply encouraged her to thank him for last year's Christmas gifts.

Kids get complimentary elf hats when they meet Santa, who routinely walks around the park for photo opportunities and high fives.

We were happy to cross this off the summer bucket list and enjoy a balmy day in the early 20's at Santa's Village.

To read about a previous summer trip to Storybook Gardens click here.


To get access to the newest posts from Multiple Momstrosity and more on Facebook click here and follow today

Follow Multiple Momstrosity on Twitter @Sarabethbug