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Took the family to that carnival last night. This is probably going to turn into more of a rant.
Good ting went early. Found parking on the road. I knew they had a shuttle service from another parking area, but never heard where until last night's 10 o'clock news. MI parking lot had tape and was closed to allow "permit" parking only.
Couldn't figure that one out as we saw all kinds of families parking there to go to the festival.
Food was pretty good, but expensive. Some of the Korean vendor's plate lunches were at least a couple bucks more than outside restaurants. Others looked more reasonable. All food vendors only accepted "blue" coupons, although cash prices were posted.
For the rides, one needed the "red" coupons. You can't buy them. You have to buy the blue ones first and redeem them for the red ones. Totally confusing and a big waste of time as booth personel had to keep announcing that they weren't "selling" ride tickets and people hoping to buy them had to get out of long lines to go look for a blue ticket booth, buy the blue scriipts then get back at the end of that long line they left.
Rides ranged from 3 scripts to 6. The good ones averaged 5 scripts and the rides were short. Adds up with a family of 3. 
At one ride, I saw the ticket taker accepting blue and red. A few parents confronted the guy, as did I. "Wot? You taking blue or red? Mek up your mind. Mek big difference, bruddah? Das $3 versus $1.50!" The guy looked pretty scared and started taking only the red coupons. Knucklehead.
Also, Thursday KGMB news mentioned the sale of wrist bracelet ride passes for $18. No such luck, no one at the ticket booths mentioned or offered them and it was not posted for sale. The majority of carnival goers had no idea about them and never asked.
Stuff like the funnel cakes or cotton candy were way out of line in pricing, I thought. I mean, 6 bucks for one funnel cake or a "bag" of cotton candy??? Aw, c'mon! I'd rather go spend that on a plate lunch. Oh, yeah, scripts only. Nobody was taking cash.
For a 2 hour "adventure", it cost a family of 3 $100. Those wrist bracelets might have helped, but not by much.
Oh, and that carnival was SMALL. You'd think for a city celebration, it'd be a bit larger.
Now the rave. It turned into a beautiful evening. It stopped raining and the trades kicked in at a pretty good clip. Had dinner under the main tent and got entertained by the likes of Danny Kaleikini and the Royal Hawaiian Band. Police presence was heavy and there was no fear of problems at the carnival or on the park road and parking lot. Restooms were plentiful and clean. Melanie had a blast on the rides and some of the games and it turned out to be just plain fun being out on a nice evening with the family, despite the cost and confusion.
Good ting went early. Found parking on the road. I knew they had a shuttle service from another parking area, but never heard where until last night's 10 o'clock news. MI parking lot had tape and was closed to allow "permit" parking only.
Couldn't figure that one out as we saw all kinds of families parking there to go to the festival. Food was pretty good, but expensive. Some of the Korean vendor's plate lunches were at least a couple bucks more than outside restaurants. Others looked more reasonable. All food vendors only accepted "blue" coupons, although cash prices were posted.
For the rides, one needed the "red" coupons. You can't buy them. You have to buy the blue ones first and redeem them for the red ones. Totally confusing and a big waste of time as booth personel had to keep announcing that they weren't "selling" ride tickets and people hoping to buy them had to get out of long lines to go look for a blue ticket booth, buy the blue scriipts then get back at the end of that long line they left.
Rides ranged from 3 scripts to 6. The good ones averaged 5 scripts and the rides were short. Adds up with a family of 3. At one ride, I saw the ticket taker accepting blue and red. A few parents confronted the guy, as did I. "Wot? You taking blue or red? Mek up your mind. Mek big difference, bruddah? Das $3 versus $1.50!" The guy looked pretty scared and started taking only the red coupons. Knucklehead. Also, Thursday KGMB news mentioned the sale of wrist bracelet ride passes for $18. No such luck, no one at the ticket booths mentioned or offered them and it was not posted for sale. The majority of carnival goers had no idea about them and never asked.
Stuff like the funnel cakes or cotton candy were way out of line in pricing, I thought. I mean, 6 bucks for one funnel cake or a "bag" of cotton candy??? Aw, c'mon! I'd rather go spend that on a plate lunch. Oh, yeah, scripts only. Nobody was taking cash.
For a 2 hour "adventure", it cost a family of 3 $100. Those wrist bracelets might have helped, but not by much.
Oh, and that carnival was SMALL. You'd think for a city celebration, it'd be a bit larger.
Now the rave. It turned into a beautiful evening. It stopped raining and the trades kicked in at a pretty good clip. Had dinner under the main tent and got entertained by the likes of Danny Kaleikini and the Royal Hawaiian Band. Police presence was heavy and there was no fear of problems at the carnival or on the park road and parking lot. Restooms were plentiful and clean. Melanie had a blast on the rides and some of the games and it turned out to be just plain fun being out on a nice evening with the family, despite the cost and confusion.
Your money would be better spent at a good restaurant or shopping. 
I don't know. Is it because we're getting older? Did our parents feel the same when they took us to a carnival?
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