Storyland

This big news from this summer is that we finally made it to Storyland. Let the word go forth that we have now taken a family vacation to TWO New England states: Vermont and New Hampshire.

For those not in the know--so, basically, for those of you without young children--Storyland can be described as a New Hampshire-ized, lo-fi, cheaper, hippie Disney Land, of sorts. Others may describe it as a theme park for children. It is hidden way, way, way, up in the northern part of New Hampshire, in a place where only the most desperate parents can find it. (The drive is so long, in fact, that you would think Storyland and Canada share a common border crossing. They don’t--and it’s really not even close, which I found depressing, because it made me realize how far, far north Canada is, and how cold and sad all those people must be.)

We had been mentally planning our Storyland trip for a few years. I’m not sure how I first heard about it--but once I did, I kept hearing about it everywhere. Friends with kids went. Colleagues with kids went. I even heard The Sports Hub’s Fred Toucher give an exhaustive recounting of his Storyland experience on my drive to work one morning. Everyone seemed to have the same opinion: the kids loved it, someone had a meltdown at some point, and holy **** was it a long drive up and back.

That sums up our experience pretty well.

This year seemed to be the right time to go. Last year was out of the question because Lucia was still too young. The year before wasn’t great because Natalia was pregnant and we were in our month-long process of moving. And I can’t really remember any years before that.

But this summer, the stars aligned. Andres and Celia were both old enough to enjoy and remember it. And though Lucia was still too small to go on most of the rides, we didn’t think she’d mind tagging along for the ride (we may have been wrong about this).

We chose to plan our New Hampshire adventure at the end of a long drive back from New Jersey, post-Wildwood tournament. I was skeptical that we would all survive the 8 hour-long trip. But Natalia’s theory was that 2 more hours in a car wouldn’t really matter to the kids (it’s basically one more movie on the iPad), and that if we went back to Waltham to spend a night at home before heading up, we would never get there. This was good logic, I thought. She won me over. We did the trip in a single shot. And the kids were great, considering the pain that I thought I would have to endure. Lucia didn’t even start screaming until the last hour! What joy.

(Though here’s an interesting tidbit--in preparation for writing this post, I’ve been trying to recall what exactly we did for those 8 hours. Or what I did besides drive part of the way. And I have no idea. This day seems to have just vanished. I can supply no ironic details, no memorable stories, nothing. We stopped for lunch at a Panera on 495. That’s literally all I remember from the trip--except for the excruciating final hour of travel, when Lucia was screaming, the older two kids were tired of movies, and we were at a road construction-caused standstill on a one-lane road somewhere in the woods of New Hampshire.)

But we made it. We made it! Sometime around 3 p.m. on Thursday, July 29, we rolled into the parking lot of Storyland, and all was right with the world.

Here was our plan, again expertly designed by Natalia: we would take advantage of Storyland’s generous offer to extend free next-day admission to anyone who arrived at the part after 3 p.m., thus maximizing our entertainment dollars. This was perfect. We would get a quick two-hour preview of the park, figure out the lay of the land, and then have a good night’s sleep and really explore it the next day.

Day 1 was a success. The kids were doing cartwheels now that they were finally out of the car. But they were also paralyzed by choice once we got into the park: with so much to do, what to do first? This is how we ended up sitting and watching a bunch of animatronic vegetables sing a children’s song for the first 10 minutes we were there. (There’s a fair amount of that type of thing at Storyland.)

They soon got their bearings. Andres found the Polar Coaster, the coolest rollercoaster north of the Mass Pike, and rode it a few times with Natalia. Natalia also went on the swirling teacups with Andres and Celia. I was watching Lucia during this time. She was jealous that her siblings were doing all the fun stuff, but her mood improved once she found a little splash-and-spray area.

It was a relaxing end to a long day. We rode the swan boats. Celia was rendered speechless by someone dressed up as Cinderella. Lucia splashed away until it was time to go, and then she could only be taken away kicking and screaming.

Of course this was only the beginning of the adventure. We were also spending the night in a local inn, an event that the kids thought was as exciting as Storyland itself. (This is what happens when you never travel.)

I think Andres and Celia were expecting a clone of the Comfort Inn where we stayed during our trip to Vermont last year. They didn’t stop talking about the kitchenette and two--two!--televisions for months afterwards. So they may have been a little disappointed when we finally rolled into our private cabin at the fantastic Whitney's Inn, which featured two bedrooms, a bathroom, a small living room, and not much else. The TV didn’t really work, and there was no mini-kitchen. But it was the perfect place for sleeping and relaxing. We dropped our stuff, changed Lucia, headed out for dinner, and then came back ready to call it a night. (All kids slept well, with Celia reporting that her bed was “so cozy.”)

Wednesday was another marathon day, though different than the day before. Pancakes and fruit in the Inn's dining room were made even more pleasant by the hummingbirds flitting to and fro outside. The kids were hungry; the older two asked for seconds. I enjoyed my coffee.

Then it was back to Storyland. The parking lot was much less full at 9 a.m., and the day promised to be a good one, with the sun out and only a passing chance of rain. The kids got to work having a good time.

Celia checks out one of nursery rhymes while Andres climbs on a giant wooden shoe.

Lucia had a meltdown later and took a long nap in her stroller. But here she's having a good time.

Spinny turtles!

Sadly, this paint job did not withstand the water ride he took 20 minutes later.

Research has shown that there's no bad time to annoy your younger sister. 

Andres chose handcuffs at the gift shop, and then enjoyed parading Celia around like a convict. But wait--she's smiling too. Should I be worried? Ok, better question...how much should I be worried?

Of course there were some minor hiccups. Lucia threw a fit and needed a long nap to recover. Celia got upset when her beautifully-designed fairy princess face paint got ruined, which was likely my fault, as I had apparently not considered the possibility that the paint on her face was water-soluble before taking her on a boat ride that warned riders: "be prepared to get very wet." Live and learn.

But the highlights far outweighed the lowlights. Celia and I rode the Polar Coaster together, which is likely the only roller coaster I will ever ride from now on. Andres and I had fun on the water flume. And Lucia enjoyed all the rides that she was allowed to go on, with no tears and no last-minute desire to hop off. She'll have a much better time if we go back next summer.

With most of the rides exhausted and having criss-crossed the park a few times, we began to entertain thoughts of leaving--but not until after we visited the gift shop, and not until after we rode the carousel and did the swan boats one final time. Overcoming her previous day's shyness, Celia even accompanied Cinderella on her evening carriage ride down from the Storyland castle. She was all smiles. We chose to head out on that good note.

The trip back to Waltham felt like a breeze compared to the marathon we had taken the day before. We headed south, happy to finally check Storyland off our list, but relieved to be returning to our own beds, too.