A Trip to Waterworld

Daniel is Michelle’s younger brother, and he just moved to the States to complete his high school career.
Summer heat scorching and vacation ending (for Daniel), so we decided to take a trip up to Concord for his last break before school starts. (Plus, Costco had these tickets for sale at $23.99.)

He’s had his fair share of amusement parks back in Taiwan, thought we’d show him how it’s done in the U.S.

[aside]11:20AM. Game on.[/aside]

If I recall correctly, the last time I visited a water park was more than a decade ago. I almost forgot the thrill of riding one of these without a seatbelt. I brought my Canon PowerShot SD20, an everything proof camera, to handle today’s schedule. First stop: Tornado.

Turn out, the camera was perfectly suitable for the job, I was just too pussy to take it out while on the ride. So most of the photos only consisted of us waiting in line and finishing the ride like a boss.

Here. Like a boss.

Next up: The Cliffhanger and Hurricane Slides.

The line was fairly short on a Wednesday. So we first rode Hurricane slide, which is located in the same structure. 

Then, I saw this guy. 

..with lots of attitude. 

Anyway, I stepped up another and take on the “Cliffhanger”—Waterworld’s signature ride, a ride that plummets 70 feet in under three seconds. 

4 Stories up, it was the tallest point in the park. 

The ride was intense, and so was the paint. It came with the smack in the back by the wall of water waiting at the end of the ride. It must’ve been a design flaw. 

[aside]1:28PM[/aside]Yup, he really was.

The bottom of the structure looked flimsy. But if it collides and the fall didn’t kill us, we’d be making millions through the insurance claim. That thought kept us continuously waiting in line for the ride. 

No shots during the ride, but I did captured this before we departed. 

Lunch time.
[aside]2:42PM[/aside]

At $8.99 for a chicken tender combo, each of them looked like a nugget of gold to me. 

Winding down after a dozen rides, we swung by Kaanapali Kooler, a relaxing stream of river in the center of the park. 

Daniel made some friends:

Michelle’s turn on the tube:

Sike. 

Final stop—Breaker Beach Wave Pool
[aside]4:17PM[/aside]

The whole time I thought it’d be something like this:
..but:

More moments from the pool:

We were snapping pictures casually, then we got serious. Optimizing the camera, we thought we’d take some underwater photos.

It came with a consequence. Contact lenses and I don’t stick well.

No clue. 

That wraps up the trip. Good luck with school, Daniel. May you live long and prosper.

’til next trip,
-B)