[gdum-l] Amusement Parks

[AnneMDonna at aol.com]

Jen,
     Good luck at the amusement park. I think I opted  to leave my dog at 
home too because it was going to be hot, noisy, and  confusing. It turned out 
to be the best solution. I've gone other places with my  son when he was 
younger, but not amusement parks. It is hard when other friends,  or family is 
not available at times.
 
Anne and Visa
 
 
In a message dated 6/17/2010 10:35:48 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
jharnish at rcn.com writes:

 
Thanks for these ideas DeAnn. I do  have the option of a relative to enjoy 
a day at their home with Isaac while I  practice my cane skills at the park, 
so that is a good option especially for  hot days. Many parks on rough 
rides have bins you store your sunglasses and  items in so I put my cane in 
there during the ride then ask the attendant for  it back once I climb off the 
vomit comet in a daze. Perhaps trading dog  sitting favors with my neighbor 
would work too for long day trips to an  amusement park. The on the road 
trips are the hard ones when no family or  friends are around. 
Jen 
 
  
____________________________________
 
From:  gdum-l-bounces at acb.org [mailto:gdum-l-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf Of 
DeAnn Elliott
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 9:17  PM
To: Guide Dog Users of  Massachusetts
Subject:  [gdum-l] Amusement Parks
 
I've taken my daughter to Canobie  Lake and 6 Flags, and if you get the 
pass for people with disabilities, the  good thing is that they'll let you go 
to the head of the line with your entire  group in tow, and (depending on the 
park's policies) let you ride the ride  twice, which makes you a really 
cool mom and gives you a chance to be a hero  with your kids.  Of course, you 
have to actually go on the vomit comet  with them, which is the down side, 
but we've all done  worse.
 

 
I asked my trainer at the Seeing  Eye about something similar, which was 
going through a Halloween haunted  house.  She said I shouldn't bring the dog, 
even though it was just  a straight path we were walking with no obstacles, 
because if I was acting  scared or if things were jumping out at us, (even 
if I knew nothing would  actually touch us), it might arouse a dogs 
protective instincts and scare them  in a way that wasn't good, so  she recommended 
that they be outside with  someone.
 

 
Riding with the kids is fun, and  necessary sometimes if the kids are 
small.  If there's not someone to  hold the dog (and this is probably a whole-day 
affair, so it could be a long  time to crate a dog at home) I think I'd be 
tempted to recruit someone like a  friend or babysitter to come along or 
look into finding someone who might  watch my dog for the day. You could do it 
with a cane, which has the advantage  of folding up neatly, but then again, 
I've ridden on some crazy rides with a  cane tucked under my knee and I 
always wonder what would happen if it fell out  and conked somebody on the head 
down below.  And then there's the issue  of how I'd get around after that.  
But a dog could go wild sniffing all  the popcorn and licking all the snow 
cone junk on the ground, and the  pavement could be hot if you go late in the 
summer, and there might not be  tons of places to park them if they like 
grass.  
 

 
I think it's good that you're  thinking ahead about your options, because 
it's not an easy call. I guess it  mostly depends on what would make you the 
happiest mom, because if you're  feeling not stressed, then the kids will be 
happier and it will be a better  day.  If the dog is liberating and gives 
you the ability to go and feel  you have more time to focus on the kids, then 
it might be good to bring the  dog.  If the dog would be a distraction or 
if it would limit what you  could do there, then it might make sense to 
consider what other arrangements  might be better. 
 

 
Hope this  helps.
 

 
DeAnn and  Emmy
 

 


Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 9.0.829 /  Virus Database: 271.1.1/2941 - Release Date: 06/16/10 
14:35:00


_______________________________________________
gdum-l  mailing  list
gdum-l at acb.org
http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/gdum-l

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.acb.org/pipermail/gdum-l/attachments/20100617/e8f42eee/attachment-0001.htm>