A few years back…. well, probably more than just a few, we took a trip to Lake George. I remember going there as a kid. I remember Story Town, which we discovered when we arrived was now just a small part of The Great Escape Amusement Park. I remembered the North Pole that was quite a drive from Lake George, but worth the trip. Specifically I remembered that in Story Town there was a Cinderella’s Pumpkin Carriage ride. My son was a Cinderella fanatic. He was obsessed, still is at 22. “Citronelle” was one of his very first words.

We arrived at the Great Escape and at the entrance was a sign listing all of the rides that were not operating that day. You guessed it…. Cinderella’s Carriage was on the list! Well, he got to SEE the carriage anyway and since there was also a castle (sort of, it was just a Prop) he got over the carriage ride a little more easily that I thought he would.

We had a good time at the park anyway.  I think I was more disappointed than DC was. I was just so looking forward to him being able to ride in the carriage. He would have been thrilled.

The next day we were heading to the North Pole. This would definitely make up for the missed carriage ride! I checked the local paper the day before and found an ad that stated it was open daily and listed the hours of operation.  It took quite a long time to get there – about an hour and a half, if I remember correctly. When we arrived at the park we found it “Closed for Construction” for the next few MONTHS!  Now I had to explain to him that the park was closed and we would not be seeing Santa today. That went well…………..(not!)

On the way back to Lake George, we happened upon another very small park called “The Magic Forest”. The park was small, cute but very run down and old. DC didn’t care.  He made me walk through a dusty, beat up “Princess House (cave)” 20 times or more. The Princess house cave was filled with dirty mannequins with peeling paint with cobwebs everywhere, but he LOVED it!

We took a ride on the train that got stuck on the way up a hill and the employees had to get out and push, but he still loved it.

There was also a SANTA!  So the second day of our trip was saved!

The next day we decided to walk though the town. I remembered a pretty cool wax museum which, surprisingly was still there. We also came upon a Haunted House. DC loves all things Halloween and loves Haunted Houses; always did, even when he was very young.

He wanted to go in. After only two minutes inside, I began to realize that this was a mistake. He was terrified. He put both arms around my waist and I had to keep both of my arms around his neck/head; and this was the way we walked through the rest of the house, with DC walking sideways facing my side, with both arms around me and both my arms around his neck. All the way thorough, all I could think was “What have I done? This child is terrified! I’ve scarred him for life”. I felt so bad that he was so frightened. I kept telling him that he was okay and it was all make-believe. We finally made it out and he seemed all right, but I still felt awful. It WAS really, really scary.

We continued down the street. I continued to ask him if he was okay and told him to remember that it was all just make believe. He seemed fine.

As we were walking DC stopped, pointed and said “Go In”. I looked over and he was pointing at another haunted house. I tried to explain to him that this was a “Scary House” just like the last one and I really didn’t think he wanted to go in. DC kept pointing and saying “Go in” and was now dragging me toward the line. All the while I was trying to explain that this is scary just like the last one. He got me to the line that I had no intention of getting in, and he proceeded to wrap both arms around my waist and had me put my arms around his neck/head and got “into position” to “Go in”.

Apparently, he did understand that this was another haunted house and as much as I thought he was terrified, he wasn’t – he loved it and he was “Going in!”

So, no…… Not scarred for life at all.

DC did get to ride in Cinderella’s Carriage a few years later at another park in New Hampshire.

He still loves Haunted Houses, but you would never know this as he’s going though them.