Kiddie Carnival
One item on our bucket list the last two years was to attend the Kiddie Carnival in Athens. With the way our summer was going, I honestly thought we would miss out on it again this year. But we managed to find time the last weekend they were open in July. We decided to go on a Thursday in hopes the crowds would be smaller.
The carnival opened at 6:30, but we stopped and got dinner on the way. Then it started raining. So it was around 7:30 before we arrived. The crowds also made there way there too, ha.
Tickets are 50 cents, and we bought 10 total for a whopping $5. Something to note, you can trade in unused tickets at the concession stand. So we walked away with like 2 bottles of water. Emily bought 20 tickets and walked away with around 7 bottles, haha. Dalton would not ride a thing. I did snap some photos of the concession stands (there are two), sitting areas, and bathrooms. There is also a place for bingo.
When you first arrive, you’ll need to buy tickets. There is a stand if you just walk in and walk towards the concession stand. The first ride the girls wanted to ride was the ferris wheel. Each ride only costs 1 ticket. So we waited in line for it. We waited around 10 minutes for the first ride. Melody rode with another girl in an attempt to let Dalton ride with Lydia. But Dalton wanted no part of it, so it turned into Melody and Lydia most of the night. The second time around was around a 20 minute wait. The girls LOVED the ferris wheel. The ride lasted around 10 minutes, and held around 12 kids at a time. The workers were great with the kids and made the experience more fun too.
Then we headed towards the swings. We waited less than 10 minutes. The ride time I felt like was less than 5 minutes. But they were able to get a lot of kids on at one time. I think this was likely Melody’s favorite ride.
Then we headed for the scrambler. The girls were able to literally walk right on this one. Melody liked it ok, but I don’t think she likes being slung around. This was the one ride Lydia wanted to ride again. Then the girls rode the parachute ride. They got to ride it twice because the workers forgot to get them off, haha.
Next up was the roller coaster. By the time we rode it, the lines were becoming nonexistent.
At this point, we let the girls pick one last ride to ride again. They each wanted a different ride, so we let them ride their rides separately before riding the rockets on our way out.
There was definitely disappointment that we did not get to do every ride, but we now know what to expect next year. I hope to try and go more than once next year since it is such a cheap and fun thing to do.
