Parque De Diversiones

This week was report card time for the kids (the first of 3 for the year. Remember that the Costa Rican school year goes from February to November). We were very happy with their marks, especially considering that all of the instruction is in Spanish. It’s not a Spanish immersion school, it’s just school, and I’m amazed at how well the kids have adapted to it all.

For example, like many kids their age, once they get home from school they jump on the computer in order to chat with the kids at school they just left (go figure). However, they do it in Spanish with their Spanish friends, and that includes the Spanish equivalents of abbreviations like OMG and LOL. (For example, I have learned from them that “XQ” means “porque”, or why? Also, BNO is the abreviation for “bueno”, or “good”)

Anyway, because they did well at school, we decided to treat them with a trip into San Jose to the amusement park called “Parque De Diversiones”. We picked them and their friend Gabbi up at noon (every Friday they’re done at noon,) and off we went.

Unbeknownst to us, there was a special on as well, with 2 for 1 Fridays, so the cost was only 3100 colones each, or just over $6 Canadian per kid for an all-you-can-ride pass. Great value.

It’s a pretty good amusement park, especially for that price. I would rank it higher than Calaway Park (back in Calgary), but a couple of notches lower than the Six Flags we went to in Cincinnati when we visited the cousins.

There is one adult-sized roller coaster (looked like fun,) but unfortunately it, and a couple of other rides, were down for maintenance.  (Welcome to Costa Rica). There was a good Kiddie Land, with a mini Drop Tower that the kids liked, a small roller coaster, and of course the Crazy Teacups ride that the kids insisted on going on twice in a row, and Nathan came off looking green.

They also have a “Pueblo Antiguo”, or “Old Town”, and at the back of that there are 2 good water rides where you sit in rafts and go down a big waterslide. (Glad we skipped the one as people looked like they were getting pretty soaked at the end.)

The two girls really like the “El Disco”, which was a big disk that went on a big pendulum and spun around. They went on that a few times, but Nathan was too small to get on. He liked the “Octopus” best, which was one of those classic rides that looks like an Octopus with a couple of cars at the end of each arm. (More Spinning…)

There were of course the classic bumper cars and a few rides we never got to, but all in all it was a good day, and the kids had a great time.

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