If you are going to live 10 minutes from a mall, West Edmonton Mall is a pretty good one to live near.
When we visited Edmonton in June for our original scouting expedition (the one that turned into a house-buying expedition), we took the kids to the mall. We spent the day wandering around, eating garbage food and playing at the World Waterpark. Back at the hotel at the end of the day, Ben said “Dad, I want to move to Edmonton.” The power of a mall.
We’ve spent time in the mall since then, but have made a concerted effort to avoid some of the bigger more expensive attractions, like Galaxyland. For only $30 and an hour of your life, glow-in-the-dark mini-golf sounds like a great time to me – and the kids like it too.
So when LA announced a morning at Galaxyland for EPCOR employees, we couldn’t be happier. Theme park heaven: free rides and no crowds. Joined by their school chums the Levines, we all headed to WEM on a snowy Saturday morning looking for a thrill. And we found it.
Maddy was brave and took a ride on the Mindbender. When asked how she liked it, she reported blacking out between the second and third loop. She didn’t opt for a return ride.
The rest of us stuck to the kiddie rides. Ben and Ella both loved the kid coaster and it occurred to me that these roller coasters designed for little kids were also perfect for queasy parents and grandparents. Because the crowds were thin at the beginning, we got to go over and over without waiting in lines.
Even LA got into the spirit of it and went on the Swing of the Century ride.
All in all, it was a great morning. And I spent the rest of the day recovering.
