Stone Mountain Park

Last week I took my son and nephew to Stone Mountain Park.  The weather was gorgeous and the park is pretty close to where we live (about a 30 to 40 minute drive, depending on traffic).

Me trying to be pro-active and ready to get the show on the road, decided to purchase our (adventure pass) tickets online and pick them up at the will call window.  Well, when we got to the park I'm sure I looked silly staring at the ticket counter.  There was NO will call window in sight!  The line was long!  Phew!  Glad I purchased my tickets online!  Now where is that will call window?

Come to find out..... THERE IS NO WILL CALL WINDOW!  I was a tad pissed because #1-The line was long and I had two six year old boys asking me a million questions and dying to get in. #2- I feel the website is misleading in having you to believe you can skip the whole waiting in line drama, pick up your ticket, and your in. So if you decide to go one day...as of Spring 2012, don't even waste your time thinking you are being proactive by purchasing tickets online.

Oh well, we were here to have fun.  I let that go and the rest of our trip was wonderful.

Image credit: wikipedia.com

Stone Mountain Park has TONS to do!  It is a gorgeous park with a lot of attractions.  The park is famous for the huge granite formation with a carving of confederate generals on it.  

We entered and immediately came up on the 4-D theatre.  The boys were super excited, so we stopped there 1st.

The 4-D movie was cute!  While Yogi and Boo Boo tried to steal some pic-a-nik baskets our chairs vibrated, air blew at us in different directions and we were sprayed with water several times.   4-D movies are fun!

Next we played some miniature golf.  

Watch out Tiger Woods! (not really, that was the 2nd swing and he still missed)

After golf, we boarded the train for a scenic ride around the mountain.  The breeze felt so good.  

Image credit: www.stonemountainpark.com

We were getting hungry.  We decided to have our picnic on the lawn in front of the mountain.  There were lots of people taking advantage of the gorgeous day.  Some were playing ball, some just sitting and talking, and others like us, having a picnic.  You can bring your own food into the park.  They also have areas set up with grills and picnic tables if you want to grill out.

Let me just mention that every where we went, the scenery was beautiful.  This was our view while walking towards the lawn.

 Pretty, right?

This was our view while eating and taking a little break.

Cheeze!  Okay, lunch over.... Operation Fun back in full affect!

Now that we were re-energized we headed to Camp Higland Outpost.  This was a huge hit with two six year old boys.  It was like a mini obstacle course with a little zip line at the end.  They played and played on this.

Image credit: www.stonemountainpark.com

They had a much bigger version for the adults!  MUCH BIGGER!  I was the only set of parental eyes on this trip so I had to stay put and supervise.  Just wanted to point out that there is plenty to do for adults and kids.

We then found ourselves at The Great Barn.  This was another paradise for kids!  It was 3 levels of non-stop fun.  The place was covered with foam balls that you could shoot out of these ball shooters on the 2nd and 3rd floors.  The kids could also put the foam balls into this machine that sucked them up and held them in buckets until the timer dumped them all out at once.   Watch out parents!  There are slides, ladders, trampoline floors and more.

Next, we caught the little shuttle over to the Antebellum Plantation.

*side note*
When I moved to Georgia from Alabama around the age of 10, we 1st moved to Stone Mountain City.  I grew up there.  I graduated from Stone Mountain High School.  I remember going in my back yard and being able to see the fireworks in the sky after being shot off  the top of the mountain on the 4th of July.  One year my best friend and I worked at Stone Mountain Park during the month of October at the Antebellum  Plantation.  We were outfitted in traditional southern antebellum dresses and worked as tour guides for the "Tour of Southern Ghosts" event.  I've got a picture around here somewhere.... Maybe I will post it one day.

The Antebellum Plantation is rich in history.  I enjoyed touring it.  The kids not so much....
They did have a petting zoo which was the highlight of the plantation tour for them.

I was very interested in learning about living on a plantation in the 1800's.  It was a very interesting tour.  They have lots of events through out the year at the plantation.  I'm sure back in the day, no one had a paved driveway...

This is a typical master bedroom.

The main house also had a music room, complete with a piano and harp. The kids had their own dining area (until they had proper etiquette skills to eat with the grown ups), and there was a dining room in the basement as well (for cooler eating during the summer months).  Needless to say, the owners of a plantation were living very nicely!

The kitchen was separate from the house due to possible kitchen fires.  Outside of the kitchen was a full garden.


On a sadder note, this was the typical home of a slave's family.

On our way back to catch the shuttle so we could go on the ride we had been waiting for all day..... the boys stopped for some honeysuckles.

Finally, the moment we had been waiting for all day.
It was time to RIDE THE DUCKS!

Image credit: www.stonemountainpark.com

This was so much fun!  Here is a picture of our duck.

As you are getting on the duck bus, children under 10 are given a life jacket to put on.  Everyone is given a "quacker!"

This was a lively bus!  Our driver was cracking jokes and playing some good tunes.  As we got closer to the lake, she slowed down and suggested we count down....
Five
Four
and on
THREE!   She put the pedal to the medal!  She actually FLOORED IT!
We zoomed straight into the lake.
It was quite a rush!
Here is the video of us zooming in....

Once in the lake, we were swimming like ducks!  Well, not us.... the bus!

 Every child had the chance to drive the duck bus.

Once our duck made it back on land, our driver cranked up the music again and everyone was quacking to "Who Let the Dogs Out"....

 If you ever go to Stone Mountain Park and buy an adventure pass ticket, I suggest getting there as soon as they open.  We arrived an hour after they opened and we could have really used that hour!  Everyone was just too tired.

We didn't make to the Summit Sky Ride which was included in our ticket.

I really wanted to take them on this.  Once you are on top of the mountain you can see the city of Atlanta as well as the Appalachian mountains.  I know in the past, they had a mini theatre that explained about the carving, the plant life that lives on the mountain, and some little shrimp (who knows, they may be organisms of some type) that live in the rain puddles on top of the mountain.  I do not know if the theatre is still there or if they still do this.  The boys were pooped and we never got a chance to find out.  Oh well, there is always next time.

Last year The Mexican and I went to The Laser Show which is also at Stone Mountain park.
 CLICK HERE to read.

Stone Mountain Park has a lot to offer.  Too much to cover in one, two, or three posts!  May need to start a series of  posts because I know we will be visiting often.

Visit www.stonemountainpark.com to learn more.


All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated in anyway for this review.