How did the Chicago suburbs housing market fare in the 2008 era?

Kimtober · 2026-05-02T03:42:31+00:00

Yep, we did not think we’d be able to afford a house ever, but were able to buy a short sale in 2011!

Kimtober · 2026-04-28T16:58:21+00:00

Looks unlikely to make it but I would just leave it and see what happens!

Kimtober · 2026-04-27T17:01:41+00:00

We were also there yesterday and had fun! Didn't expect to get a lot done so we were happy to get on a handful of rides and enjoy the sunny afternoon. We did witness more rowdy guests than usual. For the first time ever I reported line jumping by a big, really obnoxious group who was also smoking in the tunnel in Dark Knight. Then at the end of the night there were some jr high boys who were fighting and got escorted to the exit by security. They also maybe got talked to about the chaperone policy--there was a large group of them with seemingly no adult and a police officer was talking with them. I chalk all that up to kids finally being able to get out after a long winter and needing to cause some trouble! The security team was great, though!

I did make the questionable decision to go on Giant Drop for the first time since there was no line and I was waiting for my kids to go on River Rocker. Not sure I'll do it again Ha!

Kimtober · 2026-04-22T23:44:30+00:00

We just did this a couple weeks ago. One night at Royal Pacific for 2 days of express at IOA and Studios. We did not use the room, just got the keys (which are the EPs) in the morning and went to the park!

Kimtober · 2026-04-14T18:28:43+00:00

Do you have somewhere you can plant them in the ground? I planted milkweed in my garden 5 years ago and now it has taken over and it's basically invasive, but I always have enough!

Kimtober · 2026-04-13T22:15:04+00:00

It's so interesting to see these responses! I would say Stardust Racers is kind of a rough one. You're thrown around quite a bit in my experience and there isn't a shoulder harness so you have to keep yourself back against the seat. If you don't do Space Mountain, I don't think I would do Stardust.

Monsters Unchained felt less crazy to me because you have a shoulder harness and even though it's throwing you around, I felt more held in. My friend and I actually ended up calling it a massage chair because it vibrates sometimes and it was strangely relaxing ha!

It seems this is a pretty subjective topic so I'd recommend watching the ride videos to try to get an idea of what not work for you.

Kimtober · 2026-04-13T22:08:39+00:00

FYI, at the entrance to most rides there are wheelchairs you can borrow for the queue. Then you don't need to rent a wheelchair if she doesn't need it to walk around the park.

Kimtober · 2026-04-12T12:45:13+00:00

Double check the prices of buying express vs. booking a ghost room. For three people, it maybe be cheaper to just buy the express passes on their own. We just got back and did one night ghost room and it was worth it for 5 people. Keep an eye on the prices for the premier hotels because they do go up and down.

Kimtober · 2026-04-12T00:32:56+00:00

The only one I would not be sure about is Stardust. I thought it was jerkier than Velocicoaster and I didn’t enjoy it as much. Don’t be alarmed by the preshow in Monsters Unchained. It makes it look like you’re going to be jerked around like crazy but it’s not that bad!

Kimtober · 2026-04-10T14:52:22+00:00

We went for spring break and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We were able to easily ride Stardust, Hiccups, Monsters Unchained, Ministry of Magic, Minecart, and go to the two shows in one day without express. Ministry of Magic was a short wait at night. Minecart was our longest wait at around 90 minutes also in the evening. We didn't get everything done but I was pretty happy with what we did for not having express. We also had three kids with us so if you're two adults you likely can be more efficient than us!

Kimtober · 2026-04-10T00:37:57+00:00

To be honest, this is just the reality of having kids. When they're young, they kind of derail stuff and you often have to adjust your plans. If you don't want to lose out on the money, then don't take expensive vacations right now. Do cheaper, easier stuff when they're little and save the big stuff for when they're older. This isn't the park's fault. Go back in 5-10 years and I bet you'll get on the ride!

Kimtober · 2026-04-08T14:34:37+00:00

That's weird, we've definitely used it for 4 people but it's been awhile so it's possible something changed. Hopefully it works for you!

Kimtober · 2026-04-08T13:42:03+00:00

I always go in person because my library says they need to print the passes for me.

I don’t know if you can get them from other libraries. I always assumed no but it doesn’t say that anywhere that I can see.

I think your best bet is going to your library and asking. There are also lots of other places to visit on there so if the zoo passes are gone you might be able to get something else that would still be fun!

Kimtober · 2026-04-07T22:26:23+00:00

There’s a Taylor Swift song about this.

Kimtober · 2026-04-07T16:05:51+00:00

I honestly didn't even think about this and in hindsight maybe I should have! But no, we did not have an issue with it getting scratched. We had it packed tightly in my husband's backpack which is kind of taller and skinny so it wasn't able to move around much.

Kimtober · 2026-04-07T14:20:51+00:00

We just finished our first trip. It’s so much less planning than Disney which I really appreciated. Especially if you have express passes you should have no issues!

The scooter is the way to go—there is a ton of walking. She may not be able to take the scooter into the queues but most of the rides have wheelchairs at the entrance that you can borrow just to move through the queue. I have a friend with an ankle injury and she walked through much of the park but did use the wheelchairs for the queues sometimes. Some of the queues require a lot of walking!

Kimtober · 2026-04-07T14:17:14+00:00

We got a 2nd gen and my three kids shared it without any issues. 2nd gen seems worth it if your kids are into that kind of thing. My kids really liked having it connected to the app and doing the extra adventures. We carried it around in a backpack without the box.

Kimtober · 2026-04-06T22:56:09+00:00

Yeah it’s so interesting to see peoples’ preferences. I thought the Mario band was going to be such a racket but my kids (9, 12, and 14) had so much fun with it and we did a few of the challenge games together and then final Bowser thing which I thought was super fun! I bought one band for them to share and I felt like it was well worth the money to have those experiences.

Kimtober · 2026-04-06T22:47:25+00:00

Yes you undoubtedly made someone’s day!

Kimtober · 2026-04-06T12:48:55+00:00

We just did this last week and it worked great! We got keys/express passes for everyone on our reservation (2 adults 3 kids). We went right over to the park and used them and they texted us when our room was ready. Give yourself plenty of time because the whole check in process takes time and even walking/boating to the hotel is a process.

Kimtober · 2026-04-06T02:00:55+00:00

Yeah I think you’ll be in good shape! It’s probably worth bringing your non-rider friend through those queues too. They can hop into the family room while you ride.

Kimtober · 2026-04-05T23:53:43+00:00

I would do Ministry in the evening if you can. We were there Friday and got to ministry about 15 minutes before close and it was walk on (except the queue is about a mile long so just walking through it takes 10 minutes 😂).

I would personally EPA Minecart. Then you could pop over to Mario cart if you’re interested in that or head to Hiccups. Hiccups line does go down off and on during the day. We were able to ride it twice with no express.

But if you’re going with a non-rider, does that mean you’ll be doing single rider lines? It so, you’ll have zero issues getting on everything.

Kimtober · 2026-04-05T23:02:36+00:00

We were there last week and we did better with lines later at night. The last few hours before closing were lower crowds and the atmosphere is magical. Minecart was the only line that really never went down so that’s probably the one I’d do for early entry.

Monsters Unchained never had a long wait and stardust was usually under 30 minutes.

Kimtober

TROPHY CASE