Ride of Death at Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey

I got this photo from a sweet and kind member of the Facebook group, I Played at Dennis the Menace and Lived! Thank you Kim!

Unfortunately, I didn't get it in time for by blog titled, "I Played at Dennis the Menace and Lived!" Good thing I'm over perfection, otherwise, I would really hate myself right now.

I spent countless hours with my hair blowing in the wind on this fabulous merry go round in the sky, and somehow lived to tell. Must have been my super powers that saved me.

Actually, I only fell off of it once, which could mean one of two things: I don't like pain or I'm a fast learner.

Anyways, I wanted to post this picture for people who had never seen this ingenious injury contraption, as well as for those who have sweet memories and scar tissue from the Ride of Death.

Here's a few more pictures of the Ride of Death. Thanks Marcy!

"I Played at Dennis the Menace Park and Lived!"

I always drank from the lion's mouth upon entering the park and prior to leaving it,for good luck, part of my advanced self preservation techniques.


There's a group on Facebook Nation I had never heard of until the other day. The group, "I Played at Dennis the Menace Park and Lived!" currently has over 2000 members, up 200 members from just 9 days ago.

As soon as I got home, I joined the group because I could totally relate to the theme. Yes, as a child I had my own near death experience at Dennis the Menace Park.



Crossing this rickety, creaky, swaying bridge always felt like walking the plank, and still does!


My near fatality involved the park ride. Oh yes, Dennis the Menace had rides back then. But it wasn't powered by electricity. No, it was powered by little legs. Legs of children, which must have been against child labor laws, even back in the olden days.

The ride spun around, which wouldn't have been a problem if it had been anywhere near the ground. But it was at least 6 feet in the air. Visualize merry go round in the sky. Maybe, I'm exaggerating, but it was always over my head, and I was a very tall child.

Anyways, on this particular go around I was part of the power grid. As I was jumping off the ride, to run along the top of the cement wall, to keep the ride going, I missed the wall, slipped off, and slid down the wall facing it.


The Ride of Death may be gone, but the Wall of Shame still stands.

Of course, this didn't stop me from powering the ride, but from then on, I was very careful, as I stepped off the moving ride onto the wall. Live and learn.

And as far as I can tell the park has only gotten slightly better, since the ride is no longer there.



"Mommy that's a long way down!" says Gio trembling.

Last summer I took both of my kids to Dennis the Menace. First of all, one major problem with the park is: it's huge! And my kids decided they wouldn't be playing together that day. Or with the other kids we came with. So if I wasn't watching them in horror on the top of the train, my time in park hell was spent looking for them.

However, every time I found one kid, it seemed I lost the other.

"The Maze." The bushes were never see-through when I was a kid.

My parenting style leans towards hovering. So, the anxiety that starts to creep from my stomach to my brain can be overwhelming and often leads to child abduction hallucinations, when my kids are out of sight.

Am I breathing? No.

It wasn't so bad with my oldest son, but when I lost the two year old, I was freaking out on the inside. Eventually, I found him on the swing chatting it up with a little girl and her Dad.

I walked over to get Gio and the Dad asks in a wow you are the worst parent I've ever seen voice, "Is this your kid?"

I thought about saying "No," and walking away. But I did the right thing. I turned myself in, and confessed with a shameful, "Yes."

"Well, he's been over here with us for five minutes," he says sternly.

I felt so small. He could have squashed me like an ant. But then my son would have spent the rest of his life forever trapped in a campy Disney movie, without a Mom.

Needless to say, we've only been back once, but I only had one child and the park, as you can see from the pictures, was empty. Some day, I will go back to Dennis the Menace with both kids.

Yes, some day we'll all return when I'm finished with my post traumatic stress disorder therapy and the nightmares cease, or are at least less frequent.