KC101’s Ticket To Ride August 21
Katie Sunday was a bit of an interesting day. The crazy-ness actually began before, when I asked Six Flags about handicapped accesible seating for the concert and was told that ADA seating was available – but only for those in wheelchairs. We decided then that I’d use a wheelchair for the day because even though I was more of a liability standing in a crowd of rabid fan girls, six flags didn’t seem to care unless I was in a wheelchair! Plus, my friend Christine had asked previously and was told if I was in a wheelchair I could be put anywhere so we figured with our VIP wristbands we could position the wheelchair at the back of the VIP area and then stay with our friends.
We got to the park when it opened, picked up a Guests with Disabilities guide book and then picked up our VIP tickets. We decided to wait in line and there were only about 25 girls in front of us so we thought we could easily position the wheelchair against the barricade and we’d be all set. Except that Six Flags decided they were having a flashmob for Jason Derulo (you should be singing that in your head every time you see it mentioned here) and that 500 people would be let in first. If they had VIP they’d go to the front of VIP and if not they’d go to the front of the GA area. Basically there was no way we could get ahead, but we decided to stay in line anyway.
Originally the plan was that doors would be at 2:30. Then we got told they were pushed to 3. Then security said that it was going to “rain heavily” and we should prepare ourselves. If we got out of line, we would lose our place even if our friends stayed in line and even if we had to go to the bathroom! Then we were told that since the storm was coming they were moving us in to a pavilion and we had to stay seated and that we could NOT leave – even to go to the bathroom. Or we could not come back. Obviously they soon realized this was ridiculous and those who did leave to use the restrooms were NOT kicked out.
Fortunately we made it in to the pavilion before the rain began and we all sat around. We were entertaining ourselves just fine in the line and could have continued doing so in the pavilion but they set up a mic and ended up having Art and Colin of ‘The mop squad” come to entertain us. I certainly hope whatever act they do in the park was better than what they did for us… I felt like I was in summer camp hell. Surprisingly, there were people who seemed entertained and they didn’t get boo’ed off stage.
The rain stopped and the sun came out and we were told the other pavilion (flash mob) would be let in first. They tried to do everything orderly and we were worried the wheelchair would get stampeded, but the six flags people stuck to their guns that we would have to walk in with everyone else. Once we went to get in to VIP we were told to go in to the wheelchair seating instead of VIP and we were separated from friends. Basically we spent $10 for VIP for nothing and we could have been on rides all day and ended up in the same spot. Oh well… at least we got to hang out with our friends in the line. The other weird thing was that those with All Access (radio station peeps, sponsors, etc) had the section in front of the wheelchairs and were standing and moving around so even if you thought you had a good spot, at any moment someone else could jump in front of you and block your view!
Andy Grammer was up first. He did 3 or 4 songs and some beatboxing and was really good. The only downside to his set was that he did a bit of Empire State of Mind which has to be one of my least favorite songs, but otherwise he was entertaining so I won’t hold that against him.
Next up was Shaggy. His DJ played intro music for what seemed like forever. I don’t know if he was stalling for time or what… but finally Shaggy came out. He did Mr Bombastic, Angel, It Wasn’t Me, Sugarcane and Mr Lover. AND he also did a little bit of Empire State of Mind! I could see if we were in New York but we were in Massachucetts…
Then it was time for the reason most of us were there – Joe Jonas. He came out to Love Slayer and also performed Just In Love With You, Fast Life, Kleptomaniac, I’m Sorry, See No More (his last song which he jumped in to the crowd during.) As well as Jonas Brothers songs – When You Look Me In The Eyes and Hello Beautiful. After Joe we left the area and went to the bathrooms, where Andy Grammer was outside signing and taking pics. We waited for a bit to try and get a photo but he kept getting called off to somewhere else so we gave up and went to get me a hair feather while we waited for Jason Derulo. We heard a couple of his songs (and cheered when he came out and sang ‘jaaaason deruuuullloooooo’) and then decided to head out. I had such a headache that as much as I wanted to ride a coaster I just didn’t think it was a good idea because I’d probably have made myself sick! We decided to head out and ended up getting home at a fairly reaasonable hour.
In the end, everything worked out for the best but it was very frustrating for most of the day trying to “go with the flow” when we weren’t sure at time if we’d end up trampled or not!