A round-up of BIG news highlights across the globe, and other BIG finds we want to share!

A FUN FIND!

I got to do something last week that I’ve wanted to do ever since moving to the Hudson Valley: tour Bannerman’s Castle on Pollopel Island in the middle of the Hudson River. In the early 1900′s, Frank Bannerman was the world’s largest buyer of surplus military equipment, and he built this castle to store it in! Public tours have started for the season. You can take a boat to the island, walk the trails, and enjoy amazing views of the castle, Bannerman residence, and the river.

Bannerman Castle, on Pollopel Island in the Hudson River

NEWS OF THE LARGE

News which caught our attention over the past month:

Nearly 200 new rides and attractions open this summer at more than 80 theme parks, water parks, family fun centers, zoos, aquariums, and museums in the United States and Canada, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). Among the highlights we’re anxious to see is the world’s largest animatronic dinosaur at King’s Island in Ohio, which just opened for the season. Sauroposeidon is the length of three school buses and the height of a six-story building!

The Sauroposeidon is part of the “Dinosaurs Alive!” attraction at King’s Island

Later this month, the 160-acre Six Flags Great Adventure theme park in Jackson, New Jersey, will unite with the 350-acre Wild Safari animal park to become the world’s largest theme park! The new Safari Off Road Adventure will take guests for a ride in an open-air vehicle for off-road animal interactions over rugged terrain. Look for a GBOGH first-hand report in June!

FROM OUR FRIENDS AND READERS

Now that we’re on Instagram, we find a lot of fun images of BIG things, like this SOLO cup that Sean posted. We asked if we could share it, and he was totally game! This is located in front of the closed SOLO plant in Springfield, MO. We’ll be sad when the building is sold and the cup is taken down.

Solo Cup, Springfield, MO

Sean has quite a few images of “world’s largest” stuff in his Instagram feed, including the World’s Largest Fork!

On Wednesday, we spent an exhausting day at Walt Disney World, the world’s largest theme park. Specifically, we spent 10 hours straight in the Magic Kingdom, pushing through the heat-induced crankiness and cyclical sugar lows to fit in what everyone wanted to see and do.

There’s not much new to write about Disney World. Many of us have the same photo, standing in front of Cinderella’s castle, and similar stories about our favorite rides and characters. What makes it magical is seeing it through our children’s eyes, especially if it’s their first time there.

This was The Girl’s first visit to the Magic Kingdom. I spent more time watching her face than anything else.

Her first character encounter was with Merida from Brave:

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How to use a beach towel as a raincoat

I get worked up making sure we visit title-holding “world’s largests” for Go BIG or Go Home. I try to find a way to make all our travel fit in somehow. Usually, I can find some BIG link, however insubstantial. This time, we didn’t go to the world’s largest theme park. We didn’t even go the largest park within the world’s largest theme park chain. But we DID go to a Six Flags theme park — one within the world’s largest theme park company — so we’re counting it!

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

On paper, it was a kid’s dream itinerary for a long weekend. Three days spent at the Six Flags Great Escape theme park in Lake George, NY , with its Splashwater Kingdom outdoor water park. Two evenings to enjoy the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge, which has the White Water Bay indoor water park.

Dreamy, except for the torrential rains and temps which never exceeded 65°F.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

Have you seen the Six Flags commercials imploring you to “Go Big, Go Six Flags?” For some reason, the slogan resonated with me.   Actually, I had an assignment to write this review for FamilyVacationCritic.com, so we were going regardless. But some quick research lead to the discovery that Six Flags is the world’s largest regional theme park company, based on the quantity of properties.  I didn’t realize that there are 19 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

We’ve now added Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ to our bucket list, because it’s the largest Six Flags in the country, and it’s home to some BIG attractions: Kingda Ka, the world’s tallest roller coaster; the world’s largest drive-thru safari outside of Africa; and one of the world’s largest adventure rivers.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

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