Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Pleasure Pier, Galveston Island, Texas

This past weekend we had a mini-family reunion of sorts.  My cousin graduated from UT Medical School.  His proud parents rented a huge house in Galveston for the event.  While it couldn't contain everyone (my parents stayed at the Moody Gardens hotel), my daughter & I stayed with the rest of the family.

The house was a couple blocks away from the Gulf of Mexico and 7/10 of a mile away from one of Galveston's newer attractions, Pleasure Pier.

Our day had already been eventful, especially for a mom & a 3 year old.  We'd gotten up early and headed over to Moody Gardens, where we'd spent the morning at Palm Beach.  Then we went back to visit with family and rest before heading to the famed Sand Castle Contest on East Beach in the afternoon and early evening.

So, it was around 8:30 that we started the walk to Pleasure Pier.  My mother came with us, and we ambled along Seawall Boulevard, stopping in a couple stores, before reaching the pier.

There were a couple rides my daughter was just too short for, but I'd done my research and visited Pleasure Pier's website.  I knew there were several rides she was the required height for, so when it came time to purchase a ticket, I bought her the pass.  Some rides I would have to go on, as well, so I bought myself a pass, too.  Here's the thing--to go on the pier, you must have at least a walk-on pass.  Walk-on passes start at $10 for adults (over 48"), $8 for kids (under 48"), and $7 for seniors (must have ID).  Rides start at $4.  But the unlimited ride passes are $26.99 for adults, $19.99 for kids, no senior discount.  We got there late, but my daughter still got to ride everything she was tall enough to ride.  In hindsight, I probably could have gotten away with a walk-on pass and tickets to ride what I need to ride with her.  Lesson learned.  However, it was much cheaper to do the unlimited for her, especially since it allowed her to ride her favorite--kid-sized bumper cars--three times in a row.

Most of the rides are lit up, but the icon of the pier is definitely the ferris wheel. It's all the way at the end of the pier and definitely not something to miss. It was nice to sit down for a bit, though we spent more time hanging in the air, waiting for others to get on or off, than we did making rotations.  Because it was at night, I can only imagine how amazing it would've been during the day, over the water, that high up.  They also had a pretty good band playing (I thought it was recorded music until I saw the musicians). 

Pleasure Pier had typical carnival games--Guess Your Age or Weight, Ring Toss, etc.  We bypassed all of these in favor of the rides.  We also did not eat at Pleasure Pier, though besides typical carnival foods, it is also the location of Bubba Gump's.  They even had a Gump's on the Run (to-go orders).  You did not need to purchase any kind of pass to get food from Bubba Gump's. 

All in all, I'm glad we decided to check out Pleasure Pier. My daughter had a fabulous time. One warning--watch out for Pirate's Plunge.  Even walking too close could leave you soaked. 

Here's the website.  I definitely recommend checking it out before you go. 
http://www.pleasurepier.com/index.html


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