Thursday Morning: At exactly 5:45 campers were woken up to get a head start on their adventure to the Great Escape amusement park. Due to technical problems, the music played over the PA could be heard only faintly in the square. Several people had difficulty even tracing the sound to the PA speaker due to its spooky-low volume. However, despite this obstacle, the campers were ready for Shacharis at 6:05.
At 7:05 a light breakfast was served consisting of cereal, milk, and hot-coco. The concept behind this light breakfast was that campers would still have room for a brunch (see below for details) at the park only moments before entering. This would greatly reduce the time elapsed before a late lunch, thus allowing for five uninterrupted hours in the park. By 7:25 the bunks were dismissed to the buses and Gan Yisroel was on its way to the Great Escape.
As campers hopped off the buses at 10:45 in the parking lot of the Great Escape, they were greeted by a delicious tuna sandwich brunch (see above for detail concerning the reasons behind said brunch). After saying Al Hamichya on the fantastic Mezonos-bread sandwiches, campers were ready to enter the park. With the cooperation of each staff-member, bunks were divided into small groups to make the amusement park experience more fun and efficient for each individual.
At the gate, each staff-member received tickets for their group and by 12:00 the camp was roaming the paved walkways of the Great Escape Amusement Park. The attendants of the Hospitality Center near the entrance of the park were eager to supply maps for the purpose of easier navigation around the park. With the help of the maps, groups could make their way from one part of the park to another without the risk of getting lost and wasting time. Those campers who wanted to go on roller coasters were lead by their group-leader to the appropriate roller coaster attraction (see pictures) and fun was had. Campers with more sensitive tummies enjoyed themselves at the wide selection of games at the park as well as the more gentler rides. Many campers won prizes including basket-balls, plastic junk, and giant stuffed animal fish. Not to be forgotten, of course, are the daring staff and older campers who went sky-coasting (see pictures), swinging through the air with the aid of a harness and a cord or two. In short, each individual, campers and staff alike, had a great time in his own way.
With amazing precision the entire camp was out of the park on-time by 6:00. By the end of such an exciting day campers were ready to become almost satiated with another round of Mezonos sandwiches. Mincha prayers were conducted on the buses immediately before departure. As the sun set on another day in Gan Yisroel, the buses began to roll back to camp and arrived safely at 10:30. Campers gathered in the Shul for Maariv and Krias Sh’ma, and then rested their heads on their cool pillows, drifting off into slumber with thoughts of the day’s excitement and the next day’s learning classes.