I decided to wait until 11:00 a.m. to show up at the park.  As I approached the ticket booths at the entrance to the parking lot I was greeted by a friendly Jazzland employee.  I was impressed at the friendly reception I received until I realized the employee was asking me for $5 to park my car.  Much to my dismay, Jazzland was sponging off of the United Way patrons and greasing their pockets with our hard earned money. Don't get me wrong, but when you buy a ticket to a fund raiser for charity and their is no mention of a parking fee anywhere, this just shows greed on Jazzland's part.

Nevertheless, I was anxious to park and head into the park.  After passing through the metal detectors and then through the turnstiles, my daughter and I were off to enjoy some rides and taking photos for this website.  To make a long story short, I didn't get to ride anything.  I was too busy taking photos.

At around 1:00 p.m. it felt like it was at least 100 degrees outside, so we decided to catch an indoor show in Jazz Hall called "Jazz, Jazz, Jazz".  This show lasts about 30 minutes and I was pleasantly surprised.  The show traces the history of Jazz through singing and dancing performed by seven people.

After the show we strolled around the park.  Not much time passed before I started looking for a nice shady place to relax and cool off.  This is where Jazzland needs a lot of improvement.  The only places to cool off were either the cafes or some ride queues.  Both were packed with other people with the same idea to cool off.

About half of the rides were not operational for one reason or another.  There is only one more week before Jazzland opens to the public and they have their work cut out.  Their are many queues that need to be built and cafes & gift shops that need to be stocked and opened.  As far as the employees are concerned, I found them to be friendly, considering that this was their first day dealing with the general public.

Overall, my experience at Jazzland was OK.  As for the heat, I will just visit in the evening when the sun is less punishing. The only major drawback to Jazzland will be the $5 daily parking fee for Season Pass holders. It is ridiculous to think that Jazzland would forgo many visits by locals because of this fee.  Jazzland can easily make up the lossed revenue from parking with the money a Season Pass holder would spend on one large Coke and a hot dog (approximately $6) per visit.