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When Six Flags filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Saturday, everyone who enjoys a good rollercoaster probably cringed. While Six Flags’ executives are assuring patrons that their parks will remain open during their tough economic times, it’s still no fun thinking that all of those six-dollar sodas we’ve been buying over the years couldn’t keep the place solvent.
At least for now, though, Six Flags won’t join the list of dearly departed theme parks that for one reason or another couldn’t hack it and are now in the amusement graveyard. Let’s take a look at some of the ones that weren’t so lucky.
1. Action Park
Sure, modern amusement parks are fun, but where’s the danger? It wasn’t missing at New Jersey’s infamous/beloved Action Park, which entertained and injured locals in Vernon Township, New Jersey, from 1978 to 1996. When the park opened, it was mostly swimming pools and water slides, but over time more complex water attractions, go-karts, and rides were added.
Sounds fun, right? It would have been if not for how dangerous the park was. The staff was often young and inattentive, and injuries and fatalities (yes, fatalities) started piling up. The giant waves in the wave pool (nicknamed the “Grave Pool”) drowned a few patrons, but the park was perhaps best known for its looping water slide.
The enclosed waterslide ended with a total vertical loop. If this setup sounds like a terrible idea, that’s because it was. If the rider lacked the speed or the water pressure to make it all the way through the loop, an injury was inevitable. Patrons got nosebleeds, back injuries, or stuck at the top of the loop.
Park staff later claimed that they were offered a hundred bucks a pop to try to the slide, but refused after seeing that test dummies often emerged on the other end dismembered. The looping slide was actually closed down for most of the park’s life due to these injury concerns.
In 1996, with a total body count of six fatalities and countless injuries, the park had to close down due to its inability to cover the exorbitant insurance premiums its dangerous rides required. However, many of the rides still exist in safer, renovated form as Mountain Creek Waterpark.
2. Dogpatch USA
Younger readers might not be familiar with Al Capp’s comic strip Li’l Abner, but it basically chronicled the hilarious lives of a family of goodhearted hillbillies in Dogpatch, Kentucky. The strip ran for 43 years and at its peak had millions of readers.
For some reason, in 1966 real estate developer O.J. Snow decided that Li’l Abner and the gang would be the perfect subject for an amusement park, and he enlisted partners to help build a replica of Dogpatch in the Ozark Mountains near Jasper, Arkansas. In order to secure the Li’l Abner license from Al Capp, Snow had to assure the strip’s creator that he wouldn’t include any thrill rides in the park, so it mostly consisted of Li’l Abner characters strolling around, paddleboat rides, train rides, and the like.
After Snow and his partners spent over a million dollars getting the park up and running for its 1968 opening, the park turned a tidy profit in its first year. After that, however, some pretty big cracks emerged in Dogpatch USA’s underlying concept. First, while Li’l Abner was a fairly lighthearted look at mountain culture, Arkansans couldn’t help but realize that going to a hillbilly-themed park was like paying to be mocked. “Ha! Look at how quaint and funny you mountain folk are!” didn’t exactly make the locals break out their wallets. On top of that, for all of the Natural State’s charms, Arkansas isn’t a huge tourist destination, so the park couldn’t piggyback off of the region’s success at pulling in tourists. For reasons like these, nobody came to Dogpatch USA. The park had hoped to draw 1.2 million visitors a year within its first nine seasons of operation; the most it ever drew was 300,000 in its inaugural year.
Over the next 24 years, the park changed hands several times, added roller coasters, and shifted focus towards theater attractions, but nothing could lure in patrons. In 1993 the park closed for good, and now it sits abandoned on State Highway 7 with trees and weeds growing around the old rides and attractions.
3. Opryland USA
When I was growing up about an hour north of Nashville, the promise of a trip to Opryland could coerce my younger brother and me into doing pretty much anything. The country-music-themed park opened in Nashville in 1972 and offered traditional rides like roller coasters as well as live country music revues. The park quickly established a brisk business and pulled in over two million guests per year. In 1977, the Opryland Hotel opened, and the sprawling inn has since become the largest non-casino hotel in the world.
Over time, though, the park ran into a problem: it was out of room to expand. Because its triangular footprint wedged between the Cumberland River, the Opryland Hotel, and a major parkway, the park was pretty much stuck at one size. Gaylord, the park’s owners, decided to shutter the park, sell off the rides, and built the gigantic Opry Mills mall on the site.
Although the park disappeared, not all of the rides shared its fate. As is fairly common in these cases, management sold some of the nicer roller coasters to other parks. Today the Hangman operates as Kong at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, and the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster found new life as the Canyon Blaster at New York’s The Great Escape.
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Do you have a favorite departed amusement park or have any tales of your own gruesome injuries from Action Park?
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Comments (71)
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six flags in new orleans still sits in a watery grave…the sign still reads closed due to hurricane
posted by dre on 6-16-2009 at 3:21 pm
I still miss the geauga lake/sea world combo in Ohio. everything went downhill when 6 flags took over geauga lake and brought in bugs bunny to torture guests. I wonder if the Rotor Man found a new place to hang out.
posted by Lisa on 6-16-2009 at 3:22 pm
Six Flags Astro World in Houston closed a couple years back. Now, America’s fourth largest city has no amusement park. The nearest park is in San Antonio.
posted by Witty Nickname on 6-16-2009 at 3:29 pm
Don’t forget Rocky Point in Rhode Island. Chaos at Opryland was an awesome ride!!
posted by Chad on 6-16-2009 at 3:30 pm
Hard Rock Park in South Carolina was a neat park that didn’t last long. It closed last year.
posted by Pat on 6-16-2009 at 3:31 pm
As a youth, the highlight of my summer was my grandmother’s annual company picnic at Chippewa Lake Park in Ohio. It was small but cozy. I loved the slide where everyone was handed a burlap sack to use and the rocket ride that flew “over” the lake. When it closed in 1978, a part of my heart just broke.
posted by KJ on 6-16-2009 at 3:31 pm
My parents took us to Dogpatch when we were very little. All I remember is a rickety water ride and meeting the characters. Despite the trashy stereotype, Arkansas is really a beautiful place with many smart, lovely people.
Speaking of trashy, is Dollywood still around?
posted by Christa on 6-16-2009 at 3:39 pm
Wichita, KS is a “Bermuda Triangle” of amusement parks. First Joyland closed in 2003 due to several lawsuits and financial trouble (not to mention a beheading or two from the roller coaster). Then Wild West World opened in Park City (just north of Wichita) in May of 2007, then closed in July of 2007.
posted by iambeaker on 6-16-2009 at 3:40 pm
I, too, grew up about an hour north of Nashville (Franklin KY). When my parents got married, a lot of their friends skipped the ceremony to go to the opening of Opryland. Some friends! Though her marriage ended in the early 1980s, my mom said she felt a little schadenfreude when the park finally shut down.
posted by Eve on 6-16-2009 at 3:51 pm
@Lisa: I remember Rotor Man too! Geauga Lake was the best. I heard it sucks massively now. :-(
posted by Rachel on 6-16-2009 at 4:02 pm
VisionLand, in Bessemer, Alabama.
Built for $70 million, sold less tahn f10 years later for $7 million.
Now lives on as “Alabama Adventure.”
thanks Larry Langford
posted by Beau on 6-16-2009 at 4:06 pm
Old Chicago was the first indoor amusement park/shopping center, sort of a forerunner of Mall of America. Wikipedia tells me it only lasted 5 years, 1975-1980.
posted by Julie on 6-16-2009 at 4:09 pm
Geauga Lake in Ohio is sadly missed. My Mom lives near the park and in the two years it has been closed it has deteriorated into something out of a Scooby Do episode.
posted by Greg on 6-16-2009 at 4:14 pm
Bushkill park in Easton, PA is an old-time favorite. Home to “the Haunted Pretzel” and one of the nation’s oldest funhouses, the “Bar’l of Fun,” it was certainly nostalgic. As the victim of 2 floods in 4 years and an tax-evading owner, the park is currently vacant.
posted by Stephen on 6-16-2009 at 4:15 pm
Whoa! Geauga Lake is 25 min from my house and I have a good friend in management there. It is now a water park only.
Geauga Lake was an amusement park across the lake from Sea World Ohio for many years. Things started going downhill when Sea World left. Six Flags bought Geauga Lake (but we all called it Geauga Lake no matter what the signage might have said). They attempted to use some of the Sea World property but it was too far to walk (IMHO). Then Six Flags bailed and Cedar Fair bought the park and changed the name back to Geauga Lake. Cedar Fair owns Cedar Point so it was only a matter of time before they decided to close the Geauga Lake Amusement Park. On the plus side, they had already invested a great deal in the water park section of the property so it was decided to keep the park open as simply a water park.
My niece and her grandparents were there just yesterday and had a great time.
posted by KJ on 6-16-2009 at 4:19 pm
There was a small water park next to Ripley’s on I30 in Grand Prairie, TX just between Dallas and Fort Worth. I don’t remeber the name of it, but new owners bought it about 15 years ago, spent a ton remodeling it, then someone drowned on opening day. It never reopened and now you can’t even tell where it was.
posted by Stan on 6-16-2009 at 4:20 pm
When I was young and lived in Queens, N.Y. there were two parks that are no longer in business: Fairyland and Adventurer’s Inn. Fairyland, in the midst of urban sprawl – truly a wierd place to build an amusement park – was aimed at children, not adults.
On a grimmer note, I was one of the fatalities noted from Action Park. Sad but true.
posted by Bubba on 6-16-2009 at 4:26 pm
Who is that idiot who does the Six Flags commercials, and why does he speak with an “Asian” accent?
posted by Bubba on 6-16-2009 at 4:29 pm
What about Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Christian Theme Park, Heritage USA? At it’s peak in the late 80’s it was the third most popular vacation destination in the US behind only Disney World and Disney Land
posted by Blake Helms on 6-16-2009 at 4:32 pm
There used to be a Wet n’ Wild water park in Garland, bordering Dallas. I think it closed in 1993. Now its a CarMax dealership :-( I remember going there once as a little kid and then closed a few months later.
posted by Fer on 6-16-2009 at 4:33 pm
The guy from the 6 Flags commercial gives me the creeps.
He kinda looks like Uncle Jr. from The Sopranos.
posted by Stacy on 6-16-2009 at 4:44 pm
The draw of Action Park was it was so dangerous. Each visit I saw at least 20 people with horrific burns on their arms and legs from when they fell off the Alpine Slide. My brother sank a bumper boat in snake-infested waters. You could get beer everywhere (not a great thing for a park that was half water park, half go-karts) and they never carded.
Man I love that place.
I implore everyone to read the wikipedia article on it, it’s really quite hilarious.
posted by erak on 6-16-2009 at 4:47 pm
There is an awesome documentary about Rhode Island’s Rocky Point called “You Must Be This Tall”….check it out!
posted by Jen Peel on 6-16-2009 at 4:47 pm
Any of you that have been to Wisconsin Dells prior to 1985 will remember Fort Dells. It was reincarnated shortly after as Dells Crossroads, where the big attraction was “Elephant Bingo”. You would pick a number that corresponded to numbers on a large grid. The would let an elephant walk around and if it took a dump on your number you won.
The sad thing is that the site is now occupied by a Wal-Greens and a McDonalds.
posted by bayoubadger on 6-16-2009 at 4:55 pm
I live less than two hours from Dogpatch USA. I always thought it looked neat driving by it. I’ve wanted to sneak in some time and just wander around looking at all the neat stuff. There’s still a cool-looking man-made waterfall you can see from the road in the park.
posted by Ben on 6-16-2009 at 5:01 pm
What about Sesame Place in Dallas, Texas. I remember having so much fun there when I was five. It was crazy to walk thru Big Bird’s mouth to get into the park. I still have my picture with the Cookie Monster and Oscar.
posted by Christina on 6-16-2009 at 5:13 pm
Stacy, I feel the same way about the 6 Flags guy looking like Uncle Junior. In fact, I would find him less creepy if it just was him and not some dancing idiot! A cold, threatening, delusional mascot would be great! You never had what it took to be a varsity athlete…go to 6 Flags.
posted by Dave on 6-16-2009 at 5:18 pm
Does anyone else out there remember “Legend City” in Phoenix, AZ where you could go see the ‘Wallace and Ladmo’ show and win a Ladmo bag!!!
posted by Anita on 6-16-2009 at 5:23 pm
Great. Now I’ve got that disco song from the Six Flags commercials stuck in my head! Thanks Floss.
posted by KS on 6-16-2009 at 6:15 pm
Astroworld in Houston, TX. I only ever got to go there once – but it was amazing! Last I heard, the whole place was bulldozed – probably because of Six Flags in Dallas.
I also am sad about Geagua Lake in Ohio. I went there once and it was also a blast!
posted by Sarah on 6-16-2009 at 6:18 pm
Land of OZ theme park on Beech Mountain, NC. I’ve never been there, but I’m pretty sure it would have been an awesome acid trip.
posted by Melanie on 6-16-2009 at 6:38 pm
Six Flags, Chapter 11. More chapters, more fun!
posted by Gaby on 6-16-2009 at 6:39 pm
Baltimore: the Enchanted Forest (life-size houses and figures from fairy tales) and Gwynn Oak Amusement Park. Legend has it that a kid stood up at the top of one of the hills on the rickety wooden roller coaster, hit something, went flying into the river that ran next to the train ride, and drowned.
posted by plantlady on 6-16-2009 at 6:54 pm
In the Detroit area, we had Bob-Lo Island.
You would board one of the Bob-Lo boats and ride to the island.
I think the park closed in the early 90’s.
The boat ride was a lot of fun. On the ride there, they had a DJ, and on the ride home it was more dancing music.
I fondly remember many field trips from school at Bob-Lo.
posted by tigergal on 6-16-2009 at 7:03 pm
I remember Old Chicago!!!!!
Kiddieland, right outside of Chicago, is closing this year, there will be a Walmart there next year. Oh Joy!!!!
RiverView was also a great park!!
posted by Paul on 6-16-2009 at 7:28 pm
The charming original Elitch’s in West Denver…the relocated, renovated megapark is the same in name only.
posted by Jen in Japan on 6-16-2009 at 7:51 pm
Ethan – hour north of Nashville? Me too! Macon/Sumner County area.
posted by HeatherLeah on 6-16-2009 at 8:18 pm
Africa U.S.A. in suburban Boca Raton, FL. Featured on the cover of Life magazine in the 50’s for an article on American theme parks (chosen over Disneyland). You could feed wild animals by hand from a small, open train. They had a “genuine” Masai warrior who would jump out and scare the kiddies. Populating the park was the largest single boatlift of exotic animals before or since. The park fell victim to real estate developers in the 60’s (they claimed the giraffes had red ticks-even though they had been in the states for 8 years) and had the park shut down. It’s now a luxury neighborhood in Boca. You can still see the remnants of the waterfall.
posted by Ken on 6-16-2009 at 8:24 pm
Just south of Disney World in the late 70’s, early 80’s was Ringling Brother’s Barnum and Bailey’s Circus World. Take the midway from a state fair and add in a circus theme, mix well and have fun! It became Boardwalk and Baseball after that and then was bulldozed to make room for a shopping center, I think.
Found a neat website on “Lost tourist attractions” in Florida. I had no idea there were so many! (Sorry, but it won’t let me post the link…)
posted by Gretchen in The Mouse's Backyard on 6-16-2009 at 8:37 pm
I loved Sesame Place in TX! Also, Bells Amusement Park in Tulsa- gone but not forgotten! It was always old and just a small town park, but you couldn’t beat Zingo!
posted by Emily on 6-16-2009 at 9:03 pm
i remember action park so vividly. One of their more dangerous rides was a giant slide with metal rollers on it. You went down it on something like a foam cafeteria tray. If you fell off the tray, you were skinned. hmmm wonder why it closed. ha.
posted by Sam on 6-16-2009 at 9:46 pm
I rode my first upside-down roller coaster at Opryland when I was 11…the Wabash Cannonball. I was pretty sad when I heard the news of the park’s closing. I’ve been to the mall there though, I still say the amusement park was better.
posted by KerriD on 6-16-2009 at 11:04 pm
Oh, the hours spent at Opryland! Was it silly? Yes. But it was awesome. I always wondered why they cosed since business always seemed pretty decent.
I agree the Chaos was pretty amazing! After they stopped with the 3D and effects, it was still kind of eerie in an industrial sort of way.
To this day, I regret never going on the Grizzly River Rampage.
posted by Laura. on 6-16-2009 at 11:18 pm
In Memphis we had Liberty Land. Home of the famous “Zippin Pippin”!!! I was a fun old wooden rollercoaster that was said Elvis loved to ride, and he did just a few days before he OD’ while taking a dump. He would rent out the entire park for the night for Lisa Marie and bring his friends. Over the years they kept adding new rides but it didn’t work and Mid South Fair (which owed the park) closed it down to what’s be described as “White Flight.” whatever the hell that is. It was a fun park when your a kid though, but then again, just about any park is.
posted by Matt on 6-16-2009 at 11:24 pm
Riverview Amusement Park in Iowa was wonderful! There’s even a website dedicated to it.
I remember local schools would have field trips to it during the day and to this day I remember putting a quarter into this coin slot and a chicken would play the piano and get corn for a treat.
posted by Mary Rork-Watson on 6-16-2009 at 11:34 pm
In the 1970’s, my family made a pilgrimage to the North Carolina Smokey Mountains for both Tweetsie Railroad — an Old West theme park complete with cowboy and Indian fights and pan-your-own-gold — and someplace based on ‘The Wizard of Oz’, complete with a tornado reenactment and the complete yellow brick road, with a full cast of characters. This six-year-old was impressed…
posted by Adam on 6-16-2009 at 11:43 pm
Does anyone remember Six Flags Autoworld? It was a failed amusement park in Flint, Michigan. The whole park was indoors. The premise was that people would interact with “exciting” car exhibits. That’s it. That’s the whole park. Who in the world thought that was a good idea?
Needless to say it didn’t last long.
posted by Sabrejimmy on 6-17-2009 at 2:02 am
I remember Legend City Anita, I was hoping someone would list it.
posted by Kevin on 6-17-2009 at 2:06 am
I too lived an hour north of nashville growing up and have many found memories of Opryland. For a long time I was convinced that the only redeeming quality of OpryMills that at the far end of the parking lot near the hotel you could still see the fake rocks from the Grizzly River Rampage. I always went there to my my respects before daring to enter that sad excuse of a mall.
posted by Alison on 6-17-2009 at 2:21 am
Grew up in Nashville. I was too little to ride the “big rides” and was often bitter about this. And now there’s the monstrosity of Opry Mills mall. Which is funny, because I recently located to Pittsburgh where we have Pittsburgh Mills mall, owned by the same company, but worse than Opry Mills. I sure do love the Opryland Hotel, though!
posted by Zoe on 6-17-2009 at 4:02 am
Playland By The Sea was located next to Ocean Beach in San Francisco. I remember a diving bell ride and cold weather.
posted by Dave on 6-17-2009 at 6:57 am
Marineland just south of St. Augustine, Florida. It is located along A1A which runs along the florida coast. It has opened and closed a few times. I am not sure of its status currently.
posted by Phrank Loyed on 6-17-2009 at 8:09 am
I heard that Opryland which was near the Cumberland River had floods often when it rained and it would take the workers hours to get the water out of the rides and I heard some of the attactions would sink in the mud.
posted by Kari on 6-17-2009 at 8:29 am
growing up we were never allowed to go to Action park because of the regular death reports on the 5 o’clock news. When I got a bit older, I made a pilgrimage there with friends. My reward? A huge nasty abrasion from the alpine slide and an ear infection from the wave pool and of course a whole afternoon of “I told you so’s” from Mom.
posted by Jenny on 6-17-2009 at 8:44 am
The original Six Flags park is in Arlington, TX, but the city of Arlington decided one park wasn’t enough: the city tried it’s own venture – Seven Seas. The park was to the west of Six Flags, north of the current Ballpark in Arlington. It was a marine life park, with animal and diving shows and only one ride (representing the Artic sea). The employee dining room was behind the penguin show and it stank terribly. Seven Seas lasted only a handful of seasons, then it was sold to a private concern and became Hawaii Kai for a while, then it was shut down. Last time I was in the area, the only building that remained from the old Seven Seas park was the Japanese Teahouse pavillion, located north of the Arlington Convention Center hotel.
posted by Karl on 6-17-2009 at 9:46 am
Marineland in Laguna Beach, CA just re-opened as a 500 room luxury hotel complete with ocean-view golf course. Aaaaah, comercialism at it’s best. Does anyone remember POP (Pacific Ocean Park) near San Diego (I believe)?
posted by Ramona on 6-17-2009 at 9:56 am
gee. i have the fondest memories of six flags, jackson nj. i’d sure hate to see it closed. so many years of fun, so many seasons of joy. sure hope it is around many years to come for others to enjoy. yeah, sure, it wasn’t cheap to eat, etc., but know what? if i didn’t care, and by the amounts of people there, too, looks like others didn’t care, either. hope all turns out well for the six flags people. we need more fun and less stress and the six flags places sure fit the bill!
posted by bozodotcom on 6-17-2009 at 10:50 am
Oh, Astroworld! Bulldozed to become a parking lot for Reliant Stadium. What a pity. I fondly recount the many unsupervised summer days I spent there as a teenager. I learned so much on those Looney Tunes themed streets. Waterworld was right next door so you could go between the two parks if you paid the extra 15 or so bucks. *sigh* Houston bulldozed its last piece of innocence when it tore those places down.
recaptcha: flogging odds
posted by nikki on 6-17-2009 at 10:53 am
Dogpatch USA was AMAZING! I remember going there as a kid and meeting ma and pa, and the little houses decked out like in the comic strip, and the GIANT ball pit! you could also drive around in little model-t’s and the big pond. After it closed, we drove down to see what it looked like, and there wasn’t much security so my grandma told us to walk right on in. Everything looked pretty much the same – except spidery.
posted by Chelsea on 6-17-2009 at 11:02 am
Panama City Beach had Miracle Strip Amusement Park until it was sold to condo developers who never developed it. It was just across the street from the Gulf and you could see the water from some of the rides. The Merry Go Round is now at Pier Park.
posted by diann on 6-17-2009 at 11:20 am
Boardwalk and Baseball that followed Circus World in Davenport, Fl was bulldozered for a really big grapefruit league baseball stadium. I’m not sure of the team, but they left the area. Then the acreage sat empty for years until finally last year a shopping center was built on the corner of I4 and Highway 27, just down the road from Disney World.
One of the rollercoasters from the Panama City Beach is in Winter Haven’s Cypress Gardens, but it has closed all the rides and became just a waterpark with beautiful gardens and the world famous ski shows. Anybody looking for a historical rollercoaster for their backyard?
posted by mamamo on 6-17-2009 at 12:05 pm
As a native Nashvillian growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, I remember many trips tp Opryland. It was actually a pretty quality park. Clean, safe, and really fun! What I wouldn’t give to have Opryland back instead of that tacky Opry Mills.
And someone asked earlier about Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN. It is still live and kicking.
posted by ami on 6-17-2009 at 12:35 pm
LOVED the Grizzly River Rampage at Opryland! I am from Arkansas and have fond memories of trips to Dogpatch. It is such a sad sight now.
posted by Charlotte on 6-17-2009 at 1:38 pm
Excelsior Amusement Park on Lake Minnetonka, just west of Minneapolis. It had a ballroom at which Lawrence Welk and the Rolling Stones performed (not on the same night). According to Wikipedia, “[l]egend has it that the stop by this latter group in June 1964 allegedly gave inspiration to the Stone’s song You Can’t Always Get What You Want, due to an oft-rumored conversation between Mick Jagger and a local Minneapolis character, ‘Mr. Jimmy,’ or Jim Hutmaker, who to this day is a celebrity to Excelsior. Jimmy died on October 3, 2007 without his story ever being verified.”
posted by MitchV on 6-17-2009 at 1:46 pm
Dollywood is still open and seems to be flourishing. It’s location in the Smoky Mts. probably has something to do with that. Unlike Libertyland, late of Memphis.
Liked Geauga Lake as a kid, but LOVED Cedar Point.. which, happily, is still running. Chippewa Lake was great for its location but lacked the awesome roller coasters that Cedar Point is known for.
posted by Hyacinth on 6-17-2009 at 3:07 pm
Aww, Christa is very kind. Thanks for ignoring the stereotypes.
Anywho, its really too bad that there isn’t enough of a tourist call to Arkansas, but you cannot say that for the entire region as it is not far to Branson, Missouri and they have three popular amusement parks.
posted by SpecialAgentBaker on 6-17-2009 at 5:23 pm
I was so happy to see someone mention the original Elitch’s, and even happier to see that the poster (another transplanted Coloradan?) is also in Japan. Hi Jen!
posted by KarenInJapan on 6-18-2009 at 4:47 am
I am surprised no one has mentioned the amusement park that was located behind the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It was open the first time I was in Vegas, about 10 years ago, and closed after the “family-oriented” Vegas idea died on the vine. I have a VHS tape of me and two friends going on the Sky Screamer…it is like the bungee jumping sky coaster ride Ripcord at Geauga Lake, oh, yeah, Geauga Lake is closed too except for the *stupid* waterpark.
posted by Jamie on 6-18-2009 at 12:40 pm
BOB-LO Island in the Detroit River!
It was great! First you got on an old-fashioned paddle wheel river boat and had tons of fun running around on there while the boat took you to the island in the river.
The island was a big amusement park!
Fun rides, great food! There was a pier where people in their own boats could dock, and there was a picnic area for people who brought their own spread.
posted by LALA on 6-20-2009 at 7:32 am
I went to Action Park once or twice, but only left patches of skin behind. We used to call it Traction Park.
posted by Hepcat on 9-25-2009 at 4:21 pm
There was an amusement park here in So CA called Santa’s Village. Though I never went, my husband tells me that they sold rum balls in the bakery. He used to go with his oldest daughter (from his first marriage) and load up on them just to get through the day. It was Christmas 365 days a year there. Yes, in So CA, where as I write this the temp is a hot, dry 100 degrees…
posted by shirleyfeeney on 9-25-2009 at 7:01 pm