RF Generation Message Board

Gotten kinda nostaligic the past few days and thought I'd post a few neat links to my favorite theme parks and rides.

http://www.holidayworld.com/index.html (http://www.holidayworld.com/index.html)

The world's first theme park (supposedly) and was called Santa Claus Land when I was growing up...also has a real nice campground.  I haven't been there since they've added all those wooden coasters, but I can watch first-person videos of some of the coasters:

The Voyage

http://media.psci.net/hw/pov512K_Stream.wmv (http://media.psci.net/hw/pov512K_Stream.wmv)

The Legend

http://media.psci.net/hw/legend.wmv (http://media.psci.net/hw/legend.wmv)

The Raven

http://media.psci.net/hw/raven.wmv (http://media.psci.net/hw/raven.wmv)

...and one of the best water parks (Splashin' Safari), also at Holiday World

http://media.psci.net/hw/splashin%20safari.wmv (http://media.psci.net/hw/splashin%20safari.wmv)

Here's a link to a fan-based tribute to Opryland in Nashville.  Some mental moron thought it was a good idea to shut down this theme park just because....no real reason...just because...some of the best rides I've been on were at this park.  Now, there's yet another Nashville mall on the former theme park site.  Nashville now has nearly 20 malls.

http://www.thrillhunter.com/ (http://www.thrillhunter.com/)

Beech Bend Park...my first theme park and my first roller coaster experience at the age of 3...was a cream-puff ride, but I still enjoyed it.

http://www.beechbend.com/Amusement%20Park.htm (http://www.beechbend.com/Amusement%20Park.htm)

Funland, Paducah, KY....the only know fan-based website, and it's not all that impressive...a shame since this was a great little theme park.

http://www.thirddimensionmedia.com/Funland.html (http://www.thirddimensionmedia.com/Funland.html)

Another theme park closing...Libertyland in Memphis...a GREAT park and Elvis' favorite.  This is all that's left of the website:

http://www.libertyland.com/ (http://www.libertyland.com/)
http://www.nortonauctioneers.com/results.htm (http://www.nortonauctioneers.com/results.htm)

Dogpatch USA..I went there maybe tree times, but I still remember it pretty well.  The park closed in the early 90s I think and was left to rot...no auction or anything.  There are alot of websites with pictures of the current state of the park.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch_USA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch_USA)
http://users.aristotle.net/~russjohn/attractions/dogpatch.html (http://users.aristotle.net/~russjohn/attractions/dogpatch.html)

Kaintuck Territory...it didn't seem like this place was open very long...another theme park left to rot.  Some friends and I used to go to the old park and walk around.  The last time we went, a very large sinkhole had appeared near the middle of the park and started swallowing alot of the old buildings...that was 20+ years ago.  The only website I can find is good-old Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaintuck_Territory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaintuck_Territory)

I still can't believe they closed Astroworld.

http://www.sixflagshouston.com/ (http://www.sixflagshouston.com/)

I've got plenty of others I'd like to post, but this is getting too long! Who else has great theme park memories of active or closed parks?

Pop-Culture go crazy? ;)

Yeah theme parks are awesome, although the only one I regularly visit is Kings Island.

Been to Disney.

Also there's the old Coney Island, which is but a remnant of it's past glory, but I go there occasionally.

Yup!   ;D  I'm constantly on the edge of sanity...more linkys:

Guntown Mountain....a very small park, but with one of the best haunted houses around.  I'll never forget going into the haunted house and getting bulldozed by my mom as she tried to run away from something that grabbed the back of her leg.  My brother and I laughed so hard we were in pain.

http://www.mammothcave.com/guntown/ (http://www.mammothcave.com/guntown/)

Forgotten Past...near Kentucky Lake in western Kentucky...a friend of mine's family runs this little park.  No website, though.  Has the largest arcade in the area with LOTS of old machines.  I'll have to post some pictures one day.

Don't let the name fool you...Dollywood (as in Dolly Parton), once called Silver Dollar City, is one of the best parks around...some of the best wooden coasters in the world are here:

http://www.dollywood.com/ (http://www.dollywood.com/)

the absolute best amusement park in the universe is Ceader Point in Sandusky, Ohio.....

I've heard this countless times. I was watching the top 10 rollercoasters in America on some channel and Ceader Point had one or a couple in each of the top 10 categories. I would like to make a trip up there sometime in the future.

NO NO NO!

No one post until TraderJakes gets here.  You are just going to ruin the thread.

I agree!

I also like Six Flags in CA and Universal Studios in CA.

I'm always hearing this too, and Sandusky is within a somewhat reasonable driving distance from me....roadtrip!!

Where to begin...


Hi, my name is (obviously) David and for four years of my life I was an underling in the Merchandise Department at Department 44 Section 550, or more specifically known as WaterWorks Merchandise or Boomerrang Bay Merchandise. For 3 years of that life (the WW era), I was graced with working around the following structure:
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_017_14A.jpg[/img]

If you are wondering, yes that is a huge, major storm rolling in, and boy did it suck. I do not know how I was not struck by lightning during that storm.

NOTE: All photos taken on what was supposed to be the last day of 2003 operation for WaterWorks, or the last day WaterWorks was supposed to exist.

[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_018_15A.jpg[/img]
Here is a picture of that storm again, and to the right of the photo you can see my flagship store and its broken sign: Trader Jake's Supplies. So, if those of you would wonder where my screen name came from, now you know. I was essentially Trader Jake. So, it was a pity when Boomerang Bay changed TraderJake's to Mic's. Damn them for having to theme everything to Crocodile Dundee.

[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_021_18A.jpg[/img]
Here is the inside of my store. This store kept the Merchandise Department making a sizeable profit. Everybody needs towels and swimsuits.

More Store Photos:
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_009_6A.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_010_7A.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_008_5A.jpg[/img]

This sign was my mantra:
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_020_17A.jpg[/img]

Be sure to go buy food!
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_007_4A.jpg[/img]

That storm... it rained a lot, and we felt like having fun.
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_012_9A.jpg[/img]

If you look on the ground you will see that the store floor floods. We loved squeeging the floor. I was really lucky though that I didn't get electrocuted, as I was probably 10 feet from a lightning strike while standing in water. Not a good combination. But luckily, I didn't die.

This is me. That's me holding the broken part of the store sign in my stockroom. I had to get a photo of that before I left.
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_016_13A.jpg[/img]

My other store, On Shore / Matilda's
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_028_25A.jpg[/img]
I was lucky, the day before I took that photo we had a lot of nuns come in to work and they successfully inventoried the entire store in one day. Yay for that.

On Shore's Stockroom / Location Office
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_019_16A.jpg[/img]
It's so spacious, I love it.

It would be impossible to successfully run any operation without an effective management team, and in 2003 and 2004 I was blessed with extremely effective teams. Here is the 2003 WaterPark Merchandise Management Team:
[img width=600 height=400]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/TraderJake/WaterWorks/tn_026_23A.jpg[/img]
I'm 6'0", and I am the smallest person in that photo. Sigh.

Well, that is a glimpse into 4 years of my life, because well, working at amusement park, especially in management will consume your soul and you will become a slave to the system. My friends can vouch for the fact that they never saw me except for the one time I was sent "on vacation" in 2004. Nothing quite like going to Cedar Point for 3 days and then returning to be sent "on vacation." They think being sent "on vacation" is a terrible punishment, but I got to sleep in and to the Red's Game with friends. But that is a story I will not go into. You make a lot of friends working at an amusement park, and I made quite a few friends. I guess you have to when you never get to see friends outside of the park. As such, I spent many nights at Steak n Shake with friends reminiscing about how shitty the day was at work, and how we wished certain upper managers would fall off the face of the earth. It was a lot of fun, and with each passing year since I stopped working at the Park I find that I still miss it, ever so slightly.

So, do I like theme parks? Of course I did. I started working at PKI because I loved the park. My vacations were spent at Cedar Point, which is the best Amusement Park in the World. You don't think so? Well too bad, since the Golden Ticket awards were invented Cedar Point has always won the award for best Amusement Park in the world. I also really liked Holiday World. Free pop, parking, and sunscreen, coupled with a world class waterpark and three awesome rollercoasters make for an amazing experience. Also, the owner of the park greeted me when I was there, and that was cool.

Too bad I have not visited PKI since I stopped working there at the end of 2004. That experience made me slightly bitter about the park, and I hope everyone in upper management in Merchandse minus two people get fired. Sorry, I am a hateful person.

Well, that is all, I hope you enjoyed that story.

I feel like I just went on some magical adventure.

Why?  Did someone touch you in your swim suit area?

 :rofl: :rofl:

There's quite a few theme parks around me in, here in England.

http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/

The first is The Pleasure Beach in Blackpool. One of the oldest parks in Britain and perhaps the most renown, back in it's heyday Blackpool was the place for Birtish tourism, being situated on the beach, it had the Pleasure Beach and Tower as attractions. Donkey rides on its not so golden sands are also quite famous. There are also a couple of big arcades there (or Bungers as they're known if your from the North West) with Coral Island and Funland being the biggest. More recently it has been touted as Britains answer to Las Vegas with proposed Super Casinos set to be built their.

If your ever in Britain this is the perfect place to see tourism gone bad. The place is full of pikey's and people trying to sell dodgy goods, the seedy side is now out and its the main place for stag and hen do's, full of lap dancing clubs and the like. However the Pleasure Beach still is quality and has rollercoasters such as the Big One and The Revolution which are pretty decent.

http://www.alton-towers.co.uk/themepark/

Alton Towers is probably the most respected Theme Park and is updated evey year with new rides. It is probably Britains biggest park too. It features rides such as Rita Queen Of Speed, The Nemesis, Air and Oblivion. The queues here are bloody awful though and it takes years to get on anything.

There are also a few other smaller  parks around here too, such as:

http://www.pleasureland.uk.com/  which is owned by the Pleasure Beach but is more suited to young kids and old women. They do have one good rollercoaster their though. It's in Southport and the only other thing which ever happens their is an annual flower show.

http://www.camelotthemepark.co.uk/   King Arthur themed park abou twenty minutes away from my house. Being knocked down next year for an indoor water park. The theme park never offered much apart from one ride called the tower of terror which they knocked down three or four years ago. The water park seems an intresting proposition though.

Im kind of leary riding coasters after seeing someone shower everyone with vomit.