htomc42

Its 11pm and closing time for the Last Ride. ...closely followed by the Crazy Mouse. Goodbye, Grand Prix, its been a lot of fun over the years. A sad sight as the lights go out in the midway for the last time.

Its getting late.... The last park customers to ride the Crazy Mouse at MB Grand Prix, ever, and hopefully the next generation of TPR members. One last ride on the Crazy Mouse.

Time to hit those rides again! The Rock & Roll, which is essentially just a redecorated Himalaya. They also have a Top Spin (intense ride), a Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl ($29K if anyone wants it), Bumper Cars, and a Tornado by Wisdom. Their Aladino, like the Pavilion's Rainbow, isn't functi And more racing. I got one of these neat Last Ride t-shirts too. More of the Crazy Mouse. I really like this small coaster.

They also had a big going-away party, with everyone who had ever been a part of the park. Lots of local officials came by, and it even made the local news on WPDE. BBQ party! Left to right: park owners Mark Lazarus, Robby Lazarus (manager), and Jack Lazarus, who started the park in 1977.

Bumper boats, which were actually quite fun. The people who own the Grand Prix also own a much larger water park in Surfside Beach, just south of Myrtle Beach. The only water-related ride in the park - bumper boats

This portable Crazy Mouse is much smoother than the Arrow version that the MB Pavilion has. And, the seat spins as it goes along the 2nd set of switchbacks, something the Pavilion version doesn't. One of the attendants told me that there's a switch underneath that controls how it spins. He said that there is a setting where the seat can be continuously spinning for the whole ride, but they're not supposed to ever do that. This ride has already been sold-- too bad, I wouldn't mind having it in my back yard. Another ride on the Crazy Mouse.

These are the big Formula-1 cars. They are intense, and can hit some very respectable speeds. Go on the green light!

5 different race tracks, from small mini-cars to big Formula-1 style cars. This has always been one of the best racing car tracks, although they are probably getting some stiff competition from the NASCAR tracks at Broadway at the Beach, down the road in Myrtle Beach. I got a lot of racing out of my system today.

Although it was the smallest - and even at 30 years, the youngest of the current amusement parks in the Myrtle Beach region, it was still a very nice park, with a balance of rides and race cars. I can remember going to this park way back in the late 70s to hang out and play arcade games. The Last Ride opens.

"Rough wood" is an understatement when it comes to the Hurricane. Anyone who has ever ridden it knows exactly what I mean. Expect a photo TR of the Myrtle Beach Grand Prix's Last Ride, this past Saturday, as soon as I finished processing the pics. I have some video too. I also got my tickets for the Pavilion's Last Ride coming up on Sept. 30th. The woman at the ticket counter said that sales were brisk this weekend, but I got tickets 869 and 870, if that number means anything, there may still be tons of them left. Their ticket office is only open when the park itself is open, which will be next weekend, the 23rd and 24th, at 1pm. Their number is (843) 913-5200 x2500.

The Myrtle Beach Grand Prix will be closed- the last day will be this Saturday, September 16th. I will actually be down at the beach this weekend for another documentation run, so I will definitely feature this event. Here's some links on this: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/15462915.htm http://www.morningnewsonline.com/midatlantic/scp/news.apx.-content-articles-BTW-2006-09-07-0009.html I'm updating everything on my MB page, I've done a large amount of updating and cleaning it up since I first posted it, everything will be posted here: HToMC Goes to Myrtle Beach I'll also have info very soon on the old Astro Needle Park in Myrtle Beach- I will be doing an interview with the guy who originally built the park in 1969.

The Myrtle Beach Pavilion and amusement park will be closing on September 30th; since the "season" officially ends on Labor Day, the park is only open on weekends until then. That last day is a special "Last Ride" event-- only ticketholders will be allowed in, with all sorts of specials. I just called the Pavilion at (843) 913-5200, and the woman said that tickets are still available for this, although the admissions office wasn't yet open to actually sell them. They are $35 or so, maybe more with tax. http://www.mbpavilion.com I definitely plan on going down for this. If anyone else in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill region wants to go, I have a van and can take several people. Email me at htomc42@hotmail.com if you're interested.

I've finally got pictures of my own Myrtle Beach adventure online; I'll be going back again this weekend for some more! HToMC Goes to Myrtle Beach It takes a while to load- there are a ton of pictures, and those are all just thumbnails. I'm still working on that page and reorganizing things.

I just did my own tour of Myrtle Beach amusements this weekend, and I also went by the Family Kingdom amusement park. You missed a dark ride which makes the park suck a little less badly, although not much. Its "The Great Pistolero Roundup", which is one of those shooting type rides for points. Its much like that Pirates of the Carribean-themed one at the Pavilion Amusement Park; this one is themed as Mexican bandito shoot-em-up, where you're after the bandits and bags of gold. This ride is on the other side of that salt marsh that goes through the middle of the park. I'll have pictures online soon. That dark ride, and the Swamp Fox coaster, are the only two good things in that entire park. Its a shame that when the Pavilion closes, it will be the ONLY park in the Myrtle Beach area!!! There was once a park in the Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach, along the highway. Its a strip mall now. There was also once a park called "Magic Harbor" in Surfside Beach, about 10 miles south of MB-- it had closed several years ago, and now its completely gone, probably eaten up by a campground. I shudder to think that when the Pavilion closes, Family Kingdom will be the only park in the entire region, except for a very small and somewhat wimpy park at Myrtle Beach Grand Prix, along the highway at the edge of North Myrtle Beach, and a similarly small and cheesy little park at South of the Border along I-95. The closest real amusement park will be Carowinds in Charlotte NC - some 150 miles away! This will be a tremendous loss for Myrtle Beach.