Ccron10
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Posts posted by Ccron10
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This morning I headed down to Rocky Springs Bowling Alley in Lancaster Pa. for a tournament and decided to check out what was left of Rocky Springs Park afterwards. I talked to one of the guys behind the counter at the alley about the park and if it was open to the public. He told me that their bar had a collection of photos, tickets, and brochures hanging on the wall to check out and that you can access the park by going down the road a little further and head back towards the bed & breakfast.
The bar had quite a few pictures including a color photo of the Wildcat's station, Jack Rabbit's layout and a park map from 1955.
The park (or what's left of it) still felt like I was walking down a midway to a park, but in a post-apacalyptic sort of way. The midway is now the entrance to the bed & breakfast and creeply has lightposts that have been twisted in all ways. Wildcat's trains are sitting in the first building as you enter the midway and sit next to two old ticket booths and piles of either trolley ties or coaster supports. The next building over was the refreshments building that still looks good for it's age. The Penny Arcade is closed up and the Popcorn stand has a timeline display about the park.
Personally, I found the park interesting and would be a nice stop for any coaster history buff and see what old-style amusement parks used to look like.
I also want to further state that these photos were not taken illegally or by trespassing. The midway and buildings were along a road accessing the bed and breakfast. I did see a sign standing next to the arcade (halfway up the midway) saying B&B guests from this point only so I'm guessing they are okay passers-by taking a look to a certain point.
I'm sorry in advance for the glare in the next few photos. Jack Rabbit looks like it used to be a decent airtime producer back in the day.
Back in the day when every park had to have a Whip.
The carousel building is in the center, the Flying Scooters are on the left and a random building is on the right.
This had to be one of my favorites that they had hanging up. Wildcat's station reminds me of the Rollo Coaster's at Idlewild.
Jack Rabbit's was a little bit more old-school.
This map gives you a very good idea on what the park looked like back in the day. I can't seem to find the Jack Rabbit though.
Brochures, tickets, and postcards.
Some can be found online such as the Wildcat postcard.
On to the park photos. You can see that the Wildcat train is still there and sits under some sort of pavilion. You can see the restrooms in the background.
I wonder if Kat and Kiwi would be interested?
It really looks like it wouldn't take much to fix these cars up. Some of the paint is still there as well as the ductape on the lapbars.
Retro nerd shot.
Trolley ties and Wildcat's ticket booth from the picture back at the bar.
The resfreshment stand looks like it is in good condition after almost 30 years of abandonment.
This ticket booth is in better shape than Wildcat's.
This is the midway. The sign on the Arcade suprised me because it looked almost brand new!
I liked this fancy touch.
According to the map back at the bar, this used to be the restaurant. I hope you enjoyed my first trip report of 2011. I might post my Carsonia Park photos as well.
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It seems like Flying Turns has been removed from the site on the rides page as wells at the pricing page. Now the only place to find anything on the ride is down at the bottom of the "What's New?' page. I doubt that they gave up on it, but probably took that info off because they were getting so many replies about people asking if it was opening in 2011.
The Flying Turns Project website to just goes to Knoebels's homepage.
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I'll partisapate. CTRs, CFRs and custom stalls are allowed as well according to SoCal so it's sure to be a good contest.
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While I was at Dorney Park on Talon the restraint I had there was 2 buckles. Going up the lift I tried pulling my restraint down so it would click in, but it didn't. I tried doing it throughout the ride and it wasn't until we got to the brakes that it would lock again. It didn't really shock me, but I knew that if I was buckled in, then they wouldn't magically fly open.
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Luckly my birthday was several days before Christmas so more presents for me. Here's what I got:
-Nintendo DSi XL
-$55 of iTunes gift cards
-$25 for Game Stop
-$15 for Applebees
-$140 for Best Buy (which I have no idea what I am going to get).
-$350.00 and since I have $100 left over from last year, it might go towards theme park trips.
-Hersheypark 2011 season pass
-Jeff Dunham (Achmed) Christmas hat
-Jeff Dunham (Walter and Achmed) Christmas ornaments
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I emailed Dutch Wonderland about this to see if this had anything to deal with the park being sold to Palace.
The reply I got back was that it closed early because of the cold temperatures so that it could start it's offseason maintenance inspections. So it won't be going back to Hershey.
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Recently, a member over at keystone Thrills traveled to the park and discovered that Twister is being taken apart. While usually this isn't really suprising since this is the time when off-season rehab work gets done, this ride was scheduled to be open for Dutch Winter Wonderland and had no notice of closing early. Plus according to this member, the ride ride seems to be taken apart more than usual for an inspection.
I wonder if HERCo still owns the ride and is taking it back to Hershey since they don't own the park?
http://keystonethrills.megabb.com/t8p15-new-for-2009-the-twister-rodeo#2686
Photos taken by Stormwinder at Keystone Thrills:
Here's a photo of what The Rodeo looked like during the offseason at Hersheypark.
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1. Going to Six Flags Great Adventure and riding El Toro, GASM before it was removed, and Kingda Ka. This park was great and even though they need more flat rides, it's worth the return trip in 2011 for Green Lantern. On my second trip I got to meet some PBA bowlers which was cool.
2.Having several guys in labcoats from Ride Intstitute of Technology approach me at Hersheypark back in October. That was fun.
3.Knoebels and their pool. Out of the countless number of years that I've been going there, I've never tried out the pool and after doing so this year, it was worth it.
4. Getting many more new credits thanks to my SFGadv trip.
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-Hersheypark on opening day in April. It had to be the most packed I've seen that place.
-Dorney Park and their staff from my visit back in August. 10 to 15+ minutes for someone to take your order at a walk-up food stand, unacceptable. Not to mention their security is terrible with many linejumpers. Half of them didn't understand English. Voodoo/Possessed was a big let-down even though I wasn't expecting it to be epic in the first place.
-I was one mile and one month short from getting to Waldameer Park, but on the other hand I got to go to Splash Lagoon and learned how dangerous body slides can be!
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Coaster Cuts was a horrible concept. One of the 2 locations was at a mall about 30 minutes away from me and it was always empty. First it was expensive, around $20 which I would think most parents wouldn't want to spend on a kids haircut. The bigger problem was that most of the store was a toy store and parents probably didn't want to take kids in their to get a haircut and then see toys all over the place. The whole watching coasters part was while their hair was washed, there was a TV screen above them that showed clips of coaster POV's.
I thought that was the only cool part about the King of Prussia Mall. But other than that, the place pretty much has only high class brand stores (MUCH different from what I remembered from my childhood when I went there).
SFA wouldn't be a shocker if it closed up. Most of my friends who've been there didn't speak highly of that place and if it might be on the chopping block, maybe doing to credit run down there before it closes up might not be such a bad idea.
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Christmas Candylane has to be my favorite seasonal event that the park puts on (now if they could find a way to make it not so cold...). Good trip report.
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I considered going down there this past weekend to see how it is, but decided against it since they didn't have many adult rides open, but from going past the place it looks really lit up!
I could always go next summer and get my Joust and Kingdom Coaster credits and see how much the place changed since my last visit in 1997.
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Greetings!
More work has been done inside Poke Park and it kind of makes me feel like a Pokemon trainer when I walk through there. More signs, murals, and little details have been added and some of the rides are finished. The Pokemon Center building is completed and looks like it's straight out of the TV show! We still need to finish the Silph Company building, but the good news is that it now houses a Monorail station. 2 more floors still need to be added for where guests will be able to pick up and battle their own Pokemon as well as an observation deck to view the island.
More work has been done on the far-end of the island near El Nino's turnaround. We built a new Inverted Bolliger and Mabillard coaster on the hillside as well as a Zamperla Disko, small theater, and a Jeep Excursion tour that runs along the cliff. It's sure to be a thrilling experience.
Next on our adgenda to add are three more coasters with one of them being for the kids, an amusement pier area on the big beach across from Shizukana Mine Blaster with a bunch of new flat rides and a gigantic ferris wheel, and a new area in the lagoon near the lighthouse peninsula.
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Very nice and realistic park. I like how you made the mine train and how it doesn't really take away much of the feeling of the scenery (something I sometimes have a habit of doing). Keep up the good work!
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Poke Park at Shizukana Island Resort
Hello again,
We are just about halfway through designing the brand new area called Poke Park: The Pokemon Theme Park. Based largely off of the popular Anime TV show and games, Poke Park will feature a number of rides, shows, and amazing interactive games to bring the popular show and game to life!
Enjoy a ride on the Poke-Go-Round, which is a carrousel themed with pokemon in the place of horses. Next, dare to take on the Pokeball Blaster which is sure to test your stomach! Finally, visit the Silph Company Building to buy all the latest Pokemon gear and battle, collect, and trade your very own, lifelike, (yes life-like!) pokemon!
You can also visit the Pokemon Center (owned by Nintendo) and buy whatever you want in Pokemon!
We are still developing the area, so expect much more to come!
The area logo.
The main entrance archway for Poke Park and the Poke-Go-Round sitting next to it.
Poke Park will consist of the Silph Company being built on the big concrete slab at the bottom of the screen. You can see the Pokemon Center and Pokeball Blaster coaster already mostly built. Our sign shop is currently working on the scenery.
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I didn't realize the Arena was in that bad of shape, but then again if it is unused, I guess it would make sense. When I went to job shadow there, I was told that a few days before, they had to deal with a pipe breaking in the Arena. If it's one thing that I learned, it's that sometimes historic buildings or attractions don't last forever. The Arena pretty much has no greater importance than any other sports arena built. I mean, yeah Milton Hershey built it, but still, how many other things in town did he build that have already been demolished? I'm pretty sure he'd probably build a bigger stadium by now if he could.
While I don't think moving the entrance would make sense, widening the park where the Arena is kind of does. The park's Service Center is in the way of moving the entrance to near Fahrenheit. If you take notice of the area at the entrance, there is only one way to get to the exit, which is going into Music Box Way and down through Founder's Circle. I do have to wonder though if they created a path that runs along the creek, by-passing Founder's Circle, if it would help the crowdflow?
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Here's something I've been wondering about that I've been noticing more often. When I went to SFGadv I remember standing in line for El Toro and seeing a guy with earbuds in his ears and listening to music. Since the iPod is in his pocket and the earbuds are are connected with a wire going under his shirt, would it be considered a loose article? On the otherhand I guess it would kind of make the safety instructions hard to hear.
Kind of got me wondering about it.
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Building a new state-of-the art stadium would be pointless since they already have the GIANT Center on the property. The still use the Arena for hockey practice and open ice-skating to the public. I have no clue on when they offer that, but plan on looking into it. While is does hold some historic value, I really don't know if it has much historic value like Vetran's Stadium and some of the others that were removed to make way for bigger places. They could get some use out of it if they wanted to and turn it into some sort of small indoor theme park or waterpark.
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Sooperdooperlooper does have 3 trains, but I think the 3rd one is in the maintenance building being used as spare parts. I don't know when they stopped using it, but the trains do have the current paint job on them.
Trailblazer had 3 trains at one time, but I'm guessing they went to two when they got new trains for it a couple of years ago.
I can only hope they have 3 trains for it. A people-eater that's a tad more popular than Lightning Racer is what the park needs.
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^Agreed. All I have to say is I acted a bit inmature back then since I was a new member. I've learned a lot since then and I pretty much have sit back and laugh at how foolish I was. I am so happy that I chose to job shadow at a park instead.
I do have to say that what you've made is impressive and I'm glad that it is possible to make. As far as the gravity scale, it's impossible to change no matter how much you try to slow the cars down.
I wish you success.
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Hello, I am the president of this new island resort called Shizukana Resort (meaning Peaceful Cove in Japanese). I've been in the theme park business for several years and have worked at many parks across Japan such as Fujiku Highland, Yokohama Cosmoworld and Nagashima Spaland. After much fundraising and support, I am proud that my dream on providing the biggest amusement resort in Japan is finally coming to life.
As of right now, I am predicting a January 2011 opening of this amazing resort and a lot of work still needs to be done. Here is an update on what's happening and what's going to happen soon.
These are the only attractions I am allowed to discuss now. All others will be announced shortly.
Shizukana Mine Blaster
This is an Intamin Plug-and-Play coaster that's sure to be a hit with adrenaline junkies and families. It stands around 115 feet from sea-level and reaches speeds of up to 45 mph. Do you dare to uncover the mystery of the island's past?
El Nino Speed Coaster
This coaster is built by Bolliger and Mabillard and is the 3rd tallest coaster in Japan. This speeding bullet reaches speeds of up to 90mph and traverses over most of the island.
Cliff Coaster
Built on the side of the cliff by mack Rides, this powered coaster is sure to be a hit with families.
That's all I'm allowed to announce, but I am going to drop you a hint about the theme of one of our new areas. This anime show has been a big hit in not just Japan, but all over the world!
That's all for now.
The Transportation Center (center) is the destination for the entrance monorail and which will allow you to transfer over to the main island. This line circles the island and has several stops. The Sky Ride station (left) is another way to get around the island. the station for the Shizukana Mine Blaster wooden coaster is on the right.
the main docking point for the main island features a statue of Pegasas and a small queue time board for all the islands attractions. You can see the Mine Blaster coaster in the background.
From the exit path to the ferry, you can see that most of the island has been developped already.
Our architects have decided to go with a more contemporary look for the park.
The Cliff Coaster, manufactured by Mack Rides, is sure to give families and thrillseekers a-like an experience they will never forget!
As you can see from the roof of the upper Sky Ride station, the Cliff Coaster literally rides along a cliff!
To prevent the island from loosing it's peacefull qualities, our engineers have had to implement wierd ways to add rides and attractions.
One of the areas soon to be developed next is this lagoon around El Nino's first drop.
Shizukana's skyline.
Here's a clue.
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I still don't think that the stakes out there now are the layout of the coaster. I think they are more like a circle on where the layout will be confined inside of.
Eddie, your're right. 32 footers are supposed to be built down near the catering area.
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This just keeps getting better and better. I'm waiting for the lawsuit and fraud charges.....
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Cool! I bowled at Rocky Springs Lanes a few years ago for a high school tournament and I didn't know at the time I was at part of the old park. Some of the land has been turned into a housing development, but it's good to see that there's more still there than what I expected. I think I might consider stopping by there sometime.
Ccron10 Visits Rocky Springs Park
in Photo Trip Report Archive
Posted
I know, I was pretty suprised in its condition. It was like it was untouched since it closed. There was not grafitti, vandalism or anything.