montezooma

Shane's Amusement Attic will return after a word from our sponsor... we now return to Shane's Amusement Attic...already in progress.

What happened on closing night? Did I miss something? Anywho... Hooray the summer season is almost here and I am excited for our new 2010 commercials.

BIG BANG SMURF BIG BANG SCHTROUMPF BIG BANG SCHLUMPH Picture this...France, late 1980's. A group of business men get together and come up with concepts for a future amusement facility. They brainstorm and come up with a concept based on LAND, EARTH, WATER, SPACE.........and SMURFS! "It's brilliant, and we'll call it "Big Bang SMURF" Yes, before Freestyle Music Park was dubbed worst name for a theme park there was a little park in France known as "BIG BANG SMURF" At one point in time those little blue dwarfs were relevant enough to justify an entire theme park. Since it's opening it has gone through several identities and it know goes by the name of Walygator Parc. There is no more signs of the blue guys but the Anaconda still remains...and that is not necessarily a good thing. Shane's Amusement Attic takes you back now to the original promotional material that introduced the world to "Big Bang Smurf" Land, Water, Space & Smurfs the lay of the land The original lands where tied together with the European Celebration. Today it is nothing more than a cheap swap meet with rock t-shirts and tacky novelties. my ticket from my first visit to the park the Anaconda thanks CGA's Grizzly every day. If it weren't for the Grizzly, Anaconda surely would be rated the WORST COASTER IN THE WORLD the park was later bought up by the Walibi group. park map Will "the Monster" save this park?....stay tuned to find out

WILD RIDES While I have the Retro VCR out I thought I would post this series called "Wild Rides" starring the super sexy Matt Dillion. Here it is in 6 parts...Coasters include Florida Huricane, Mindbender, Texas Cyclone, Colossus, Great American Scream Machine and more.

Hmmmm...I wonder what is coming up next in Shane's Amusement Attic? Land, Water, Space &......Smurfs?

The most interesting thing about that Disneyland postcard in not the Astro Orbiter...it is the picture featuring Rocket Rods!

RED DEVIL The Retro VCR is open again and this time it is playing the "Red Devil". This tinker toy coaster is just a slight step above a back yard coaster. It is now known as the "Clifhanger". This video was shot in 1990, my first and last trip to Ghost Town in the Sky, which now is literally a Ghost Town in the Sky. Honk if you love Aly & AJ! [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=RedDevil_z75m[/coastertube]

You can look at it that way or you can look at it like this: They have built two of the GREAT Intamin plug n plays, maybe they took their experience with those rides and are incorporating them into the giant refurb.. When looked at ii like that, I think there are great things in store for the Giant!!!

This was once a great ride. Hey, how about replacing the wood track with Arrow rails????

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CONSTRUCTION (Texas Giant Remodel) One of the most exciting threads I have been following is the Rebuilding of Texas Giant. I have long loved this ride (although I base my feelings on the first years I rode it, I have not ridden it lately) Anyways, the conversion from wood to steel is something that really might help the popularity of some of these old Giant woodies that are expensive to maintain and let's face it...their popularity is hindered by their roughness. Gemini has always been a favorite ride of mine, it is fast, smooth and still gives your the feel of riding on top of a wood structure. Imagine how GREAT Texas Giant could be if it had the smoothness, speed and still the old wooden feel...well it is going to happen in 2011 and I CAN'T WAIT! So who is responsible for this conversion? Well I am sure Six Flags has a lot to do with it but the construction company behind the engineering and building is a little company out of Idaho. Over a year ago I met with this company, Rocky Mountain Construction, with the idea of building Cowabunga Bay. We met several times, and although in the end we selected a local construction company I must give high praises to this company. They were detailed, concise and had a GREAT handle on what is involved in building these multi-million dollar attractions. I look forward to what they do with the Giant. So for those of you that are not familiar with this company, here is the company brochure and a few pictures of the projects that they have worked on. I think you might be familiar with some of them...El Toro, Aftershock (formerly Deja Vu), The Villian (Geauga Lake) and T-Express in Korea. working on El Toro T-Express Aftershock The specialize in water park construction too Boulder Beach at Silverwood

The bankruptcy courts are trying to sell off the facility. As a waterpark owner I received a very detailed packet on the facility. It surprises me that people are able to get huge amounts of money to build these places with poorly put together business plans. Which makes me wonder who is dumber...the people that run the place, or the people who give them the money?

Well... all this gives me something NEW to think about. I always considered the next addition to Cowabunga Bay would be a Mat-Racer, but now I guess I better get our and ride a Boomerango.

I would appreciate anyone that has ridden one of these Boomerangos to weigh in on the ride experience. Is it good? Is it a one time experience or something you would ride over and over again. Would you rather ride a Boomerango or one of those mat-racers?

I am feeling nostalgic for the old Arrow coasters with the open lattice loop support structures. Here is one of there first vertical loop coasters. The Corkscrew at Cedar Point.

^ That is SFoT and Aquaman Splashdown in the background. I was just there over the weekend. If these new Studio6F count as "new attractions" how much longer before we see "Coming in 2011...Wac-a-Mole" I walked into Studio6F as fast as I walked out. I am just saying....

One of my favorite fictional park names comes from a movie...Anyone remember "Sky's The Limit" in Detroit?

This is how The Great American Revolution used to ride without the headrests and over the shoulder harness. However, I do not condone lighting up as you go up the lift! [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=TheGreatAmericanRevolution_jkj7[/coastertube]

The Dolphin Show was one of the first attractions Six Flags added when they bought the park. So it would have been sometime around 1979 or 1980. El Bumpo bumper boats were removed to make way for the Aqua Theater which is now where the Batman Stunt Show is.

SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN I am back from my Dallas trip for the opening of Six Flags over Texas. It was a pretty good weekend. I had not been to Six Flags over Texas in probably 10 years or so. I have to say while it used to be one of my more favorite Six Flags Parks, it is really starting to show it's age. The park is OUTDATED! The crowds were fairly small and thanks to the rain on Sunday, everything was pretty much a walk on. Anyways the trip got me in a Six Flags mood (the new saying at Six Flags is "Have a Six Flags Day") so I thought I would do a Six Flags update, Since Magic Mountain was my home park growing up, I have a lot of things from the park. Here is an old souvenir book from sometime in the 90's. Z-Force, Spillinkin Corners, Mystic Lake, Metro, Dolphins and Condor where all staples at the park, not to mention a beautiful looking Revolution and Colossus and the newley added Ninja. Magic Mountain...how can you not LOVE this park???? A very WET day at Six Flags over Texas I loved this old logo That's All Folks! Just a few more from Texas My son and I get ready to ride the Mine Train Awe West of the Pecos

Rapid Rides were fun back in the 80's, but now kind of meh. Disney and Universal have really taken them to the next level!

Here is another interesting read from that same edition of Amusement Park Journal. This one focuses on the early versions of the River Rapid Rides.

I am a HUGE "woodie" fan and as long as it is fun to ride, I don't care what it is made of!

MARCO POLO PARK This update comes from one of my favorite Amusement Park Publications, Amusement Park Journal. It is an article on a park you may have never heard of...Marco Polo Park. Tis Floridal park opened in 1970 and closed in 1975. Any one out there ever make it to this park? A closer look at the park map

Yes, Arrow was working on a prototype Flying Turn/Bobsled coaster. Below is a picture of the track and you can read more about the early days of Arrow here.

Six Flags had an agreement with Arrow to buy several of their Flying Turn rides. Six Flags over Texas was to receive the first one. In preparation for the ride Big Bend was removed and shipped off to Six Flags over Mid-America. ( I am not sure if it was going to be reassembled there or not) The Flying Turns was plagued with problems and in the end Arrow could not make it work and the concept was scrapped. They say Big Bend was removed to make way for Judge Roy Scream, but if you look at the location of the Judge it doesn't encroach at all on the old footprint of Big Bend.