montezooma

Cedar Point 1980 No new coasters for Cedar Point this year, they had not begun their quest to be "Americans Roller Coast" yet. But they did have quite a big expansion with the Oceana complex. 1980 was the first year I visited Cedar Point and it only cost $9.95 to get in! So you want more retro Cedar Point??? Check these out: Cedar Point 1969 Cedar Point 1978 The midway looks almost naked without all the new coasters

Speaking of Intamin Wheels...here is one of their GREATEST. The Sky Whirl at Marriott's Great America in California. Also shown are the Lobster and The Turn of the Century. I miss Great America when it was Great

Yes Scott I was kidding. To the trained eye it is quite obviously the Revolution.

Carowinds 1977 While we are on the subject of Carowinds, my favorite park, I thought I would stray a bit from the 1980 format and jump back in time to 1977 (I feel like I am on Lost with these time skips) This is one of my favorite brochures in all of my collection. The trains of Thunder Road look so cool and If I didn't know any better I would swear that White Lightnin was the Revolution!!!! This is pure Carowinds goodness. Oh Closed Mondays! So in the early days the park was closed on Mondays... Introducing the awesome "White Lightnin'" The monorail and some sort of Hillbilly Scooby-Doo what ever happened to the Balloon girls? The Eastern Airlines Skytower, Captain & Tennille and Hong Kong Phooey. It could only be the 70's What a GREAT brochure cover. Thunder & Lightnin'

WOW! You are really giving me a run for my money! What a GREAT find! I am going to need to sneak an hour away from work today and read every bit of that thing. GREAT POST!

Congrats Robb- It really is great when something you create becomes reality!

are there any Showbiz Pizzas still around? They may have just borrowed a picture just like they did for the Carolina Cyclone

More great old Magic Mountain stuff. It sure used to be easy to get around the park. Take note of the caption on the back side of the postcard. "In-Park Transportation is provided to HELP guests experience the 260 beautiful acres..."

Carowinds Big shout out for Carowinds my FAVORITE park!!! 1980 was a big year for "this little park that could" with the introduction of the worlds first quad-loop coaster, the Carolina Cyclone! I was creative director for this park for several of the Paramount years and a lot of my heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears went into this park. One of my first jobs at the park was the changing of the drab green and burnt orange color scheme of the Carolina Cyclone. Carowinds is still closed on Fridays, I never understood this policy still closed on Fridays...wtf??? White Lightnin, Kenny & Dolly...some of the great attractions that are no more : ( not actually the Carolina Cyclone but a Cedar Point interpretation of it

God I miss AstroWorld. Restoca the AstroWorld postcards are my FAVORITES on this thread. I hope you have more!

Busch Gardens "The Old Country" Leave it to Busch to not just add a simple ride...but an entire new theme area. The country of Italy was a huge part of the parks expansion during the 80's. The first section of the country was added in 1980. I hope we will see a new land added to this park in the near future. Such a GREAT park even back in 1980. This park has not lost an ounce of its charm IMO "now that's Italian"

Bill you should be the official TPR Pack Rat. You save everything as a souvenir. All your stuff would be great as decor if "TGIF's" ever did a knock off restaurant called "TPR's"

Great addition Bill. I love seeing pictures of Magic Mountain in its early years. I remember riding the Galaxy everytime I went to the park. I also got the Mountain Express credit, as a matter of fact it was my first credit!!!! Here is a postcard that shows a great old attraction. "The Magic Pagoda". It always smelt like a Doobie Brothers concert inside there.

Busch Gardens "The Dark Continent" The 80's saw both of the Busch park grow into the power house parks they are today. Timbuktu themed land and several new rides including the Schwarzkopf "Scorpion" coaster were great additions to this park in 1980. The park also opened their water park "Adventure Island" this year.

AstroWorld It is sad to start this look back with AstroWorld. It is a park that I miss with every new season. 1980 was a huge year for this park as they introduced a ride almost as popular as the roller coaster. Thunder River debuted to much fan fair and also many problems. As a member of the opening crew I remember all the problems the ride experienced its opening year. Boat jams, sinking boats, conveyor belt problems and all the rest. Over the years they have worked out all the problems and we now see these rides everywhere. AstroWorld is sorely missed as well as all it's great attractions. RIP Marvel Mc Fey!!! THUNDER RIVER!

1980 Park Brochures As the 2009 season grows closer I thought March would be a great time to look back at the 1980 season. 1980 was an exciting season especially for AstroWorld, they premiered the FIRST whitewater rafting ride that is now a staple attraction at theme parks around the world. New coaster attractions were the Laser Loop at Kennywood the Carolina Cyclone, and the conversions of the two Turn of the Centuries into the Demon. At that time they held the record for the most inversion on a coaster - 4. 1980 was also the year of the Buccaneer swing ships for the Six Flags Park and the first year that Magic Mountain became part of the Six Flags family. Make sure you check in everyday this month to see your favorite parks brochure and relive that great 1980 season. AstroWorld Busch Gardens "The Dark Continent" Busch Gardens "The Old Country" Carowinds Cedar Point Elitch Gardens Hersheypark Kennywood Kings Dominion Kings Island Libertyland Marriott's Great America - CA Marriott's Great America - IL Opryland U.S.A Riverside Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags over Georgia Six Flags over Mid-America Six Flags over Texas Valleyfair! Worlds of Fun *BONUS POSTS* Carowinds 1977 Six Flags over Georgia 1976 Six Flags over Georgia 1978 Six Flags over Mid-America 1977 Six Flags over Mid-America 1978

Lets go back a couple of years ago, well actually many years ago... way before Raptor. It sure was a different view back then something is missing from this postcard

Amusement accident related newscasts. MINDBENDER - Galaxyland [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=galaxyland_7r09[/coastertube] ENTERPRISE - Fairground [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=AccidentEnterprise_olnl[/coastertube] AIR RACE - Six Flags over Georgia [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=AccidentAirRace_pwk4[/coastertube] RAIL BLAZER - Six Flags over Mid-America LIGHTNING LOOPS

Scared to Death Well this update is sort of a downer, but even in the theme park business not everyday is sunshine and lemonade. This article takes a look at the safety of amusement park and carnival type rides. There are some pretty vivid and graphic descriptions of accidents that have occurred especially one that involves a monster at a Florida fairground. There explanation of the Lightnin Loop accident is also of interest . The way they make it sound it seems the operator had a choice to make; if they would have stopped the ride to save the life of the girl not strapped in it could have harmed or even killed others. I really do not think that was the case since hitting the e-stop on an Arrow shuttle loop would have simply stopped the launch. Also accompanied are some newscasts from several accidents that have taken place. Just so not all is doom and gloom, you can look forward to the month of March as I will present the year of 1980. Every day of March I will update you with a park brochure from the 1980 season. -Shane

Is anyone else having trouble uploading .m4v format videos?

So this came across my desk today for approval and I just had to laugh. I am not sure if they tried to sneak this by or if Canadians don't know what a Woody is. Needless to say, for the Utah market we will have to change the wording on this sign. How about "ride the Woody"?

This seems like such a scam. So the original guys build a 400 million dollar park with other peoples money. It fails, closes and everyone is out their money. Then the same guys pick up the same park with their own money for pennies on the dollar. I can't decide if this is illegal or simply brilliant.

Those are my two favorites too, those slides are also the custom slides that are unique to our project. All the other slides are the same as on the Hersheypark model. The magenta slide will be the longest and as I recall from the one at Hersheypark (theirs is purple) it is pretty fast, dark and intense.

It definitely is the Brady's. They performed this song as the group "Silver Platters" at a local talent show so they could win enough money to by a "Silver Platter" for their parents anniversary.

ZINGO Here's another old woodie gone but not forgotten. This movie was shot back in 1980 on my way to SFoT from the RCBI convention. Any word from anybody on what is going to happen to this coaster? I believe it is in storage hoping to be relocated to a new park site. I always thought "Zingo" was a cool name for a coaster. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=Zingo[/coastertube]