montezooma

I love this trip report. Do you have any information on who built that travelling rapids ride????

Miles, want to take a trip to Vancouver????? I would love to get up there and ride that great coaster again and I am sure Bill would be the perfect host!

Hello European Travelers- I came across a these pictures from and old Schwarzkopf catalog of the coaster called Grand Canyon. It was a speed coaster very similar in track construction to the Revolution at Magic Mountain, even used the same trains. It was wrapped in fiberglass rock work that caught fire several years ago causing enough damage that the entire ride, along with a powered coaster, to be torn down. It was located at the end of the western area where the awesome rapids and drop tower are now located. Thought you guys would enjoy seeing it. -Shane

Hey Mike- This has been a great thread to follow and I have to compliment you on the last set of photos. It was great to see pictures of everyone that was on the Europe trip. Thanks for posting all those. Shane

Hello friends of the attic...Several of you have wrote me and asked if I had run out of things and if Shane's Amusement Attic has come to an end. I am happy to report that my attic is still full and I have many more great historical things to post, but I have noticed that during the summer season this site is full of GREAT photos and trip reports of todays amusement parks and there are just so many great threads to follow. Shane's Amusement Attic is going to take the summer off and be back in Fall with a great NEW SEASON of old things. Thanks to all of you "loyals" who regularly check in and comment on this thread and I'll see you all again in the Fall for season 2 of Shane's Amusement Attic! Have a GREAT summer! Shane PS- Well before I sign off for the summer I want to leave you with one last little gem...It may be a little off topic but I think some of you may really enjoy it. I have noticed that many of us TPR enthusiasts also shave several other similar interests one of them being video games. Well the theme of the Attic is to take a look at how things used to be back in the day. About the same time that we were going thru the Roller Coaster Revolution we were also going thru the video game revolution. While we were obsessed with being turned upside down we were also obsessed with little creatures from outer space. Take a look back at the beginning of video games and see how far we truly have progressed.

I LOVE the paint job on the Revolutions trains. This may seem trivial but this is one of my favorite things the new management has done. I never liked the grey and green trains. I did however like it when each lead car had a different color (red, green, blue) and the rest of the cars where yellow. But I must say that the new scheme looks great!!!!!!! So maybe on Colossus they will bring back the "Thunder" & "Lightning" theme to the trains! Anyone remember those?

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS TOUR Well with all the Universal Studios news lately I thought what better time to post this old commercial than now. This ad from 1981 doesn't really show the park but it sure gives you a feel for what the park was 27 years ago when it was "Universal Studios Tour" Also as a bonus here is another old Knott's spot from the Urban Cowboy days. Knott's Urban Cowboy Days God I miss the corkscrew and the parachutes!

I just came across this park today and I have to say "Great Job" It has been really fun reading the thread from the beginning and watching it grow and improve with each season.

Busch Gardens "The Old Country" In this souvenir book you can take a look at the beautiful Busch Gardens park the way it was back in 1977. You can see it has a different name, different lands and different rides. At the time they had two "of the fastest coasters in the world", Die Wildkatze and Glissade, both of which are no longer there. Can you imagine Busch Gardens with out the Loch Ness Monster? While most parks seem to lose their charm and direction with time, Busch Gardens has continued to improve each year with only one major mistake along the way...cough...drachen fire...cough This park is truly one of my favorite parks!!! Rides, Theme, Charm...all the elements are spot on! Here is a look at the park map from the days before the Big Bad Wolf.

Did you know that for a couple of years "The Great American Revolution" at Magic Mountain took on a mexican theme and was called "Revolucion"?

Did you know that Canada's Wonderland was originally supposed to open with a Gold Rush themed area called "Canadian Frontiers" but due to budget over runs the entire land was postponed and obviously never built.

Ride Renderings So far I have posted all kinds of things that I find up in my attic: park brochures, souvenir books, maps, photos, commercials and videos. Well I have dug up some interesting things out of the attic this week. Conceptual art for attractions before they were built. Back before the days of computer animation the marketing department had to have some kind of visual to show the general public to generate buzz about there new attraction. I have collected a few and have them here to display. This is totally old school compared to the stuff that the parks put out today but it is a lost art form from the hey-day of theme parks. The Great American Revolution The Bat Orient Express Greezed Lightnin' The American Eagle The Beast The Loch Ness Monster Liseberg Raging Wolf Bobs Timber Wolf Wolverine Wildcat Thunder Run White Water Landing Texas Cliffhanger Arrow Shoot the Chutes Arrow Shoot the Chutes Arrow Pipeline Coaster And here are a few other Curtis Summer designs that never made it off the drawing table. I hope this stuff is interesting for you, I love seeing this old style art. Let me know what you think...

So what was it like inside Old Chicago? Not really more than a carnival inside a big warehouse. Here is a clip from a movie called "the Fury" this scene takes place inside Old Chicago and you can really get a sense of what the place was like. You can see the Toboggan and the Chicago Loop corkscrew roller coaster operating with a 4-car train.

Ahhh, just hearing the names of those old rides brings back so many memories. Those of us that grew up at Magic Mountain will always long for the gold old days of Bleep & Bloop. But a new Dawn arises over the mountain. Yes it is true the the Galaxy, Dancing Water Show, Mountain Express & chasing lights on the Revolution Loop are all gone, but many new great experience await you. As you wait in line for Ninja, let you mind wander back to the days of the Magic Pagoda. As you gaze up to the mighty heights of Goliath, picture the Jolly Monster spinning between the letters of "G-O-L-I-A-T-H" As the screech of Superman roars overhead think back to the tranquil grecian fountains...Yes love the past, but Embrace the Future. Deep Thoughts brought to you by "Shane's Amusement Attic" go back with me now

Great trip report. Love your pics, Love your comments, Love your style!

WATER, WATER, WATER, Here is something to kick off the summer season...waterpark commercials.

What? You want more commercials? OK I got your commercials right here! "Attack of the CORPORATE PARKS" Disney Six Flags Busch

^ did you know I love that one!

^which ones?

^ I am not a fan of the indoor amusement parks, the ones I have been to are loud and just lack the fun atmosphere of outdoor parks. The exception to that being the Little Mermaid themed area at DisneySea in Tokyo. That indoor amusement area works!!!

Did you know that Six Flags corporate marketing dept had approved the name "Jezabel" for the Stand-Up coaster at Six Flags over Georgia. The park protested due to the parks location in the "bible belt"

Old Chicago Here is a great read from a great publication "Amusement Park Journal". Old Chicago was a great idea just executed wrong, at the wrong time, and the wrong place. You'll see what that means when you read the article. This park had some pretty major rides for an indoor facility. An Arrow Corkscrew, "The Chicago Loop" which eventually ended up at Canobie Lake. The Pinfari "Chicago Cat" and a Chance Toboggan. There was also an Arrow Flume and a Bradley & Kaye Barnstormer. One story that I heard but have never been able to validate was that Old Chicago had ordered a Scwarzkopf Shuttle Loop to install. Of course the park went bankrupt and the story is that the coaster went to Walibi Belgium. All that is left of this place is memories and the street where the park was located is still called Old Chicago Drive. Credit goes to Charles J. Jacques Jr. for this great article.

That caption about the "Shrooms adventure" was one of the best I have seen on this site! Hillarious! oh and the pictures were great too!

More Naked Cowboy! More Naked Cowboy! More Naked Cowboy!

Sorry, but I am not sure what magazine this article came from. I just have the page that was ripped out and not the magazine.