montezooma
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INTAMIN
1/7/08 - This post has been updated with two catalogs from Intamin -Ride Trade featuring Drop Rides, Water Rides, Simulators and Dark Rides
Here is an old Intamin ride catalog. Before the days of the internet this is how the ride manufacturers got information to the parks. I picked this up at one of the IAAPA conventions. You can see the variety of rides Intamin offered at the time.
On the cover is their disastrous Flight Trainer, that ride came and went in about a span of two years. I highlighted some of their cooler attractions. Intamin has always made good stuff, even back in the early days!
Some interesting points from the front page:
Giovanola, an Intamin owned production plant with large facilites for manufacturing and testing builds most of the Intamin rides.
Intamin is now the owner of the complete Schwarzkopf product line, including all patents, production rights, calculations and drawings...
God I miss the old Knott's!
Notice it says Marriott's I think i remember hearing that "Omega" was the original name for the American Eagle.
Nothing ever came of this model.
Back in the 80's parks had a strange fascination with these rocking pirate ships.
But coasters were and always will be their specialty.
Monorails, trains, coasters and flumes. Hell, they even made submarine passages.
I wish those double or triple wheels where still around.
Back in the day, towers were their specialty.
Intamin Leisure and Transportaion World-Wide. Product catalog
Intamin - Ride Trade Drop Towers and Simulator Rides
Intamin's Water Ride Catalog
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^ watch my thread "Shane's Amusement Attic" I will be posting some ride manufacturers brochures and catalogs probably later tonight or tomorrow. I have an old Intamin catalog and of course some more stuff from the Meisho catalog.
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Thanks for posting all the pics Bob. It is great to see everyone elses pictures from the trip, I get tired of looking at mine over and over again.
That was such a great trip, too bad it is over, well at least I have Europe to look forward to.
Shane
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The parks back then really put an emphasis on themes. For instance when Worlds of Fun opened their steel coaster back in 1980, it was located in the Orient section of the park and was cleverly and appropriately named "Orient Express".
That seems to be some of the magic that is lost, today it is just a free-for-all. Ninja in the cotton states section of Six Flags Atlanta, Flight of Fear and Italian Job in the Congo Section of Kings Dominion, Top Gun in New Orleans at Great America and worse of all Superman and Batman rides anywhere they can fit them into the park, no regard for the theme sections.
Also back then there was more of an emphasis on overal experience. Unique dinning, shopping and entertainment. Now you can eat at Subway, pizza hut and buy the same kind of merchandise inside the park that you can outside. How is that supposed to take you away from everyday life?
My 2cents worth...
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^ Cool to see that google map. After the park closed they pretty much leveled everything except for the parking lot, giant circus tent (Imax theater) and the Baseball stadium and fields. I walked around the vacant lot then and there was still bits and pieces of Boardwalk & Baseball laying around. Old cups, mailing material and general trash.
The last time I went by, there was no trace that a park ever existed on that site. The Imax building was gone and the whole site had been completely re-graded.
The remaining Baseball stadium and other fields.
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I never rode this ride but I do have the ride listing from the Meisho Ride Catalog.
If you look closely at the last picture it looks like it has an ice skating rink that goes around the perimeter of the ride. Anyone remember this?
Crazy Japanese, what will they think of next?
the details
Meisho Amusement Machines ride catalog "Moonsault Scramble Coaster"
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There are people who simply copy and paste links, text, and photos from other sites, and there are those who share their own rare stuff. They are who make TPR great! Keep it up, Shane!
Cool, thanks for the compliment! More good stuff on its way...
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Hello Everyone-
I have decided to condense all my "trips down memory lane" into one thread that I can update and post all the great things I find while cleaning out my attic.
I have been going to the IAAPA conventions since 1978 and have been collecting brochures, photos and other fun stuff from amusement parks from about that same time. As I have been going through my attic I have come across some great old stuff that maybe many of you have never seen. Stuff on parks that are now gone, rides that are now gone, interesting stuff I have collected from the manufacturers and just any other thing that I find interesting.
Check back here often as I will update this thread with fun stuff I come across.
Hope you all enjoy and make sure you post your comments.
Shane
Featured in the Attic:
- 2008 IAAPA re-cap: S&S Power
- 2008 IAAPA re-cap: Miler Coasters
- 2008 IAAPA re-cap: Maurer Sohne
- 2008 IAAPA re-cap: Premier Rides
- 2008 IAAPA re-cap: Gerstlauer
- Amusement park advertisements from the 1970's go to page 13 (link broken)
- Arrow Dynamics added an interview with Ron Toomer and a detailed report on Drachen Fire
- The Bat at Kings Island includes footage from the park and the Bat go to page 16 (link broken)
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Disneyland 1978
- Boardwalk & Baseball - Circus World includes POV footage on Florida Hurricane & Zoomerang.
- Busch Gardens "The Dark Continent" early souvenir book
- Busch Gardens "The Old Country" 1977
- Disneyland 1977 Souvenir Book
- Drachen Fire - Busch Gardens Williamsburg with NEW old footage added.
- Elitch Gardens - the original Now with POV of the original Mr. Twister
- Greezed Lightnin' - AstroWorld great footage including POV of this awesome Schwarzkopf shuttle loop.
- IAAPA - Ride Manufacturer Newsletters & Product Info stuff
- INTAMIN 1st Generation Free Falls
- Intamin - Ride Trade Catalog
- INTERNATIONAL AMUSEMENT DEVICES added POV video footage of Montana Rusa, the racer in Mexico City that inspired Colossus
- Kennywood Laser Loop & Steel Phantom added old film footage (including POV) of Laser Loop & the Dipper
- Kings Dominion: The Early Years
- Knott's Berry Farm - the early years. video, pictures, brochures and more for the 70's & 80's
- Old Chicago indoor amusement park
- Opryland U.S.A. includes footage from the park.
- Orient Express - Worlds of Fun Now with footage from the park and POV of the Orient Express
- Paramount's Great America "Media Plex" Front Gate Project
- Park Commercials over 50 commercials from parks all over the world!
- PTC Philadelphia Toboggan Company
- Raptor - Cedar Point 1993 the parks 11th coaster is introduced in this promotional video
- Ride Renderings - Concept Art
- Riverside and the Riverside Cyclone
- Schwarzkopf Part 3- Six Flags Parks 1970's souvenir books from SFoT, SFoG, SFoMA, AW, SFGAd & MM before it became SFMM
- Tokyo Disneyland 1985 souvenir book
- Towers Part 2 - Waagner-Biro
- Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom early souvenir book
- The World of Sid & Marty Krofft
Now Showing on Shane's Retro VCR:
- Big Bad Wolf Arrow promotional video
- Kennywood Memories PBS documentary
- Kid's World: Marriott's Great America
- Kid's World: Screamin' Eagle
- Kid's World: Loch Ness Monster
- Kid's World: Cinerama Coaster (Atom Smasher)
- The Legend of the Loch Ness Monster
- Roller Coaster Expert Gary Kyriazi
- Screamin Demon Kings Island 1979
- Zingo Bells Amusement Park 1980
Check out these other GREAT threads for more RETRO goodness:
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Shockwave was the first to have double loops right?
No the arrow Double Loop at Geauga Lake was the first coaster to have back to back vertical loops. It opened in 1977. The Shockwave at Six Flags over Texas, although a much better ride IMHO, opened in 1978.
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Here are some pictures I took at the park of the 3 major coasters at the time. Summer 1979
Big Dipper
Double Loop
Corkscrew
and here is the way the Corkscrew looks today relocated to India. photo from rcdb.com
Double Loop
Double Loop
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Here are some of the brochures and park information guides from the 80's & 90's.
1988
1988
Centennial Year 1988
1997
1997
1997
1997
1996
1996
1996
1996 This seems to be the year that Premier Parks (later to become Six Flags) took over the park.
1995
1995
1995
1995
1994
1993
1993
1993
1992
1992
1992
1991
1989
1989
1989
1989
1988
1988
1988
1988
The Fun Bunch
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Geauga Lake
Back before Six Flags or Cedar Fair got their hands on this park it was owned by a company named Funtime. Along with Geauga Lake they also owned Wyandot Lake and Darien Lake.
Take a look back at how this park was when it was the way it was meant to be. Here are photos, facts and printed material from the park in the 80's and 90's.
Enjoy
Shane
PS. check back shortly to see all the printed material that I have scanned in.
If you love looking at old nostalgic amusement park stuff check out my thread that is dedicated to all the old parks, rides and fun stuff of the past. I will be updating it with old stuff every now and again so check back often.
a sticker from the opening year of the Raging Wolf Bobs.
and a map from 1993.
a map from the parks centennial year 1988
an early map from the park
When the ride originally opened it was left the natural wood color. It was later painted white.
The Raging Wolf Bobs (another creative masterpiece) was introduced in 1988.
a merchandise shopping bag features the star attraction "Corkscrew"
a postcard pack from Geauga Lake circa early 1980's
an overview of the park showing the Big Dipper in the front and Double Loop in the background.
The Big Dipper opened in 1925 and was completely rebuilt in 1980. Who knows what will become of this classic coaster?
The Double Loop was an Arrow coaster that opened in 1977. I imagine they didn't have a very creative marketing department at the time.
The Double Loop was the first coaster to feature back to back vertical loops.
In the early years the ride was painted white. Later on the ride was painted black.
The Arrow Corkscrew operated from 1978-1995
The press release from the park in 1980. Notice how they advertise as "America's third largest collection of Amusement Rides"
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My guess would be that the debut of the pipeline came right around the time that B&M was developing the inverted coaster and designing rides around the heartline of the riders. By rotating the track around the heartline of the riders, they demonstrated that the concept of the pipeline was unnecessary, and the same result could be accomplished in keeping with the 'traditional' track and trains with a different design approach, eliminating the problems caused by the excessive oversized track and heavy trains.
See Storm Runner, Colossos at Thorpe, Hydra, Speed Monster just to name a few of which incorporate elements from the Pipeline with traditional track and trains.
Just my guess - Dave
That sounds like a very logical reason. Great thinking!
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^OMG, I totally forgot about the one at World's of Fun. Thanks for correcting that omission.
I am not to sure of that fatal accident tho, that may be one of those GP urban legends.
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Check out these other crazy Arrow ideas.
The first one is the model of the inversion for the suspended coaster. They had a working model that dropped the train into the inversion. It looked cool, but I think the model was as far as it ever got.
The second is just a variation on their suspended train. Arrow came up with this idea long before it made its way on the the Vekoma Invertigo.
Third is Arrow's concept for their bobsled coaster. The vehicles where on a separate pair of rails that rode perpendicular to the actual track. This allowed the trains to move up and down the bobsled trough while always staying safely on a track.
The last pictures is one of my all time favorites. It is a picture of me with the all time great coaster creator Anton Schwarzkopf. Can I count that as some kind of credit????
Anton Schwarzkopf and me (in my awkward stage) at the 1979 IAAPA convention.
I can't imagine that this concept got further than this static model.
Is this where Vekoma got the idea for the trains on Invertigo? They were always ripping off Arrow ideas.
I have seen a video on youtube.com of this ride actually working.
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This is kind of a prelude to the new X2...I found these photos of X1 in its infancy. All the parts are sitting in the mud at the Arrow Plant in Clearfield, UT before shipping to Magic Mountain. You can see the track pieces and also the early trains and wheel assemblies.
Shane
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From the pictures, the prototype seems extremely rough and uncomfortable (due to the sharp turns and sudden maneuver changes; it reminds me of some Togo's I've ridden in Japan) which might be a reason why no models of this coaster were ever built.
From what I remember that ride was very smooth, like I said before the painful part of the ride was hanging from the restraints. Another problem they had with the ride was the load and unload process, although compared to something like X it was simple. But back in those days if it wasn't quick in quick out it was unacceptable.
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Just a few more from a brochure that I found. Afraid I am all out of Opryland stuff now, well unless I stumble across another box full of stuff, which I probably will someday. I know that I took some super 8 movie footage of the Screamin' Delta Demon, but I have yet to find it.
Opryland U.S.A. brochure 1988
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WOW! I am getting great response to all my nostalgic postings. I hope it prompts others to go through some of their old stuff and see what treasures you have. I would love to see other threads like these.
As a kid I would write the parks every year and ask them to send me brochure, park map and any other info, I never threw any of it away and I am glad I didn't...it is really nice to find all this stuff and see it again.
Anyways for all you die-hard Opryland fans here is another souvenir booklet from the 1982 season.
This is the "centerfold" from the booklet for all you coaster pervs.
Notice the costumed character...It is Frankenberry from the breakfast cereal. WTF? I wonder if Count Chocula and Boo Berry where also mascots of the park?
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^ well I guess the roll-over element was kind of like Viper's but the ride was actually more like Ultra Twister, in that the track and the wheels of the vehicle were about where your shoulders would be and the train rode in between the rails.
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ARROWPipeline Coaster
Now here is a find. This bit of information comes from a newsletter that Arrow Dynamics used to publish for the industry. After the so-called success of the first suspended coaster Arrow Dynamics came up with this masterpiece, "The Pipeline Coaster"
I remember there was much interest for this ride. And every year at the IAAPA convention Arrow really tried to push the ride. They had the actual train on display for a couple of years.
I was one of the few lucky ones to be able to ride the prototype at the Arrow plant in Utah. I don't remember much about that ride except that there was not a lift. By way of a giant crane they lifted a section of track to the start position then released the train. It then went into a rollover and dove strait to the ground, then back up, at the top you were upside down in the hang position again until it hit another rollover which returned you rightside up again.
I remember it was a pretty smooth so I guess they got the heartline engineering somewhat right, but it was uncomfortable when the trains rolled over and you just hung from the restraints until gravity held you to your seat as you came to the bottom of the drop.
Enjoy the reading on this infamous ride that never was.
Shane
PS. If you love looking at old nostalgic amusement park stuff check out my thread that is dedicated to all the old parks, rides and fun stuff of the past. I will be updating it with old stuff every now and again so check back often.
Here's a POV of the Arrow Pipeline from Coastertube.
[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=PipelinePOV[/coastertube] According to COASTER-net, Morey's Piers in Wildwood was going to get one, too.
Here the train dives straight down to the ground. This whole element looks like the B&M Pretzel loop on their flying coasters.
Hang Time, the sensation was similar to that funky dive loop on the Manhattan Express, I mean "the Roller Coaster at New York, New York".
Here you can see where the train has just come off the start platform and begins its complete roll over to the upside down position before it dives to the ground.
Arrow now introduces the next generation in coaster technology with the Pipeline.
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Here are pictures from around the park taken from the 1977 souvenir booklet. But first a park map from the year that Grizzly River Rampage was built.
This page from one of the parks last seasons sure makes it look like the park was full of excitement and energy.
So Sad
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Opryland U.S.A.
Boy, going through old coaster stuff can really be fun. I came across all this stuff on Opryland, I probably haven't looked at it in over 10 years.
This was truly a beautiful and unique park, it really is a shame what became of it. It wasn't big on thrills but it sure had a lot of talent and charm.
Opryland was located just 9 miles from Nashville on 200 acres of rolling countryside. It was a tribute to Americana and America's Musical Heritage.
Enjoy my look back at this wonderful park that is now a discount mall. Progress, you gotta love it
Shane
PS. If you love looking at old nostalgic amusement park stuff check out my thread that is dedicated to all the old parks, rides and fun stuff of the past. I will be updating it with old stuff every now and again so check back often.
more pictures of the park.
General park pictures.
Another shot of the Wabash Cannonball. This shot is a mirror image of the ride. Opryland seemed to use this mirror image in a lot of their printed material.
The Rock-n-Roller Coaster. This ride was also called Tree Topper. It is now located at the Great Escape in New York.
The Tennessee Waltz
This unique ride was only one of two built by Bradley and Kaye. The other was at Old Chicago, the indoor amusement park in Chicago. Both rides met a similar fate. Intamin took a stab at recreating this ride and they too are all gone. I am going to venture to say that the ride just wasn't that great. But I remember liking it.
The Wabash Cannonball, this is one park that I remember ran two trains at the same time on their corkscrew. One train was red and the other was blue.
This was not a typical horse type carousel and if my memory serves me it was at the park for a couple of years, then it was gone.
Three locomotives???? Does Disneyland even have that many...lol
I find it interesting that they release the number of passengers for that season. How cool is that?
Now onto the rides...
$9.75 admission...those where the days!
Parking was only $1.50 or a parking season pass for $7.50. You can't even park one day at Six Flags for that amount.
Notice the original cost of the park and the attendance back in 1979.
The Opryland U.S.A fact sheet
"Sign Tennessee" a tribute show to the blues and another shot of Grizzly River Rampage, the second river ride built by Intamin
The arrow development corkscrew "Wabash Cannonball", Grizzly River Rampage and Opryland Train
The Jukebox Theater, Barnstormer & Nestea Plunge log flume
This is the basic layout of the park showing each themed land.
and finally DoWah Diddy City
State Fair Area & Lakeside Area
The America West theme area
Old New Orleans & The Riverside theme areas
The Hill Country theme area
Opry Plaza theme area
Park information. This book tells about each themed area, the rides, shows, games and other attractions.
The Hangman....Six Flags MarineWorld got the ride, Wild Adventures got the name.
The brochure celebrating the 25th season. It didn't last much longer.
The entire Opryland U.S.A. complex
Geauga Lake in the 80's-90's
in Photo Trip Report Archive
Posted
I know that in the early years of Knott's Corkscrew they frequently ran two trains. Opryland also ran two trains at the same time. Those are the only two I ever saw running a two train operation.