coasterfreaky

I too had forgotten about the mini intamin tower! Memories from long ago...sigh. Thanks for posting these!

That would make a great backyard coaster

Thanks for posting the pic of the Chance Skydiver. There used to be one of those at Fair Park (aka Cumberland Park) in Nashville...as well as a Skyliner coaster by John Allen....odd coincidence.

Yeah, I guess that was just rumored...since we heard nothing about it beyond the Screamscape rumor. I Personally think it would be a great investment to put the MF trains on it. I guess their Cost-Benefit-Analysis says otherwise, but imagine Mean Streak 2.0. All new trains, new brakes (magnetic), retrack & re-bank the necessary sections, new marketing campaign - all for a few million dollars (vs. XX Million dollars for a brand new coaster). In 2011 it will be 20 years old, so those fixes would be a great present for its birthday. Blue Streak was rehab'd with all new mechanical equipment...and at some point MS will require it (needed it years ago I think), so heres to hoping that they do it correctly. Georgia Psyclone - Love it. But do Dinn & Summers get credit for it? All they did was execute someone elses design.

Don't forget that the trains play a huge part also. PTC's run best on straight track, not so much on curves. If Mean Streaks trains could be replaced with something like the MillFlyers, then wow. I love MS's course, but it is rough for sure. Didn't it get a rehab this year, by GCI? I haven't heard any news about it, good or bad.

She resembles a young Camilla Parker Bowles....lol.

One Park Operator's Loss is another's Treasure. If these parks were to be sold, someone like Herschend or PARC might be viable contenders. Both operators have been buying up lately. And don't underestimate companies like Parques Reunidos whose dollars are going a lot further in the US these days. As far as CGA is concerned, I think CF moving into a management position is spot on. CF's hands seem to be tied in regards to major improvements, which is very limiting on drawing fresh crowds each season. I definitely agree with that - whoever said it.

I don't think so, but the Rockafire Explosion lives on. If you want to catch up on it, there's a thread in Random, Random, Random... http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44499&highlight=showbiz Apparently some people have whole R.E. set up in basements, bars & restaurants. Chuck E Cheese is just nowhere near as cool as Showbiz was, but that was at a time when Arcades were hot.

The "Country Bear Show" at Carowinds looks very similar to the Rockafire Explosion band from Showbiz Pizza. Thanks for posting!

This is quite an undertaking for a temporary ride, but it looks impressive nonetheless. I'm sure small children will enjoy it. For a park with limited space this is a good option for adding attractions, especially parks that are open in the winter.

This photo comes courtesy of the Opryland Yahoo Group, specifically Sierramike04. He did a great job determining where the rides used to be. I can't tell you how nauseating it is to see your home park turned into dust. Its a devastating feeling for sure. Opryland, Then & Now

You're right about the TT stations. Exactly the same as they were for Thunder Express. But I'm pretty sure Thunder Express, when it was at Six Flags St. Louis was not a 'mirror image' of the other one, but just a second mine coaster. So they just had two mine trains, but not two that mirrored one another. Correct me if i'm wrong though.

Rip Roarin Rapids was not the first River Rapids ride. The first River Rapids Ride was at Astroworld, Thunder River. Thunder River was built by Intamin. It was created and designed (and thought of) by General Manager of Astroworld, Bill Crandell. It was a prototype and it opened in 1980. Thunder River opened in 1980. Rip Roarin Rapids opened in 1983. This certainly makes Thunder River the first ever River Rapids Ride. -Tatum Did you know...Opryland's Grizzly River Rampage and I think Great Adventure's Intamin rapids ride's opened in 1982. Both are the 12-seater and feature the same kind of station set up. Maybe the Carowinds version was the first 6 or 9 seater or some other type of 'first' - first with a rotating platform?? Marketing people can dream up all kinds of 'firsts' when they try.

They're probably talking about the cardboard box compactors, i guess. When i was about 17 or so the grocery store I worked at had one of these cardboard compactors that had had a sticker on it that said not to operate if under 18. Of course we all did in order to make more room in the machine to put more boxes. Basically, once the button was pushed a large protective screen came down, then the 'compactor' would come down and crush the boxes into a neat compressed box that would get sent back to corporate for recycling monies. Anyways, I always thought the 'under 18' thing was a complete joke.

These analogies are making this discussion way more complicated than it needs to be...and it's already complicated comparing several brands of amusement parks. KISS!

There is no simple, single answer as to why one chain is better/more successful than the other. CF has historically had a fairly conservative business plan when it comes to new additions, as has Herschend and many of the smaller parks like Kennywood and others that have great charm and uniqueness. As opposed to Six Flags which went on a rampage in the 90's buying up small parks and adding huge coasters to all of its parks - that type of development is too fast. It takes time to get see a return on the investments that are put in. And that same style may be what put the nail in Hard Rocks' coffin - too much, too soon. Regardless of your personal opinion about CF, they're very successful, families love them, coaster enthusiasts love them, and they are paying dividends on their stocks. Dollywood is a pretty old park, it's been around since 1961 when the only attraction was the train. Just in the past 6-7 years they have become more of a contender with the bigger parks like Cedar Fair. Dollywood has almost as many annual visitors as Cedar Point, so it just goes to show, in my opinion at least, that the formula for success is slow and steady, not too much, too soon. The turtle always wins the race! One really smart thing that Herschend did was to sell Dolly Parton her stake in the park. In 1986 when Silver Dollar City-Tennessee became Dollywood, attendance jumped from around 250k people, to over 2 million people!! Disney is practically a whole other story in itself. It is such a diverse company that we will never see it's demise. Parks are just a small slice of the pie chart for Disney. Probably not even in my great great great grandchildrens lifetimes will we ever see it go down.

LOL - "You haven't lived until you've made a corndog!"

So, Does Carolina Crossroads still 'own' the Pippin? There was some discussion about moving it to Dollywood, but I think Dollywood backed off b/c they wanted to keep it in Memphis.

Great find! Some people may not know, but the old trams in your photos of Universal Studios are some of the trams used at Dollywood....still toting people around.

Thank you!

I'm going to be in NYC on a quick trip and I'm having no luck in researching if the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel are currently in operation or not. I know most of the back-story, and I know that these two attractions are somewhat independent from Astroland and all that. I can not find any information that tells me if they will be in operation or not during my visit from 10/4 to 10/8. Can someone fill me in? Thanks in advance!

Makes me giddy too . You've probably seen this video before, but here's a few seconds of the Barnstormer in action...among other rides. Brings a tear to my eye.

Saw those at Target too. Also, SpookyTown (Lemax; manufacturer) has some different rides as well. Michael's and A.C. Moore Craft Stores both sell them. https://www.lemax-spookytown.com/shoppingcart/Default.asp?CategoryID=12 Also at A.C. Moore, they had some (Lemax) Xmas miniatures out, they had a Ferris Wheel, a Teacup Ride, which I've never seen before, and also a Dumbo-type ride, also never seen before. http://shop.christmascentral.com/Lemax/Carnival/

The Seattle Wheel has been at the Tennessee Valley Fair in Knoxville the past four or so years. I think this year they went with a different vendor...but for the most part the same rides. The Seattle wheel gives a great ride too. I watched that movie again not too long ago hoping to catch Elvis riding the wheel, but they only passed by it when they're on the monorail at the beginning of the film and it makes one other short appearance I think. Never showed them actually riding it, unfortunately. Thanks for sharing your great pics.