cathyJ

I do believe this is true. However, when SF stepped in and bought it, there was a much higher potential for success, as the population base (within less than an hour's drive, I might add) and demographics of the area were/are much more conducive to the Six Flags name. Hence, the success and staying power that the park now enjoys. There are people here that think that the former Jazzland/SFNO was a successful park. It wasn't, and it failed. Hurricane Katrina just sealed it's fate. Hard Rock Park suffers from the same problem that Jazzland/SFNO did. The local population couldn't support Myrtle Beach Pavilion, yet someone thought it was a good location for HRP. Again, the local population cannot support this park. The tourists, aside from perhaps spring break, are generally not going to MB to visit an amusement park. Look at what actually thrives there. Golf courses, beach front hotels and retirement communities. Not amusement parks. JJ I still wonder had Disney went on and build that "Disney's America" park in Northern Virginia..what would have became of Adventure World? Would Six Flags even bother? But going back to Hard Rock Park...I wonder had this place been built in Raleigh instead of MB..would that have made a difference? Charlotte has Carowinds. Richmond has KD and the Norfolk/Virginia Beach has BGE ( Williamsburg is part of their metro area ). And since Nags Head and the Outer banks aren't exactly known for amusement parks..what does Raleigh have?

Whenever I hear about stories about this makes me wonder what goes through their heads ????? By posting this online did they really think Burger King wouldn't find out? DUH !!!! A few years back there was a somewhat similar incident like this that took place at a Taco Bell near me. In that incident, the manager had all of these profiles on adult websites looking for...well you get the idea. After the Taco Bell closed for the night he would go online and invite people to come to his restaurant for some "..after hours goodies" and we are NOT talking about food here. Some nights he had as many as 20 different people show up ( all strangers !! ) This lasted sometime until a nearby Target noticed all of those cars and people showing up at a CLOSED Taco Bell. Target contacted Taco Bell and soon the manager was busted ( in the act !! ) and of course he was fired. And if that wasn't bad enough..he taped all of this and had posted them to an adult website . Over 100 video clips in all !! The manager claimed that he didn't expect people to watch those clips online. DUH !!!! Taco Bell had one heck of a time getting those clips removed since they were considered a "home movie" and couldn't claim "copyright" the same way Hollywood does in getting TV show clips removed from You Tube.

There's nothing wrong with the company that's running it. It is in a VERY BAD LOCATION! The demographics of the area will not support a park of that size. Just like Jazzland/SFNO! Get it through your head. Jazzland was a failure from the beginning. When SF stepped in and bought it, all it did was prolong the inevitable. Just like how the people on the Titanic kept dancing, and the band kept playing. It still sank!! No. Nice try. JJ Well Before Six Flags took over Adventure World to become Six Flags America, for one season ( 1992 ? ) that park Adventure World was actually closed for a season over financial reasons.

It should be very interesting to see what the final attendance figures will be for 2008 for not only Elitch Gardens, but also for Lakeside and Waterworld as well. I bet all three parks will take a serious drop. If thats the case it won't be because of the economy ( actually in that department Denver is doing much better than a lot of other parts of the country ) or even the cost of gas but rather....the 2008 Democratic National Convention which is set for the week of August 25th at the Pepsi Center which is right next door to Elitches. Because of that convention a lot of people simply are too scared to visit Denver right now. Why? Rumors of possible violence, rumors of Denver area motels WAY overcharging of rooms like $1500 a night, rumors of freeways being shut down as they "prepare", rumors of protestors getting into the faces of other people yelling and cussing at them, rumors of open drug use, rumors of denver already running out of money for security, rumors of secret service watching anyone who goes near the Pepsi Center..and so forth...yes RUMORS !! Sadly I am sure many of those rumors will end up being true once the convention starts on August 25th but when you have so many local TV stations around the country and even the big networks like CNN reporting the problems Denver is having over this convention..and they make it seem like these problems are happening right NOW...all it does is make people think twice as far as visiting Denver. I don't think Denver or even Colorado as a whole was expecting any of this. I believe Elitches will be hurt by this..this year even though the park ( and Lakeside and Waterworld ) isn't even going to be open during the DNC.

Speaking of Virginia Beach...I had totally forgot about the old and defunct Seaside Park !!!! Before 1984, Seaside wasn't all that bad. Huge arcade, kiddieland, whip, indoor scrambler, tilt-a-whirl, bumper cars ( which shared the same building as the arcade ), huge ferris wheel, a classic fun house, huge merry-go-round, trabant, round-up...no coaster though but they had just about everything else. Then sometime in late 1983/early 1984..90% of Seaside was torn down to make way for a new seafood restaurant ( which BTW that too now is defunct and torn down ) but oddly the arcade building was spared but those bumper cars were not...Seaside for some odd unknown reason had moved the tilt-a-whirl into the room that housed the bumper cars. So for the 1984 Seaside..had one ride....that tilt-a-whirl !!! By 1985 however that building ( arcade & tilt ) was torn down as well to make way for a new Holiday Inn.

Forgot one...Kings Dominon !!! Fredericksburg, VA is considered a suberb of DC and that city is only one hour away from Kings Dominion.

One of the smallest carnival I have even been to was the "downtown" carnival during the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Virginia. This was back in the 80's. They had... *scambler *tribant *ferris wheel * one kiddie ride Thats it !!! But the award for the smallest carnival ever has to be the Morgan County, West Virginia Fair. Two years ago they offered... *paratroopers *merry-go-round THATS IT !!! TWO RIDES !!! can anyone top that? Whats the smallest amusement park you ever been to? For some reason I remember reading someplace years ago about some defunct park in North Dakota that only had 3 maybe 4 rides tops.

Couldn't your parents call up a hotel/motel directly by phone ( not online ) and make the reservation for you? I remember when I was 16 and group of us ( all the same age ) got a hotel room at a Holiday Inn right next to Carowinds and Heritage USA . Holiday Inn as I remember had no problem letting us stay there as long as we had a parent pay for the room in advance. Of course maybe this rule changes from state to state but then again this was back in the 80's so perhaps things have changed since then.

ok..made a mistake in typing UGH

I miss the Apple Turnover !! Looking back I can see why Kings Dominion were so against Ferris Wheels back in the 70s. Not only were those seaside parks in and around Norfolk and Virginia Beach like Seaside Park, Ocean View and Buckroe were still open back then ( and they all had Ferris Wheels ) plus Roanoke's Lakeside Park was still open too and yes they had a giant ferris wheel. Also back in the 70's the Washington area's Marshall Hall park was still in business and they too had a ferris wheel. Also back then ( 1970s ) Kings Dominion was in competiton with Winchester, Virginia as well with their annual Apple Blossom Festival. For that first weekend in May their entire downtown ( which is pretty big for a city of about 28,000 ) turns into a giant amusment park with rides, games and other typical carnival stuff. Back in the 70's during this event Winchester had FIVE carnivals and of course FIVE ferris wheels !!! Three downtown Winchester alone. I can see how Kings Dominion wanting to be well..different !! So Kings Dominion with a ferris wheel even today is ..well odd. But then again Kings Dominion today is so unlike Kings Dominion back in the 70s anyway.

It is interesting that Kings Dominion is ( or maybe ) be getting a Ferris Wheel considering that back in the 70's that park vowed never to get one. "...you can ride those at carnivals !!"

Whenever I see articles like this pop up on Yahoo, Money Magazine or Forbes I tend to take them with a grain of salt. Why? Because chances are some of these places paid money to be on the list. I am 98% sure its the case when I see those "top 10 places to live", "top 10 places to find a job" or even "the top ten fastest growing places in the US". Whenever a city on these list makes a claim like "...our city is recesson proof..won't happen here !! RED FLAG RED FLAG LOL While some cities and states do better than others during a downturn, ah no city or state big or small can really say they are totally recesson proof. Going back to amusement/theme parks...don't be surprised within the next year or two to see Oklahoma's Frontier City appear on one of these lists as one of America's "Top Amusement Parks"? With Oklahoma City now getting its own NBA basketball team that city's public relations department will now go into full motion to get the word out and pull out all punches to get their city on a "top 10 list" any list. Its all business.

The 2008 National Democratic Convention is taking place at the Denver Pepsi Center in August which is right next door to Elitch Gardens and since there is ( I believe ) a security zone around the Pepsi Center of a radius of one mile which includes Elitches as a result Elitch Gardens isn't allowed to be open during the convention however both Lakeside and Waterword can be open if they choose too since both parks fall out of that security zone. Why Lakeside isn't open that week, I don't get it.

Its a shame Lakeside isn't open during the Democratic National Convention this August. Since Elitches isn't allowed to be open during that, oh my..Lakeside is missing a chance to make a LOT of money with the thousands of visitors coming to Denver !!

One can actually write an entire book about the number of times various rides and parks have appeared in the movies. Talking into the HUNDREDS and dating back to the days of silent pictures in the 1920's and chances are even before then too. There was a very good movie from the 1940's about two young boys who take a trip to New York's Coney Island ( of course just about every single ride there was featured ) and I believe there was an old Alfred Hitchcock movie from the 50's where a merry-go-round breaks apart after speeding at full blast. Wish I knew the title of that? And we can't forget the 1973 flick "Paper Moon" with Ryan and Tatum O'Neal. Even though that movie was made in 1973, it was set in the 30's and from what I remember the rides featured in the movie ( the ferris wheel and octopus ) were actual vintage rides from that time period.

Hometown: Front Royal, VA Closest big city to me is Washington, DC ( though Baltimore and Richmond aren't that far either since we get their local TV stations ). However next month I am moving to Denver, Colorado. I believe the closest big city to Denver is Phoenix but I am not totally sure on that one.

Yesterday I bought ( for $10 ) season four of Three's Company. The opening scene shows Jack Tripper ( John Ritter ), the girls and Don Knotts riding a few rides that looks like it was shot at a seaside park. Curious..where was this filmed at? Now I know many parks were featured in MOVIES over the years like Vacation and of course Rollercoaster but what about TV shows? I know about Banana Splits ( Cincinatti's Coney Island and Six Flags Over Texas ) and of course The Brady Bunch and Partridge family ( Kings Island ). My husband swears he remember an old drama from the 70s ( The Family ) that was filmed at San Diego's Belmont Park and I myself remember that Hersheypark TV show back in the 70s ( Al Alberts ) that aired in a number of cities. Plus Dick Clark made some use of that Knotts berry Farm corkscrew coaster back in the 70s for one of this classic rock and roll TV specials and there was the 1979 crime drama "Big Shamus..Little Shamus" which made use of the many pier amusement parks along the Jersey shore like Atlantic City and Wildwood. Come to think of it I seem to remember way back when some show that JoAnne Worley from the old Laugh-In series that she did that was taped on location at some Amusement Park, I assume in California. Any other TV shows that were shot at a park?

Williamsburg is part of the Hampton Roads, VA metro area which also includes Norfolk and Hampton as well and both of those cities sported woodies for years ( Ocean View and Buckroe ) so weather wouldn't be an issue if BGE diecided to get a woodie. Beisdes the weather in Williamsburg I don't think is really that much different up in Doswell, VA where KD is located.

yeah there is a double standard. Last year my husband and I were at Denver's Elitch Gardens. Some young girl ( maybe about 15 or so ) was walking around the area of Twister Too wearing a very short bikini ( so short, might as well be nude !! ). A male security guard told her to put on her pants since she was nowhere near the waterpark. She went off..screaming "...what the hell is wrong with you? !!...You don't like girls ?? Are you gay ?? " She flat out refused to put anything on. Then some female security guard walked up to her and told her ( like the male security guard ) to put something on. And she did without saying a word. I guess its easier for a guy to tell another guy to put his shirt on than for him to do the same towards a female. Still though it doesn't make sense to me.

Seems like Jolly Roger has gone through a LOT of coasters over the years. There was a time in the late 80s and early 90s where Jolly not only had a corkscrew.. http://rcdb.com/ig1363.htm?picture=1 but the old King Cobra shuttle coaster from KD was there as well.. http://rcdb.com/ig638.htm?picture=1 Wonder why all the changes?

Busch Gardens Africa in Florida has a woodie but not Busch Gardens Europe in Virginia. Wonder why? Over the years I have been told two totally different reasons. 1. The town of Williamsburg won't allow it. Ok, if that is the case they sure have no problem building other types of tall coasters. Why not a woodie? 2. Kings Dominon !!. Both BGE and KD opened up in the same year. 1975. Part of a deal between the two was that KD would get the woodies while BGE would get only steel. OK..but KD has a few steel coasters now but still no woodie at BGE. Wonder which is correct? Or if there is another reason why no woodie was ever built at Busch Gardens Europe?

Did you know that Kennywood's Thunderbolt used to be called the Pippin, but was modified in 1967 (like how the Phantom was modified), and became the Thunderbolt? One year off it was 1968 when the Pipin became the Thunderbolt. But a lot of people "overlook" the year 1968 as if that year didn't exist.

Did you know... The first ride to open at Kings Dominion was the Scobby Doo roller coaster. It opened in 1974 a few years before the rest of the park opened. Part of a preview center of the then-new park. Denver's original Elitch Gardens was featured in an ad for 7-UP back in the 1950s. The commercial was on You Tube for awhile but in 2006 was taken down "..at the request..of DR. PEPPER" !!!!!! I should know..I uploaded that video

Looking at the pics of the defunct Opryland and the few parks in and around Cleveland had me wondering about all of the other parks that are no longer with us. Any pieces left as reminders that an amusement park was once there? Last month I was in Denver and according to a friend of mine who works for that city, he was telling me that above the Cherry Creek Shopping Center there are still to this day, some parts of the rides from a roof top kiddie park are still on the roof on that shopping center even though that park has been closed way back in the 60s. Not talking about the Cherry Creek Mall that has Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Ave, but the small plaza beside it that is the home of John Elway's restaurant and some international market. I myself didn't see any of it however I can't say that my friend was wrong about that bit of info though. Maryland's Glen Echo park I heard that pieces of their Coaster Dips are still in the woods there. Last time I was there I did see some track of something in the woods but I'm not sure its from the their coaster or from the old trolley that used to serve that park. Chicago's Riverview, according to a clip I saw on You Tube a few years back even as recently as 2005, there are still "reminders" of that park deep inside the woods where a lot of that park once stood. any other examples?

Anchorage I think could support something like NU. Now for an outdoor park, actually I have heard that winter weather in Anchorage is similar to Buffalo and Cleveland with LESS snow. Maybe an outdoor park could work there. Fairbanks OTOH, the winters ger very cold there but summers are actually quite warm. Now their state cap. Juneau considering the only way to get there is by air or sea, not a chance.