chadster

So, the following day (4/17/11) I made my way to Joplin, Missouri, home of Rte 66 Carousel Park, and home to two coasters. If you've ever been to Branson or Orlando, then this style of park would not be strange to you. It offers bumper boats, go carts, mini golf, batting cages, and a few old school amusement rides. $22 will get you an all inclusive ride pass, or take a spin or tow for $2 per ride on the amusements. This is truly a family owned and run park and almost 100% supported by the locals. It's a nice place for the teeny boppers to go for date night or kill time. For coasters whore's, it's a great place to get a cheap credit, or two. Welcome, park in the rear please. Since we are whoring, let's get down to business. I paid $2 for the ride ticket and headed for the entrance. To my surprise, four adults were marathoning this beauty. Tiger Terror!!!! Looks scarey. Here is part of the oval course. and here is the other part of the course in action. So yeah, there it is, three or fours spins (that's how many times you go round, not how many times I rode it) and out we go. But first, let's take a look at a few of the other rides. OH MY NECK!!!! (down on the ground, flopping like a fish) swing set. another swinging thing These seemed to be the most popular attraction at the park. Tiger was second. The ship got no love. Height restricted to 54", so no go for me. Oh yeah, they couldn't call it carousel park with out one of these! So yeah, there you are. Thank You Rte66 for allowing me to be a whore for the weekend!

Well there comes a point in every man's life that he needs to step out on a limb and try new things, explore his identity, and become a whore perhaps. That's just what I did this past weekend, visiting two parks for the sole purpose of whoring out two quality coasters. The first coaster would be the Python Pit @ Zonkers in Olate, Kansas (4/16/11). I have to say, I felt like a creep walking into a 5 year olds paradise, but after talking with employees, I felt less so as apparently many many TPR folks have also sacked the Python. Zonker's is located inside the Great Mall of the Great Plains, and to be fully truthful, I'm surprised this mall is still open. Having read on the internet a few years back that this mall was home to several "outlet" stores, I stopped in. It had about a 50% occupancy rate at the time(being generous) and mostly one off stores. I passed up Zonkers not knowing what it was, or what was in it. On this trip, I'd say they have a 20% occupancy rate. So, if I were you, I'd get the credit now, so you can get a relocate credit later This credit was not worthy of bringing in my good camera, it was only worthy of a point and shoot. Welcome to the Great Deserted Mall of the Great Plains, let's tackle a Python Here's part of the intense course. There's a Python slithering by back there somewhere. Onboard. And that's that. Time to get the hell out of there, if I only I could remember where I parked...so many cars, so many parking spaces. Who am I kidding, only about 20 cars in the lot. Next up, Rte 66 Carousel Park.

Problem is, they didn't realize that's the reason it closed. Twice.

This park seems to have a much higher promise of re-opening than SFNO does at getting rebuilt or Teh Big Dipper getting moved.

^ Sweet intel on the racer! It certainly is an underrated and under visited park, it certainly surprised me and would recommend to all that they try to visit at least once! Oh, and welcome to TPR!

Yippeeee!!! Another boomerang to add to the list Serioulsy tho, thanks for sharing a park I've certianly never seen nor heard about!

Family looking at the park map of Worlds of Fun this weekend, standing next to the "PROWLER!!!" entry sign "Maybe they tore Prowler down, because this is Timberwolf" I didn't have it in me to point out their stupidity and kept on walking.

If you submit something really dumb I'll make sure the Title Fairy knows of your stupidity. YIKES!!!!

^ Check the ClubTPR forum stickies for that info.

Thanks all, glad you liked the photos and video! Coming up this week, credit whoring Missouri, and WoF opening weekend! Video coming with the WoF report and some Planet Snoopy pictures (well mainly construction pictures) Stay tuned for mid-week!

I have my flume #1 credit!!!

I agree, the upcharges are a bummer, I'd rather they up the ride pass a few dollars. But, it's working for them so whatdaya do. The rides appeared to be on excellent condition. The park owner clearly has focused on a clean, safe, and fun environment which is highly respctable.

Thanks for the Legoland update Big Mike. Don't let that snub get you down! I too am disappointed with the performance of my videos despite thinking they were darn good. Your Road Show was put together well and had a nice flow, so I dunno, maybe peoples attention spans are too short these days. Personally I'm about ready to invest in a wireless mic, my latest video report had so much wind you couldn't here me talk so I eliminated all background noise and my boring narration. Anyway, I'm all for the VTR's, it gives me a chance to showcase my skills, or lack thereof and gives people a chance to see what parks look like in action! See you in a week!

^ YES!! I have video of it, but it didn't make the cut Not too many people riding it, but it was fun!

Greetings fellow TPR members and welcome to another installment to my 2011 trip diary. Having been thru Amarillo, Texas on more than one occasion, I never stopped to visit Wonderland. So, this past weekend (4.9.11) I made the trek once again from Tulsa to Amarillo for the sole purpose of visiting the park. Nestled inside Thompson Memorial Park and near the Amarillo Zoo, Wonderland Park is in the home town of the FREE 72oz Steak!, Amarillo, Texas. After doing some research on this park several years ago, I learned that it had ties to what was my local park, Bell's, as well as Joyland in Kansas. I will share some of those geeky facts that I came across below. Wonderland sports some classic kiddie and adult rides along with a few modern rides. Wonderland would surely be KT approved with their frog hopper, and they are 100% Chadster approved with their Himalaya. Their classic wild mouse, Cyclone, is 100% hand operated and the Texas Tornado is a classic in and of itself. The park also features a hand built dark ride, a drop tower, and the prototype Shoot the Chute. If you're traveling down I-40 going cross country or making your way to Six Flags, don't forget about Wonderland, a park that I can say is one of my top 3 underrated parks in the U.S. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the video and pics! Welcome to Wonderland, where you can find something for everyone. Even Tiger Woods would like Wonderland. Perhaps he could finish under par. Toot Toot, oh wait, maybe it's choo choo, or chuga chuga chuga chuga, oh heck, it's the parks train, people!! And you know those annoying crossing bars at other parks? You won't find them here, they just slowly move the train out on the walkway, they figure eventually you'll get out of the way, if you were smart anyway Here is the midway from the south entry (at least I think it was the south entry, I'm directionally challenged at times) Did you know Wonderland opened originally as Kiddie Land in 1951? Well, it did. So here we come to the Wonderwheel. Looking good actually. Bumpity Bump Bump. Ok, so you're asking, when did the park become Wonderland? Well, reports are about 1960ish when Mr. Roads began adding adult rides. Sweet looking bumpity bump bump cars Here's the parks short log ride, but it wasn't open quiet yet. A few rides were being a little cranky, but maintenance was quick to get them sorted out and up and running. Log ride station. We will come back in a bit when it's open. So off to a dark ride that brings back tons of memories. Fantastic Journey was hand built and designed by the park owner. Basically it's a Wacky Shack knock off. But you know what, it's way cool inside. He built the rotating drum by hand and coloborated with Bob Bell of Bell's Amusement park on several features. For instance, the water fall at the end of the ride (not operable on my visit) was taken from Bells. The bus and air horn was original to Fantastic Journey and was later used in Phantasmagoria at Bell's. The vehicles for the ride were made by Bob Bell. As in most Wacky Shacks and knock off shacks, the dip from the second floor was removed due to ride vehicles getting stuck as a result of objects finding their way onto the track. These rides are also subject to people getting out and wandering around. Bells had people who were lookouts, but Mr. Roads charged extra for the ride, which turned out to be a good idea as it kept the vandalizm down. The ride remains an upcharge at $1.50 per ride. So yeah, now you can see why this ride brings back memories. Some similiar tricks, but serverl different ones, such as a guy getting buzzed in an electric chair. Sweet. So after my dark ride adventure, I went to ride "Big Coaster" the first of four coasters that the park has. This ride does not have a modern drive system in the station. Ride ops push the train from unload to load, and then out of the station. The ride op uses a foot lever to release the holding break. From there, we found this creature. He's part of the parks logo. Notice that he is sitting on a mushroom, which is food, and food equates to...well you know Nice and colorful tilt-a-whirl Now we play a little game called WTF is it? So, WTF is it? It kinda looks like a craftsman drill with one of those mother's car wax wheel cleaner attachments on the end. Or part of a claw game But seriously, WTF is it? The park calls it the Texas Intamidator, but it doesn't look like it's made by Intamin. So, like with food, if I don't know WTF it is, I stay away. Next I headed to the back of the park and found the Himalaya. The Himalaya just happens to be the most awesome flat ride ever built. Fact. They were not running this one backwards But, they were varrying the speed so they get bonus points. Next door is the prototype Shoot the Chute which is code for it gets you soaking wet, which is code for Dan to stay far far away. Don't believe me, check out my video above They also have these two dingy rides. Next we will check out the West End, aka, the rear end of the park. Here they have three rides, out of which I will show you two. Want to see the third? Sure you do, it's in the video So here is Mr. Drop Tower. He's an unpcharge. Hmm...another similarity to their partner parks. A Partner park is defined as group of small park owners who pool their knoweledge and abilites to help each other out without any investment or other interest in each others parks. They were only running one car today, which, is all they needed. How about some Hornet action? Maintenance was lubing her up. Want to see it in action? Yes you say? Well, I'll give you a guess where you can. Random picture. So after I had my share of fun in the rear, I moved back towards the front to check out Cyclone, a 1968 wild mouse. My car had a fully adjustable butt pad. No lapbars, no seat belts, sit in and hold on. It really wasn't a bad ride, and guess what, ZERO modern day improvements. This ride is 100% controlled by hand. Hand braking, hand dispatching, all with giant levers by one single op. Gotta respect the op to be on his game. The timing is critical and the op has to stay sharp and know what's going on all the time. No sleeping here. Nice ride. So the Big Splash Log Ride was running So, I thought I'd get the traditional shot of the log splashing coming down the chute. So here we go, wait for it wait for it.... wait for it some more.... Big Splash! Well... not so much. This thing travels aways before it comes off the track and into the water. First one I've seen like it. So time to go check out Texas Tornado, but first, a stop by the old school scrambler. So, here we are. Note the hours, opens at 2pm Sat/Sun, and 7:30p all other days. Noted. Loopy Double Loopy! This was a good ride, espically for it's time period. Not a lot of air, but the second loop into the tunnel is awesome. It's also an upcharge at $3 per ride. Sky ride, duh. On the way out I stopped by to check out the gay pride ride. With cloudy bottom. Runs a great ride program, it's also a trailer model, for those that want to know. Finally we walk by some horses running in circles. Getty up so yeah, there you have horses running in circles. So there you have it. Wonderland is a great little park offering something for everyone. Again, I think it's a much underrated park, and although it doesn't have a stealthy B&M or 400ft tall Intamin, it's still a very fun place. Food and beverage is affordable. Picnic tables are abundant just outside the park gates for those who like to go that route. Plan to spend about 4 hours, but you could spend longer depending on your re-ride wants. Thanks Wonderland for a most excellent time!

The owner of In-N-Out told me in September of 2010 the plan was to open them in June. Hope they open sooner!

Museum quality, fantastic job!

The speed limit signs along that stretch of road are merely a suggestion. Drive the speed limit, and you'll either get the finger or run over, most of the time, both.

That's one of TPR's deepest darkest secrets that's only known by those who attend Serioulsy, check out some of the TR's from ECB and WCB, they will give you at least some of the details

^ There is always hope that they will get it going, and I'm sure the park owner is still optimistic, but after talking with employees, the ground does seem to be the major issue. I remember at one time I read that placement was the problem, but they seem to have got that figured out. If what I was told is correct about the need for the footers to be dug 35 feet into the earth, to me it just doesn't seem feasible given the cost to do so. That being said, with the ride being listed for sale, you'd think another small park would want it. It's certainly much better than a boomerang! Who knows, if another park snatches it up, maybe that would free up cash for something along the lines of a unicoaster, built just up the road even. That would surely be a nice addition to the park.

It's amazing at what they can do with wraps these days. I was able to watch several demo's at SEMA this year from design to printing to installation. A very cool product and a very cost effective alternative to paint. With this, parks could in theory change the theme on rides or ride vehicles more frequently.

Who's going for opening weekend? I'll be there Saturday evening and Sunday morning/afternoon.

Thanks. To my knowledge, they only have the shuttle coaster in storage.

Horray! Knocked another one off the list!! Since I screwed up and didn't get a shot of the train at Frontier City last year, I'll make my way that direction on my way back from Texas in a few weeks and knock that one off too!

^ It has a seat belt that comes below your chest. I'll ignore the single comment