Shavethewhales

^Meh, personally I hate speed slides. All the ride consists of is a constant hard spray in the face and a massive wedgie. The old ones were all right due to the humps which canceled out most of the spraying. These just look painful to me. At least the racing slides will be like the old ones.

Eh, well almost none of the rides are portable, or at least look portable. Some of the rides like the fireball do indeed stand out as carnivalish-looking, but that doesn't mean the park needs more rides like them. Really, one of the biggest 'problems' I have with this ride is that it is a complete fair ride - almost no practical park operates one, or would consider one. That and the fact that it shows a fair amount of rust. I keep asking, why? Why did they feel the need to buy this cheap fair ride when they could have saved the funds for something better or a more practical park application. Really, in the end it doesn't matter. All this is is a simple filler ride, I just had my hopes to high. I still would have rather them saved the space and money for something better though.

^mmmm, no. At least not a crappy fair. The park is supposed to be a celebration of the 60's, not a carnival. Meh, I'm still hoping for it to be Hershenicized.

^I'm hoping, but they'll have to get to work quickly -and they haven't even picked out a new location yet as far as I know. We'll see how fast they move after they get moved out.

^Eh, all the other rides are staying, so I don't see why this one wouldn't. Hmm, it's not listed on the site anymore though, so maybe they got fed up with the maintenance issues? They better get something good to replace it, if another up-charge ride goes in I'll go nuts.

Aw, what? I knew it had been shut down for ages, but I never imagined they would actually take it out. Let's hope it's not permanent, it looked really fun.

Erg, I was hoping they would at least get a semi-attractive lighting/themeing package, this looks like the cheapest, most basic model they could get - it even looks like it is trailer-mounted! Gosh... seriously, this is a Hershend park, not a fun fair. I would much rather them save up their funds than go off buying cheap fair rides like this.

Yes. It looks far better than I had ever imagined. In fact, it doesn't even look new, it looks like it has always been a part of SDC. Props to them for that. I can't tell you how bad I'm itching to ride. Only one question though, are the colors on the swing final? You'd think they'd pick something less faded, unless that's only primer. Whoah, it sounds like the train robbery is on again in the video, are they still doing that in the same place?

Dude, wow... Gold Reef City looks so much better than I had ever imagined, it looks like the DW of Africa.

Awesome photos, thanks. Yeah, it's depressing to look at the park be ripped apart, but think of how great Bell's 2.0 will be. The old Bell's was nice, but Zingo was really the only special part and many of the rides needed severe re-hab. This will give them the chance to make-over the park like they had planned, only on a much grander scale.

Ah, I'm sorry for double posting, but I have some fantastic news.' According to the folks at http://secretfunspot.blogspot.com/2007/02/secrets-of-phantasmagoria.html Bell's has made official their intentions to move the entire park (every single ride, more or less), to a new, still undetermined location. Also included in the transition, at least 7 new rides and Phantasmagoria 2.0 will be built. Oh man.... Wow, this is exactly the news I wanted. We won't see much till next winter, and the park won't open till 2008 at the earliest, but still... wow, am I happy.

^Eh, right... Anyway, news on the park: they have been allowed an extension, if not for as long as they had hoped. They now have until something like the 25th of July (I'm not exactly sure) to be moved out, and of course, anything left behind on that date will become property of the fair. Still though, this will probably give them enough time to move out Zingo and the log flume, and maybe even the Chili Peppers. Here's hoping they leave a bunch of crap for the fair to clean up! I still haven't heard anything about the new location, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. Robbie has been working 100+ hour weeks lately to move the park out. He might wait till the park is moved out to make a decision, but I kinda hope he does sooner. Anyone have any newer pics? I really want to head down there soon, but I don't know if I'll be able. Edit: I thought this was interesting - from Urban Tulsa Weekly's interview with Robbie Bell : "We included a letter of intention [with the lease renewal] from a lending institution for a new ride with a price tag of between $700,000 and $750,000. The price isn't finalized because my father and I have to travel to the manufacturer and decide on lighting and accessories. If I had a contract, the ride would be open this spring." Sigh... Bell's had big plans even in it's old location. Oh well, that means they can use that money to make their new location bigger and better I guess.

Awesome, it's bigger and better than I imagined. How long before they start soft-opening it?

There's a new video from the park's general manager, Brad Thomas, on the SDC website - http://www.bransonsilverdollarcity.com/rides-attractions/ride_detail.aspx?AttractionID=862 I'm still somewhat clueless as to what all will be going in to the new area besides the screamin' swing and the Hi-lo Silos. I know there will be a water balloon fight area, some kind of checkers deal, and something called the Pig Pen Race, which could be those awesome rocking pigs from the artwork. Still, it seems that every time they update, something has been thrown out and something else has been added, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Ah, wow, thanks for the pictures. I don't think I ever really appreciated how good Zingo looked before I heard that it might be demolished. Man am I glad it's going to survive.

Eh, no, not really. AlpenDenis said the park looked ghetto and random, but I'm saying that you should at least wait until you see some pictures that are actually from inside the park before you decide that it is 'ghetto and random'. That said, from everything else I've seen (including close up photos), I don't think the place would be extremely exciting to visit, but it would be fun enough to visit if I were closer. Yeah, just give it a chance to be built before you say it's crap, thats all. It won't be a huge park, but it looks fun enough.

Pfft, you haven't hardly seen it yet. Those pictures were all from way outside the park and don't show a fraction of what it has to offer, so don't make your judgments yet. As for me, it doesn't look like a big thrill to visit, but I would if I lived closer.

Yeah, last I heard, that was the best bet so far, but we'll probably have to wait till they get down moving things out of the old location before we hear much about the new one. Ah, no, that was the larger sky ride that Bell's sold to the fair ground. Bell's actually owned two sky rides: one cut through the centre of the park and the other glided down the fair midway. The latter was much larger and only operated during the fair. It was the sky ride sold for $600,000 to the fair recently.

Here's a few more photos. Many of these are from later in the season after Bell's was able to clean up a bit more. And finally, I give you: The Future of Bell's! Are you happy, taxpayers? It's a dark picture, but you can see the massive flag Bell's flew every so often on their massive flag pole. The Himalaya always provided long, forceful rides. This ride replaced the vintage ferris wheel that was destroyed by the huge storm this year. The fair side got a bit better later in the year, but the peculiar signage that replaced Phantasmagoria's massive facade still kinda made the area lose some of it's old feel. That massive inflatable beer bottle in the background was only there for the fair. Although, it would make an interesting theming element if they kept it up year-round. Mmmmmmmmm...

I've posted even more photos for those of you who never got to see the place - http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33629 Err, I really want to get out there to take some last shots before its all gone, but its a bit far... can anyone else?

With Bell's being demolished as we speak, many will never be able to see the beauty the park displayed in it's old location. Here are some photos I took last summer for those who never made the trip. Keep in mind many of these photos were taken only a little while after the massive storm, so the park wasn't at it's peak; it was still fabulous though... This is only a small collection of what I have, if you are interested in seeing more, I have loads more photos on my site - http://www.superstevessupersite.com/park_galleries/bells/bellsindex.php One last shot. This is what could have been... no, not 'field: the ride', this was where that new GG was going to be. No growth potential my ass... Zingo was able to pull off these curves almost painlessly (most of the time). Notice how Zingo dives under a gift shop mid-course. Funny how Bell's was deemed unprofitable, yet they were still able to add rides and had so many more new attractions lined up. This was new in 2004. Here's the 'fair' side again. The eastern end of the park was quite a bit more spaced out and wooded than the fair side. Gotta love the old fashioned squeeze breaks on Zingo, hope they still have these on the re-build. These were loads of fun; they got you wetter than almost any other water ride I've been on. Yeah, at this point they still had Phantasmagoria's facade and a few canopies to replace still. It didn't usually look like this. Yup, bell's did have a small collection of flats clustered on one end. Most of them were pretty fun. Ah, I took so many great shots from the skyride... I can't say these hills were loaded with air, but they did have some. Besides, the ride was just fun the ride regardless. Obligatory splash-down shot. The log flume was a load of fun as well. There really weren't very many places in the park where Zingo wasn't visible. Yup, Zingo... it completely reigned over the park and always managed to look spectacular, no matter what the condition of the park.

Meh, I've never been too impressed with speed towers, they don't offer to much on the thrill side and they are very uncomfortable. They're like the old rusty Arrow loopers of water parks. As for the other slides, meh... looks like they'll spray a lot of water into the face. I would have been happier if they had just put in a large multiple slide tower, they kinda need one anyway, but ah well...

^I posted some a while back > http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29708&highlight= I have more of Zingo and the rest of the park on my site if it ever gets back up. They're saving the log flume? I was under the impression that everything besides Zingo and the movable rides were toast. Anyone have any more info on what all is moving?

^Eh, I doubt it, this was more of SDC's answer to the Timber Tower than anything. As it is right now you should be looking at DW to see what SDC will get in the future rather than vise versa.

Ah man, you have no idea how happy I am at hearing this. Zingo always has been one of my favorite wooden coasters, and was my first ever major coaster. It's great, not only is it very smooth for it's age and situation, but also it does indeed have some air and retains that special classic woodie feel and just the right amount of roughness. It's extremely good-looking as well. This news implies not only that Zingo will live on, but also shows that they do have an interest at re-building the park. If they didn't, they wouldn't bother taking down Zingo for a future re-build. It is kinda sad though, I've been on 're-built' woodies before and they are usually only a shadow of their former selves... but maybe this will be another Phoenix.