bgwfreak Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Well I've been on a quest to try and hit all the parks that are still open in both Carolinas. I live in Charlotte, so I'm kind of in the middle of both states so it makes it nice getting around. Today I decided to hit Pedroland Park which is part of the super fabulous "South of the Border". What is South of the Border you ask? It's basically a tourist trap to get anyone traveling along I-95 at the North/South Carolina state lines to stop and spend their money that really should be spent when they get to Disney. But more on that later... I'll be adding more pics later as well. Well the look on Pedro's face tells it all. Yeah Pedro I feel ya. I'm sad and shocked as well. On a serious note I really don't see why the park doesn't either A) Fix the ride and run it. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it! B) Sell it! What? No...another SBNO ride? Really this is getting quite shocking. Oh cool! There's a coaster in this park. Surely there's someone over there. Anyone? Hello? *crickets* They have a golf course. Come to think of it. Have you seen anyone in this place? Hello? Ok, they have bumper cars. Cool. Uh wait...is electrical tape considered a safe way to repair a restraint? I am QUADZILLA! I must eat your young! I am QUADZILLA!!! Actually this is ANOTHER SBNO ride. Surprised? Oh there's much more to come. Hey cool. A mini-himalaya. Uh... no I'm not even going to attempt this ride. Oh good! It's a Ferris wheel. Those are reliable and fun...right. About two turns in it stops, lurches, and sways... SWAYS!!!! The whole structure moved. The guy then tells me to get off that it doesn't seem safe! Parking lot: The train ride! Poor thing, doesn't look like it's been ridden in years. Pedroland Park! Awesome. They've got like 10 rides! Sombrero doesn't look like it's been run in at least 5 years. This doesn't look promising for this park. Surely it can't get worse? Oh my. This ride doesn't look very good. Sombrero Tower we see you peaking over at us. Ok so it's time to get to the reason I came here... Pedroland Park. Hmmm...the sign looks nice. Must be a nice flat ride right? Big South of the Border man says "Yo come and spend your money here! Who needs Disney!" So yeah I head back downstairs. Here's the lovely elevator that takes you up (unless it gets stuck, or they have to call an emergency evacuation, or you fall out of the car, or...) It's not bad enough that they put 5,000,000 of those stupid signs between New York and South Carolina, no... they have to remind you that you missed the exit! Like you could miss it with signs every five feet! More crappy buildings...oh and I see Pedro Land! It must be really good. There's noone over there. Oh I see. There's another view. Wait... it's just crappy buildings trying to sell me crap. Ahhh... we arrived safely to the top. And we see the view is... I-95! What the!?! I paid $1 for this? Notice this view is THROUGH THE BARS! Take that Robb and your THROUGH THE WATER shots! Oh wait...before we get on board. What does this sign say? What! is this thing safe? Now I'm nervous, am I going to be on the 10 o'clock news? What if I'm NOT at floor level? Well we have arrived at South of the Border. First stop would be the Sombrero Tower (observation tower). Now what would this 200 ft tall tower show you? Could it be a great view of a modern city? A beautiful view of the coast? Hmmm... what could it b Anybody from the Carolinas will recognize these signs. They are EVERYWHERE along I-95 and down around the coast. See what that sign says...Pedro Land "10 great rides!" Hmmm... we'll see. What is that off in the distance? Looks like a huge sombrero! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpengeist04 Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Ah, South of the Border. You just made my night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I actually have two South of the Border coffee mugs (cost me two bucks on sale) and an official Pedro kitchen magnet. Probably their biggest sale of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Sabo Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Nice photos (damn that brings back memories when driving from VA-to FL). Some of those rides look like they were in fairly good condition. Hmmm I remember those fireworks stores all over the area there too. Replying to your post on the worst park? Well, hard to say...but, AT least the employee was "Standing" unlike some other park(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted July 23, 2006 Author Share Posted July 23, 2006 So remember the Ferris wheel? Yeah... so the start of the next set of pics will give you an idea of what it was like to see your life flash before your eyes while on a Ferris wheel! I am not kidding when the guy actually said "I don't think they've run this in a while. You'd better get off. It acts like it's going to get stuck." What! I'm going to be on the 10 o'clock news for being stuck on this thing! Thanks! The Ferris wheel literally stops at the top, lurches forward a bit, then the whole structure SWAYS. More pics to come!!! Oh it's good to see they have a convention center...uh...hello? Anyone here? What does that...No! Are they serious? LMAO!!! Funniest water tower ever! Ok ok. Finally they have a decent ride. This simulator was working! It has a coaster sim, but it's set on very MILD! Back at the golf course...yeah don't play in the H20 because there's probably malaria filled mosquitoes! I take another pic as the ride gets ready to fall apart. What? Is that a person on the golf course? Couldn't be. Here's the view as I'm about to plummet to my death. Here's the guy that about killed me. Do not rock the seats. Unless of course the ride is rocking itself because it's about to fall apart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Well it is good that they have at least a couple of things running when you were there. We were there about a month ago and not a ride was open. Honestly the employees were very scary so we did not linger around the park area long. You can find my Photo TR here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25853&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 Here is a link for the video: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27138 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryH Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 So which is worse: Fantazyland or Pedroland Park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneyfan1313 Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I miss South of the Border when it was ... umm.. "decent". I remember going in the early 90's when it was pretty hopping, had cool indoor mini golf and lots of people in the stores. It was still sketchy but it just had a "bad flea market feel" not a "I'm gonna get killed" feel. I think we actually stayed there once too... early 90's I believe. I remember the cool indoor pool in the dome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Is the simulator "Pedro's Reality Ride"? I can only guess what that would be about--perhaps a mad dash to escape immigration authorities? Or perhaps just a simulation of Pedro mowing his lawn in suburban Columbia, S.C.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hercules Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 This place isn't that bad. It call it character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted July 23, 2006 Author Share Posted July 23, 2006 ^ Actually it's a coaster sim. Can you believe it? Does that count as a coaster credit Jeff Johnson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apollo210 Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 While it makes Nara Dreamland look good and the worst park in the USA, but Fantazyland and Hili Fun City are worst. I hope I never go there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenpensacola Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I found those pictures to be depressing...in a funny sort of way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obeygiant Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Great TR...I have actually went to that park before..a long time ago. I guess everthing worked back then if I am still living today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamminJ Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 AHAHAHA... Great TR Wes, good to see that coaster hasn't moved an inch in 2 years.. I remember me and Jonathan asking various employees what the status of the coaster was, and the only answer we ever got was "We don't run that anymore" which more or less translates to "We don't have the funding and/or intelligence to fix it." 2004: 2006: I wouldn't call it the worst park in the world, but it does have a twisted sort of charm there, it was nice just walking around looking at all the crazy unusual stuff. Hope I can pay another visit this year on the way to Myrtle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvcoasterguy Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 ^ That's great! It's not like Zamperla Wild Mouse coasters are that hard to maintain, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster1 Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 ^ Sadly it's an L&T Systems, not zamperla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 AHAHAHA... Great TR Wes, good to see that coaster hasn't moved an inch in 2 years.. I remember me and Jonathan asking various employees what the status of the coaster was, and the only answer we ever got was "We don't run that anymore" which more or less translates to "We don't have the funding and/or intelligence to fix it." 2004: 2006: I wouldn't call it the worst park in the world, but it does have a twisted sort of charm there, it was nice just walking around looking at all the crazy unusual stuff. Hope I can pay another visit this year on the way to Myrtle. Hey, someone stole the fire extinguisher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 ^After looking over this dump, I imagine they had use for the extinguisher elsewhere in the facility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted July 23, 2006 Author Share Posted July 23, 2006 ^ THAT's why they can't run it! They had the fire extenguiser stolen! Ok here's another batch of pics. Funny how the camera seems to make things look better than they were in person. More fun up ahead. Oh and El Toro too! And I'll leave you with this final shot. I'll let Jay have the last word on this one . El Toro and his...I'm not going to say it...use your imagination. El Toro seems very angry. No!!! For the love of all things sacred. No!!! Nice. It's that cool Star Wars game... Another??? Ok let's play a video game. Ok this is getting sad. Out of order? I would have never guessed. Nice to see they clean up the place too. So let's check out the arcade. Cool! Bowling. Uh wait... Oh very funny. Stupid elephant. I see that they have the "El Toro Arcade". Sorry Elissa, no Intamin prefabs here. Psst! You! With the camera. Come over here! We've got El Toro at SOB! Sombrero tower THROUGH THE TREES. Ha ha! Take that Robb. Would you trust this place enough to put your children on this thing? What? Another closed attraction? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Hey, it's 95 degrees people. It's not Winter! Ohhh aren't we clever. The "Golf" of Mexico. Hey I wonder what this Concrete Bazaar could be? Hey a steak house. uh...do you think I'm going to eat here? That would be a NO. What if there IS light at the end of the tunnel? (Sorry Dollywood) Gahhh! More of those stupid signs! My eyes! It burns! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted July 23, 2006 Author Share Posted July 23, 2006 In closing this really is the worst park I think I've ever been to. The whole South of the Border experience is just rediculous. The only positive thing I can say is that they had the air conditioning working overtime in all the buildings I went in. Which was nice since it was 95 degrees outside! Pedroland Park probably isn't the worst park out there (and that's the scary part). They have only 7 rides I think (not 10 like the sign said) and only 3 or 4 seems to be in working condition. But half of those I didn't actually see work!!! From what I've heard the original owner passed away about 4 years ago and his daughter took over and she really doesn't give a crap about the place. Sad very sad. I doubt we'll ever see anything positive happen to the little park. Too bad, it could be a nice stop off for traverlers on their way to or from the Carolinas. That's all for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I've driven by this place more times than I can even remember, yet I've always resisted stopping long enough to take that many pics. Someone mentioned earlier about this place in the early 90's and how it wasn't "too bad." I can remember that also. The indoor pool and mini golf actually weren't all that bad....at a certain point in time, of course. Those days have passed us by, though. The place still has that weird sort of "Americana road trip/ strange side of the road point of interest" feel to it, which is sort of cool and funny at the same time. Much like the world's largest ball of string, or the Cadillac Ranch in Texas. You can't help but wanna stop and laugh at the place. And by the way, am I the only one in here who actually has that Pedro's Wild Mouse credit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted July 23, 2006 Author Share Posted July 23, 2006 ^ I was thinking yesterday that the place reminded me so much of Radiator Springs in the movie Cars. Maybe we should send Owen Wilson down there. lol You might be one of the only people to actually get that credit. lol It would be neat if Hard Rock bought the coaster, but how many Latino rock stars are there. I guess they could always change the trains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugged One Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I know that Derek has that Wild Mouse credit. He likes to rub to rub it in my face whenever he gets the chance. I lived 30 minutes away down 95 for 6 1/2 years and never once stoopped at South of the Border. We just never had the desire to do it even though we passed it constantly on the way up North. Now if they had actually run the coaster, that would have another story. Unfortuantely we didn't start riding until 2002 and the thing was allready SBNO by then. Thanks for the PTR. It really makes me glad that we never stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamminJ Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 And I'll leave you with this final shot. I can't think of anything funny to say about a big, red, hotdog. What you didn't ride it? When in Rome... (or South Carolina...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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