chadster Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 So today I bring you a bit of a surprise, Kiddie Park in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Kiddie Park has been around since 1947 and is located inside Johnstone Park. Bartlesville is home to Conoco Phillips and the Frank Phillips Home. The town is also home to the Frank Loyd Wright designed Price Tower located in downtown Bartlesville. Parking for Kiddie Park is available along the roadside or anywhere you can find a spot. The park is geared toward, you guessed it, kiddies with a nice collection of old school rides with some dating back to the parks inception. Rides tickets are only .25 each with most rides requiring two tickets. Park admission is free. The park's coaster, Little Fire Ball, required two tickets for three laps. I highly doubt you will find a cheaper credit out there other than maybe free. On this Saturday, the 21st of May 2011, the park was packed with a line of 50+ people waiting to buy tickets. With mom being a school teacher, she asked to go along to see the park. Her last visit was many many years ago and she swears I rode the coaster, but I didn't remember it. So, for good measure, I had to travel back to ride it. Mom became my ride ticket flash pass standing in line about 15 minutes to purchase the two ride tickets while I took the photos below. Overall this a a great small community park thats low stress and easy going. All of the rides are sponsored by local business. The park itself is operated by the Bartlesvillle Playground Association and hires several local youths to operate the rides. Some rides had four ride operators! So if you are in the area, stop by, grab a cheap snack and a cheap credit! Welcome to Kiddie Park! Where "the" last train ride is free! The water got THIS high. Park Rules One of the directional signs. and the other one. We will start off over here with this contraption. And a close up of the ride vehicle. Swing batter batter, swing. This was an odd setup. Ride op sets a timer, turns on the power, then presses a green button, releases the brake, then gives the ship a swing to get it started. The kicker was he couldn't take his finger off that green button! Now this is old school. I'm talking vintage. Speed boats. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Nope, a real turtle ride! This is where you buy your tickets and junk food. They also had a candy store located in the train station. They also had some old school planes But they were not going to fly today. Air traffic control must have been asleep A caged spinning ride thingy. Even the older kids were riding it. The line for tickets. Swings, with ride op standing in the middle! Mini Bumper Cars! Which was sponsored by a good doc. Something tells me there will be no NASA staged lunar landings today. A brick. I thought this painting thingy was cool. It showed off the town and what it's all about. A Jeff Johnson Credit? Ferris Wheel Wooden horses that go in circles. Creepy character. Ok, so here it is, the original ride sign. Yes, I know, it says Little Dipper. It's real name apparently is Fire Ball, because that's what's written on the train. The course. The Lift. The Train. The People. The Station. Notice the wood brakes. They were squeeze brakes. The Train in Station The on ride photo Yes, I took the kiddie coaster in the rear. A fellow enthusiast was proud of me for whoring it out in the rear. The on ride photo. The business end. Nerd Shot Board here for the last ride of the night. Train parks here. The Train, duh! The Train Cars, duh! Wooden horses running in circles at night. So, you didn't believe me that this park was packed, well, here is some proof! So there you have it, a visit to a real Kiddie Park! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Great to see how Kiddie Park is doing these days. Even though I've lived in Bartlesville for 20 years, I haven't been by there in forever. It looks pretty much the same as it did when I went there as a tyke with a couple of small additions. They've done a tremendous job keeping the place in good shape. The fact that a little park like this can get such huge crowds in a town like Bartlesville is proof that there is a real demand for quality community-sized parks like this. I keep saying more cities should get their own kiddie parks. By the way, the coaster has always been called the Little Dipper. That train is new and was custom built for free by a local collision repair company in town. I believe they're calling the train itself 'Little Fire Ball' and the coaster is still Little Dipper, from what I can tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 ^ Fantastic information! Thanks! And glad you liked seeing the park again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 So what many people do not know is that Oklahoma is the unofficial Festival and Carnevil capital of America. We hold strawberry festivals, corn festivals, tubuli festivals, carnevils just for the heck of it, and one I was unaware of until just a few weeks ago, the Italian Festival located held at the county fairgrounds in McAlester and Held on May 21 and 22. So, just where is McAlester you ask? Well, its about 90 miles South of Tulsa off of Interstate 75 and is home of the maximum security Oklahoma State Penitentiary and the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. Yes, I know, very exciting. The nearby town of Krebs, Ok it known as Oklahoma's Little Italy, hence the reason I am in town, for the annual Italian Festival that hosts a small midway, an Italian dinner, and a place to buy crap. So, here we go. I'll start off with the midway. Tickets were $1 each with most rides in the 4 ticket range. I will say, this midway was the flagship for backyard attractions. They had several kiddie rides. This thing, still not sure what it was. A carousel I'm not lying folks, backyard attractions here. Swing and a Scrambla And of course, a Credz! For those that don't know, I spotted this traveling coaster, literally traveling down the highway coming back from NTAG bash and snapped a picture for my FB. Credit Stalking? You bet! So here it is traveling up hwy 69, yes, 69. Notice the trailer from the pic above? As soon as I saw it, I had to text the person whom called me a credit stalker to tell her of my good fortune! Sadly tho, I was unable to ride, and felt just a tad creepy, and, quite honestly scared to ask a bunch of rednecks if I could ride with their 3 year old. So taking the walk of shame, and very much disappointing my fellow creho, I held my head low and walked towards the food. WTF? You can't have an Italian Festival without the Gelato! or BBQ? hmmm, Italian BBQ, no thanks. I will go here, where you pay $10 for a huge portion sausage and balls complete with a drink. The sauce was some of the best I've had, the sausage was bland, but the balls were good! The penne pasta with olive oil, garlic, and olives, which was served warm, is something I could eat all the time! Behind the tent, you could bounce around. Ride ponies Or play some paint ball Finally, being a small town, they also include a place to buy crap, but wait a minute, is that what I think it is? NOOOOOO!!! ACE's have infiltrated the Italian Festival!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!! Anyway, there you have it, one of many small town Oklahoma Carnevil/Festivals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 So it was off to worlds of fun for opening night of Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights (June 3, 2011). Three rides were down today, two of which have been down since opening weekend. The Skyliner and Thunderhawk. The Zulu was also down for what appeared a catastrophic failure in the lifting area. From last visit, the park has done a good job of getting things back to normal after the winter storms, re-sealing the asphalt and cleaning up the crumbling bits, and have installed a number of new plants and shrubs. Patriot by far had the best ride crew with the train slowing to a crawl many times on the lift waiting for the one on course to clear the brake run. Prowler was down for a good bit, but once up, had minimal lines. The Prowler crew was quite friendly as were the F&B staff. Breaking this down in to multiple 10 picture segments to try and cut down on load time. Welcome to World Of Trashcan. Whoa. Wait a minute. Only ONE trashcan within eye site? Somethings not right. Ahhh, that's better Getting their landscaping in place for the season. So why not hit up one of their star attractions. They did an absolute wonderful job on the restoration. Nighttime. Sorry ACEr's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 Part II Patriot doing it's thing. Best ride crew of the park on June 3rd Still here. Still selling like mad. Lets see, over to Timberwolf. There's one, one train. Two, two trains! Me after taking it in the rear. OUCH! (Actually, it's not THAT bad) What do we have here. Well, it's a gondola. For Thunderhawk. And it's been moved since last visit. The gondola is supposed to go up there. They look like they are doing a major rehab on the ride. The back plates are off the seats, all the cabling and whatnot is exposed, but only visible from Timber Wolf. For you ride plate people. And for you control panel nerds. With Thunderhawk down, this area of the park is dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 (edited) Part III It's 95 and about 100% humidity. Need to cool off? Go to the arcade. Let's go to Plant Snoopy and snoop around. LOOOOOK!!!! Snoopy has customized trashcans!! Shopping. They still have one ride left to get going. Lots of management staff in the Snoopy area today. Working on some wheels or something. And here is the outside of the ride station. There were still about three or four cars off track. The 500 Balloons Edited June 5, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 (edited) Part IV They done a really nice job on this area of the park. A much needed addition for sure. I just wonder when they will re-do the worm and motorcycle spinny something another ride by the worm. And finally before we move on, how about some dog food bowls. Bye Snoopy! Time to travel the Nile. The giant scree is gone giving one better angles of which to take pictures of Mamba. However, they have poured a fresh concrete pad making me think they are putting in a stage of some sorts. Personally, I wished they just take all of this out and put in a Screamin Swing Time for the Nile. Edited June 5, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 (edited) Part V (I think) Furious I wonder if these birds really were spotted along the Nile. Mamba, the one train wonder. While it was only a "station" wait, due to the 3:45 ride cycle, the 10 train wait = almost 40 minutes, this was Friday, June 3. On Saturday, the 4th, it opened with ONE train, CRAZY. The ride op's wanted two, but the mechanics only gave them one to start. I was told the third train should be on track within two weeks. Now, I have to give the crew credit. From the time the train parked, until dispatched, was less then 30 seconds. Just imagine the capacity this crew could pull with three trains! Closed. And this is why. So why not hit up PROWLER! I even saved a seat for a special coaster enthusiast! Compared to opening weekend, MUCH MUCH better, two trains, dispatched quickly, and the ride was moving swiftly, kicking some serious butt. boomathing So, I took the train ride, and found the missing kiddie ride. log ride. The sperm are still swimming. Prowler prowling Octopus pu...well you get it. oh why not another shot of Prowler. Le Taxi is taxi'ing Next up, Hot Summer Lights. Edited June 5, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Final Part. Sperm all lit up. you can coast your mellow's Good Night Worlds of Fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 So I'm sure you are asking yourself, what in the hell is Black Gold Days. As a matter of fact, that's probably why you clicked the link. Well, simply enough, Black Gold Days is a celebration of when oil was first discovered in Glenpool, Ok in 1905. It features music, crap booths, food, and carnevil rides! So, this evening (June 17, 2011) I took a stroll around the community park to check it out. Ride tickets were $1 each with each ride needing 3-4 tickets, or you could purchase a wristband for $20. The attractions and games were put on by Pride Amusements (yes, their logo is rainbow colored for those wanting to know) and all seemed to be in great shape with their lighting packages all working (hint hint Cedar Fair). So off we go to picture land... So this is supposed to be some oil derek pride thing this is where you can buy crap, or, get a consultation on plastic surgery. In case you are asking, yes, I was too chicken to get a picture. The band was warming up for tonights concert. They have food for all the ethnic crowds, like Taco Salad and Funnel Cakes. And INDIAN Tacos!!! And for the rednecks, turkey legs. After you are done there, you go here. And then you go buy more crap. After you've shot you wad on crap, it's time to come check out the rides. We'll start off on a nice casual ride on the carousel. After a nice calm, relaxing ride, we make our way to the AVALANCHE! wooooooooaaaa woooooooooaaaaa So after you've managed to get your stomach pissed off, you can go win a domo by banging it hard. or perhaps you need another casual ride in the spook house. before you pee your pants on the Power Surge. Overall the lighting and sound made the ride, I got on a lame seat, not much twisting going on. spinny more spinny so needing a break, you can come over here and win more crap. or maybe you need another calming ride, like this ferris wheel, seat belt free. oddly enough, it had the longest line of all of the rides combined. so let's quite screwing around here and zip it down some may prefer to zip it up others may be too drunk to know what the zipper is doing. so once our zipping has be done, we can spin some more. this had like a 35 second ride cycle. so, I DID NOT RIDE Finally, after we've zipped, surged, and banged, we sizzle on the sizzler. And being as it was still 95 outside, it was sizzling. So there you have it, a look at Black Gold Days in Glenpool, Ok. Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned ove the next two weeks, a slury of reports cometh, including my Adventures in Oregon and Washington with Laura. You won't want to miss it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gmaster562 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I read from the Speed: The Ride thread that your checking up on rim runner. I'm going on thursday/friday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 ^ I'll have pics posted later tonight/in the morning for all to enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) My latest adventure took me to the Circus Circus AdventureDome in Las Vegas on 6/24/11. Crowds were non existant, everything was walkon at 10pm. With a hotel discount coupon you could get a ride wristband for about $20. As many of you know, this park is good to kill an hour or two, beyond that, mucho boring. So no more rambling... Welcome to the Adventuredome Inside you find historic mountain ruins And an up and down sling shot. When I rode back in October, I was totally expecting to be hoisted to the top then dropped. WRONG! You're sprung wayyyy up to the top, then dropped. Next up is my new favorite flat ride type, the Mega Dick-O This Mega Dick-O has an insane and lenghy ride program Mega Dick-O doing it's thing Edited June 25, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) Yes, I know I only posted six pictures, trying to flip the page, so if you're stalking, do a brotha a solid and post your comments! Inverter I don't see too many of these anymore My fortune says I will win $$ at the Palms. Spongebob in 4D! The park's snack bar and soda pricing Edited June 25, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) moving on... They have tons of games to play walking around the circle, making my way to the coaster i find the bumper cars more games This is where I'm going. Edited June 25, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) time for some coaster so they have lots of arcade games here, I mean tons! a large portion of them were turned off or had out of order signs on them empty queue for canyon blaster train pulling into empy station, walkon except for the front row heading out for a run Noted! Edited June 25, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) more coaster... weeeeee for the lift chain nerds i love the blurred shots, that's why that's all you see storage Edited June 25, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) how about some chaos up goes Chaos um sir, the ride is running... dude, can't you tell the ride is in operation? soooo just what are you working on while the ride is running...with people on it. he had some sort of sensor he was playing with, but hold on, the ride is coming down! better duck! Edited June 25, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 Rim Runner rehab Rim Runner was drained with tools and hoses all over the place from the front from the exit side they were doing some painting along with other work and from the entrance you can win mini domo's in the crane game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) Last of the tour... themeing more coaster zooming by looks like he's still alive Himalaya! Miner Mike the course, height restricted of course this is where you watch the show, included in admission bye coaster! and we leave the dome with this shot of a cockless carousel. Edited June 25, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Visited Adventuredome last month - well Inverter was the best ride - but Canyon Blaster was my worst Arrow/Vekoma sit-down to date.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAL Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 ^I thought it was fine in March. Scratch that, it was better than fine. It was pretty good, with some intensity, a little air and minimal head banging. Rides can be so different from day to day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redmenace8 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Aw, I just checked out your visit to Glenpool, a familiar place to me. I know the speed trap entering the town coming up from Okmulgee on 75 (the Beeline,) the Sonic, and Quicktrip. Of course there just had to be Indian Tacos, it is Indian Country and Glenpool is in my Creek(Muskogee) Nation territory. A visit isn't complete without home made Fry Bread and a trip to the nearest Braums for a Cherry Limeade. I haven't been back in a while, since, ironically, a oil tank blew up when it was hit by lightning, the dark smoke made it look like a tornado in the pics I took of it. Oil is The big money maker. I am so glad you stopped by and hit up this particular small town festival. They are always such a unique mix of charm and crap. I really appreciate the pictures, not a bad carnival for such a small town. Hmm, I wonder if any of my relatives stopped by the festival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porsmond Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Whats Canyon Blaster like nowadays??I must admit although it was years ago when I went to Vegas, I thought Canyon Blaster was pretty good, and I really enjoyed it, remember riding it quite a lot of times as there was no queue for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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