Camden park photo trip report

So we decided to do a Mega coaster trip in the south and Pennsylvania last week. On our way down, we decided to hit up Camden park in West Virginia. This out of the way park is definitely unique.

 

The park consists of a classic wooden coaster, wooden kiddie coaster, log flume, and a classic dark ride. On top of that,the park also has a decent collection of flat rides. The park had a decent crowd on the Friday that we visited, and seemed to be doing well. The park has a classic whip ride that has to be the best I have been on. The one ride I did not see there was the hellcat. Not sure if it's gone, or we just missed it somehow.

 

The park is not very big, and only took us about 1.5 hours to get thru. The one thing that kind of made me look twice was the lack of fencing around the log flume ride. You could step right into the flume.

 

The wooden coasters were fun, and the dark ride was as well. I just love to little touches that a small park has over the large corporate parks and camden does not disappoint.

 

I would recommend checking out this fun little park on your way down south. Now onto the pictures.......

Here we are!

This is the main entrance.

This park has lots of classic rides.

The classic haunted house

It even has a coaster element to it. Does this count as a credit?

Snazzy cars

The ride has Universal studio quality props.

Rules

This is the parks main attraction.

The coaster has a weird layout with only a few big drops.

Classic rolling stock

Front of train

Looking from the station to the lift

It looks like they are taking good care of the coaster, as many parts looked like new.

I could stick my hand out and actually touch the track if I wanted

The sun did not want to let me get a good shot of the ride.

The coaster also sports a nice tunnel

Classic breaking system

Gotta love the engineering that went into it.

The park has several classic flat rides

This ride was the whip

classic everything about this ride

A peek over a fence reveals a octopus ride all covered up. Not sure if this is a new ride not set up yet, or an old ride.

I love the classic attractions this park has

My son loved this ride.

The little dipper is the parks kiddie coaster, and my sons very first rollercoaster ever

More classic controls

It was smooth as glass

Very well taken care of ride.

Now lets look at the log flume

Go ahead and jump right in.

Some more of the parks spinning rides.

The games midway

Skyride

This looked like the parks newest ride

Classic merry go round

The lay of the land

Not sure what used to be here.

The park has a mini golf course

And a swan boat ride also.

A few last looks at this classic local park.

 

what a lovely little park.

 

Big Dipper looks fun, even without any big drops.

 

looking at the pics TPR has on the Park Index, the empty pad used to be the Spider, I'd guess.

 

thanks for sharing.

Big dipper was fun!

The open space that was fenced off is where the Spider was. It had an accident where one of the "legs" broke, which is actually a reoccurring problem, so that's why you saw it covered up backstage somewhere. Shame, it was one of the best Spiders I ever rode. I assume the bumper cars are still gone? (they were located next to the Whip) They burnt down a few years ago.

 

The Hot Cat was a caterpillar with no canvas and a roof over it. There was also one an Eli 16 Wheel, but both of those were removed for the "Rattler"

 

 

Some pictures from 2008:

Hot Cat Building and wheel

Hot Cat

Spider

Dodgem to the right

In that last picture from the sky ride, the location where the bumper cars once stood now has a fence with the remains of the spider ride.

 

No bumper cars were at the park when we visited. The space between the roundup and rattler was just a vacant area that kinda looked out of place.

Why did they remove the hot cat ride and ferris wheel?

 

There are plenty of other places in the park to put a new ride.

The Camden Park Whip is one of the only two run at the proper speed to experience a real whip.

Where does the other whip reside?

Where does the other whip reside?

 

I would say Knoebels and/or Kennywood.

Where does the other whip reside?

 

Rye has (had?) an excellent Whip ride. Knoebels' whip actually stutters a little in the turns.

 

 

Now that's an impressive piece of jury rigging.

 

 

Where does the other whip reside?

 

Rye has (had?) an excellent Whip ride. Knoebels' whip actually stutters a little in the turns.

 

Dorney, perhaps?

The whips at Dorney, knobles, kennywood and Hershey don't have the same intensity as the Camden whip.

Where does the other whip reside?

 

Rye has (had?) an excellent Whip ride. Knoebels' whip actually stutters a little in the turns.

 

Thank's for the info.

 

This park is on our bucket list.

The whips at Dorney, knobles, kennywood and Hershey don't have the same intensity as the Camden whip.

 

I completely agree... Camden by far has the best Whip. It seems like the others just don't let them run at full speed, which Camden does, so that might have something to do with it.

I've ridden the Whip at Knoebels, Dorney and Hershey. They don't compare to the insanity that is the Whip at Rye. I'm assuming this is the other one that is run at the "optimum" intensity and speed . I've not been to Camden park, but I can say that the Whip at Rye Playland is psychotic.

Where does the other whip reside?

 

Rye has (had?) an excellent Whip ride. Knoebels' whip actually stutters a little in the turns.

 

Yes, Rye Playland has the other properly run Whip.

Of all places, I thought knobles whip would have been the best.

 

I forgot to mention that I scored a t shirt from Camden as well.

A little wrinkled after the long trip.

Where does the other whip reside?

 

Rye has (had?) an excellent Whip ride. Knoebels' whip actually stutters a little in the turns.

 

Yes, Rye Playland has the other properly run Whip.

 

I've also heard good things about the Lakeside Park Whip...how does that one compare?

Where does the other whip reside?

 

Rye has (had?) an excellent Whip ride. Knoebels' whip actually stutters a little in the turns.

 

Yes, Rye Playland has the other properly run Whip.

 

I've also heard good things about the Lakeside Park Whip...how does that one compare?

 

I haven't been to Lakkside yet, one of the few major US parks left for me to visit.

Lakeside?

Lakeside has a pretty good Whip

Is this the lakeside park in Colorado?

^ I think that's the one he's talking about.

 

Not sure why Camden has taken out so many rides. The other ride gone from my 2008 visit was a Chance Skydiver.

So they removed:

• Eli Ferris Wheel

• Bumper Cars (which were great) due to the fire

• Sky Diver

• Hot Cat

• Spider

• Kiddie jet ride (which was packed up on a trailer when I went in 2008)

 

And they added:

• Mini Golf in 2008

• Rocking Tug (Riverboat) (2010?)

• Rattler (2012?)

 

Rye is a great park. I went in 2003, the Derby Racer (like Cedar Downs) was insane.

 

Two more pics from my 2008 Camden trip:

A kiddie jet ride that was packed up

Skydiver, not running that day

I just rode the skydiver at lakemont park for the first time since I was a kid. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it being removed from a park, as it was a lot more painful than I remember as a kid.