Favorite "deceased" theme rides/parks

freudguy · 07-25-05, 12:32 PM

I was browsing Fark today and saw the link to X-entertainment's article on Castle Dracula (http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0940). It's an interesting read that leads to another website, www.darkinthepark.com. Though I was never had a chance to go to those theme rides, it was sad reading about their demise.

I had even heard of this place when I was a kid through a friend that had family in Jersey. I always wanted to go, even pestered my parents to take me there just for Castle Dracula (I live in VA). This led to a discussion with a coworker about defunct theme parks that we missed.

I miss the old Silver Dollar City, which is now Dollywood. It was tons of fun for a 10 year old. When Dolly took over, I thought it sucked horribly. The inventor's mansion was turned into Dolly's museum (see the boustier from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas!), many of the older attractions have been bulldozed or built over. I used to love the flooded mine ride (ride a "boat" through a mine filled with convicts as it quickly flooded!), the log flume has been scrapped for a bunch of kiddie rides this year.

Of course there was The Land of Oz near Beech Mountain, NC. Yearly reunion weekends let you tour the grounds. It's sad seeing that stuff grown up with weeds and trees after looking at pictures of me there in the late 70's.

What are some other good ones?

scott shelton · 07-25-05, 12:43 PM

As a massive Disney park guy, I'm sad to say I never rode the Submarines. By the time I went to WDW, they were already gone.

I'm hoping the FINDING NEMO ride at DL in 2007 will do the trick.

Forum Troll · 07-25-05, 12:44 PM

Groucho · 07-25-05, 12:47 PM

They didn't scrap Haunted Mansion, did they?

My pick: Mission to Mars at Disneyland.

Sdallnct · 07-25-05, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott shelton

As a massive Disney park guy, I'm sad to say I never rode the Submarines. By the time I went to WDW, they were already gone.

I'm hoping the FINDING NEMO ride at DL in 2007 will do the trick.

I did ride it and it was not worth it. Classic though, bad design. I remember once my son (very small at the time) saw it and wanted to ride. We must have waited close to 2 hours, then he realized you went down in the sub and totally freaked out! So we didn't ride.

General Zod · 07-25-05, 12:55 PM

For southern california otters.. here's the "deceased" from Magic Mountain:

Billy the Squid (1973)
Moon Bounce (1975)
Submarine Tubes (1988)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1985)
Circus Wheel (1999)
Crazy Barrels (1989)
Eagle's Flight--El Dorado side (1980)
Eagle's Flight--Galaxy Side (1994)
El Bumpo (1979)
Galaxy (1979)
Grand Prix (1986)
Troll Train (1981)
Jolly Monster (1981)
Mountain Express (1981)
Troll Bounce (1975)
Dragon (1981)
Trumbe Drum (1980)
Grant Centennial Excursion Railroad (1985)
Enterprise (1993)
Wizard's Village (1985)
Sarajevo Bobsleds (1986)
Shockwave (1988)
Z-Force (1993)
Condor (1989)

Damfino · 07-25-05, 12:55 PM

IIRC there was a Japanese themed amusement park near Knott's Berry Farm (Japanese Deer Park?). I remember it mainly because they had a good dolphin show and you could feed the deer. This was at least 35 years ago, so my memory is fuzzy.

Red Dog · 07-25-05, 12:57 PM

Are the Grizzley and Rebel Yell still operating at Kings Dominion?

General Zod · 07-25-05, 12:58 PM

Anyone remember Busch Gardens in Van Nuys, Ca?

dick_grayson · 07-25-05, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Dog

Are the Grizzley and Rebel Yell still operating at Kings Dominion?

I think so. The King Cobra there (back when I was a kid) was pretty badass. I think someone got killed on it though. It was just one giant loop.

Hiro11 · 07-25-05, 01:03 PM

Mountain Park

Brings me back...

Also, the Cyclone at the old Riverside Park (now Six Flags and actually mucxh better than it was...with this one exception)
They ruined the first drop:

The track on the bottom was the old first drop, the top is the new. It was much more intense back in the day.

reverie · 07-25-05, 01:05 PM

Wow.. a whole write up to Castle Dracula! I spent many summers in Wildwood, and was sad to hear of it burning down also. I've only been to Wildwood once in the past five years, and of course much has changed. I'd almost be afraid of going back at this point.. Thank you for posting that!

Damfino · 07-25-05, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Zod

Anyone remember Busch Gardens in Van Nuys, Ca?

Yes! I grew up not far from there and we used to take out of town company there all the time. It was ultimately closed when the public's appetite for beer forced them to tear out the gardens to expand the brewery.

Later in my teen and college years, I frequented the Tommy's Burger across the street. I still associate their food with the smell from the brewery!

adamblast · 07-25-05, 01:06 PM

There's a great big beautiful Tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great big beautiful Tomorrow
And Tomorrow is just a dream away...

No, it's not some song from Annie... that's the theme from The Carousel of Progress, the original (FREE) ride in Tommorrowland at Disneyland which glorified household technology (and middle-class whitebread families) through the ages... It was scrapped for "America Sings", and the building later turned into a non-ride Disney office building...

http://www.yesterland.com/progress.html

Red Dog · 07-25-05, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dick_grayson

I think so. The King Cobra there (back when I was a kid) was pretty badass. I think someone got killed on it though. It was just one giant loop.

Heck, I don't think the King Cobra was there the last time I went which was probably 15 years ago. I think they had replaced it with one of those loops where you stand up rather than sit.

I'm not really into the upside down ones. I like the traditional coasters.

One coaster I would have liked to try is the Loch Ness Monster in Busch Gardens Williamsburg - is that still there?

LiquidSky · 07-25-05, 01:13 PM

Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City, FL. Now gone and with condos taking its place.

Had a cool wooden coaster, a big ride-through haunted house, log ride, etc.

LiquidSky · 07-25-05, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damfino

Later in my teen and college years, I frequented the Tommy's Burger across the street. I still associate their food with the smell from the brewery!

I used to eat at that Tommy's Burger in college.

WafflePower · 07-25-05, 01:20 PM

I loved Castle Dracula. I live about 30 minutes away from it, and I used to go there all the time. It was such a creepy place, so of course we always had a blast. I still can't believe those kids burned it down.

IDrinkMolson · 07-25-05, 01:22 PM

Only parks I know of that closed are Lenape, PA and Brigatine Castle Brigatine, NJ.

devilshalo · 07-25-05, 01:28 PM

Adventures in Inner Space

I miss it cuz we'd do hop out and switch cars during the ride...

freudguy · 07-25-05, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IDrinkMolson

Only parks I know of that closed are Lenape, PA and Brigatine Castle Brigatine, NJ.

Brigantine Castle is profiled on the website I listed above, www.darkinthepark.com

Charlie Goose · 07-25-05, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reverie

Wow.. a whole write up to Castle Dracula! I spent many summers in Wildwood, and was sad to hear of it burning down also. I've only been to Wildwood once in the past five years, and of course much has changed. I'd almost be afraid of going back at this point.. Thank you for posting that!

Wildwood isn't bad at all. Certainly better than Point Pleasant or Seaside Heights.

I remember a haunted house attraction in Long Branch. The commercials were better than the house itself. I loves me a good haunted house. There was one in Six Flags in Jackson NJ, but it burned down in 84 and killed 8 teenagers.

AGuyNamedMike · 07-25-05, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Dog

One coaster I would have liked to try is the Loch Ness Monster in Busch Gardens Williamsburg - is that still there?

I think so, it is still listed as an attraction on the official website. I spent many an hour on that coaster back in the 80s.

William Fuld · 07-25-05, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Dog

Heck, I don't think the King Cobra was there the last time I went which was probably 15 years ago. I think they had replaced it with one of those loops where you stand up rather than sit.

I'm not really into the upside down ones. I like the traditional coasters.

One coaster I would have liked to try is the Loch Ness Monster in Busch Gardens Williamsburg - is that still there?

The King Cobra was moved from Kings Dominion in '86 and is now, amazingly, in Brazil, at a park called Hopi Hari.

The Loch Ness Monster is an absolute classic. It's still around.

tronmaster · 07-25-05, 01:35 PM

Here in Honolulu, we had a semi-theme park called Castle Park during the 1980's, it was basically a glorified video game amusement park, that contained a water slide area, several minature golfs, a racing area, some small children rides and the "castle" itself was 2-stories of ultra 80s arcade madness.

Now its a place for K-Mart, Sack 'N Save, and McDonald's...

07-25-05, 12:32 PM	#1
freudguy DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,114	Favorite "deceased" theme rides/parks I was browsing Fark today and saw the link to X-entertainment's article on Castle Dracula (http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0940). It's an interesting read that leads to another website, www.darkinthepark.com. Though I was never had a chance to go to those theme rides, it was sad reading about their demise. I had even heard of this place when I was a kid through a friend that had family in Jersey. I always wanted to go, even pestered my parents to take me there just for Castle Dracula (I live in VA). This led to a discussion with a coworker about defunct theme parks that we missed. I miss the old Silver Dollar City, which is now Dollywood. It was tons of fun for a 10 year old. When Dolly took over, I thought it sucked horribly. The inventor's mansion was turned into Dolly's museum (see the boustier from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas!), many of the older attractions have been bulldozed or built over. I used to love the flooded mine ride (ride a "boat" through a mine filled with convicts as it quickly flooded!), the log flume has been scrapped for a bunch of kiddie rides this year. Of course there was The Land of Oz near Beech Mountain, NC. Yearly reunion weekends let you tour the grounds. It's sad seeing that stuff grown up with weeds and trees after looking at pictures of me there in the late 70's. What are some other good ones? __________________ Good evening, I'm freudguy. Tits McGhee has the night off. DVD Profiler Last edited by freudguy; 07-25-05 at 12:36 PM.

07-25-05, 12:47 PM	#4
Groucho DVD Talk Godfather Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Posts: 62,072	They didn't scrap Haunted Mansion, did they? My pick: Mission to Mars at Disneyland. __________________ Xbox Live: Runner Groucho PSN: RunnerGroucho "The Borg is a species" -- Tracer Bullet (Citation)

07-25-05, 12:55 PM	#6
General Zod DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Where it all happens - SoCal Posts: 15,814	For southern california otters.. here's the "deceased" from Magic Mountain: Billy the Squid (1973) Moon Bounce (1975) Submarine Tubes (1988) Yankee Doodle Dandy (1985) Circus Wheel (1999) Crazy Barrels (1989) Eagle's Flight--El Dorado side (1980) Eagle's Flight--Galaxy Side (1994) El Bumpo (1979) Galaxy (1979) Grand Prix (1986) Troll Train (1981) Jolly Monster (1981) Mountain Express (1981) Troll Bounce (1975) Dragon (1981) Trumbe Drum (1980) Grant Centennial Excursion Railroad (1985) Enterprise (1993) Wizard's Village (1985) Sarajevo Bobsleds (1986) Shockwave (1988) Z-Force (1993) Condor (1989) __________________ "Kneel Before Zod"

07-25-05, 12:57 PM	#8
Red Dog DVD Talk God Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Directionally Challenged (for DirecTV) Posts: 104,458	Are the Grizzley and Rebel Yell still operating at Kings Dominion? __________________ "A question for you. Would you rather Bucknell make the NCAA's once every 20 years or so and get ass raped by teams like Kansas in the first round or have them drop down a rung to a confernce where they can compete for a title?" - Josh Hinkle 1st Round Final Scores: Bucknell 64 Kansas 63 \| Bucknell 59 Arkansas 55

07-25-05, 12:58 PM	#9
General Zod DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Where it all happens - SoCal Posts: 15,814	Anyone remember Busch Gardens in Van Nuys, Ca? __________________ "Kneel Before Zod"

07-25-05, 12:43 PM	#2
scott shelton Needs to contact an admin about multiple accounts Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 2,730	As a massive Disney park guy, I'm sad to say I never rode the Submarines. By the time I went to WDW, they were already gone. I'm hoping the FINDING NEMO ride at DL in 2007 will do the trick.

07-25-05, 12:44 PM	#3
Forum Troll Suspended Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Kaysville, Utah Posts: 1,071

07-25-05, 12:55 PM	#7
Damfino DVD Talk Ultimate Edition Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 4,418	IIRC there was a Japanese themed amusement park near Knott's Berry Farm (Japanese Deer Park?). I remember it mainly because they had a good dolphin show and you could feed the deer. This was at least 35 years ago, so my memory is fuzzy.

07-25-05, 01:03 PM	#11
Hiro11 DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 6,740	Mountain Park Brings me back... Also, the Cyclone at the old Riverside Park (now Six Flags and actually mucxh better than it was...with this one exception) They ruined the first drop: The track on the bottom was the old first drop, the top is the new. It was much more intense back in the day. __________________ What's that? Jessie and Prospector are trapped in the old abandoned mine and Prospector just lit a stick of dynamite thinking it was a candle and now they're about to be blown to smithereens?

07-25-05, 01:05 PM	#12
reverie DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 2,423	Wow.. a whole write up to Castle Dracula! I spent many summers in Wildwood, and was sad to hear of it burning down also. I've only been to Wildwood once in the past five years, and of course much has changed. I'd almost be afraid of going back at this point.. Thank you for posting that! __________________ "I'm thinking we'll rise again." -Malcolm Reynolds SERENITY You Can't Stop The Signal

07-25-05, 01:06 PM	#14
adamblast DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Lompoc, CA Posts: 11,381	There's a great big beautiful Tomorrow Shining at the end of every day There's a great big beautiful Tomorrow And Tomorrow is just a dream away... No, it's not some song from Annie... that's the theme from The Carousel of Progress, the original (FREE) ride in Tommorrowland at Disneyland which glorified household technology (and middle-class whitebread families) through the ages... It was scrapped for "America Sings", and the building later turned into a non-ride Disney office building... http://www.yesterland.com/progress.html __________________ "Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down."--Orson Scott Card (Nat'l Organization for Marriage LDS Liaison) Last edited by adamblast; 07-25-05 at 01:12 PM.

07-25-05, 01:13 PM	#16
LiquidSky DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Aug 1999 Location: Pokey Dot Lounge, Nashville, TN Posts: 8,712	Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City, FL. Now gone and with condos taking its place. Had a cool wooden coaster, a big ride-through haunted house, log ride, etc.

07-25-05, 01:20 PM	#18
WafflePower Cool New Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 33	I loved Castle Dracula. I live about 30 minutes away from it, and I used to go there all the time. It was such a creepy place, so of course we always had a blast. I still can't believe those kids burned it down.

07-25-05, 01:22 PM	#19
IDrinkMolson DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: DE Posts: 2,781	Only parks I know of that closed are Lenape, PA and Brigatine Castle Brigatine, NJ. __________________ My DVD Collection

07-25-05, 01:28 PM	#20
devilshalo DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Somewhere between Heaven and Hell Posts: 24,140	Adventures in Inner Space I miss it cuz we'd do hop out and switch cars during the ride... __________________ Just once, I would like to be a puppetmaster and have nothing go wrong. Is that too much to ask? - Dwight Schrute

07-25-05, 01:35 PM	#25
tronmaster Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: 21.3114° N, 157.7964° W Posts: 346	Here in Honolulu, we had a semi-theme park called Castle Park during the 1980's, it was basically a glorified video game amusement park, that contained a water slide area, several minature golfs, a racing area, some small children rides and the "castle" itself was 2-stories of ultra 80s arcade madness. Now its a place for K-Mart, Sack 'N Save, and McDonald's...