sharondbond
2019-09-15 22:35:40 UTC
Walking around, documenting the death of an amusement park.
Matt and I went down today, Sep 15, to do the rides for the last time. Lots of people were there, mostly in the water park. This is one of their bonus weekends - general admission for $19.95 ($15.95 online). I also got parking online for $10 instead of $12 at the gate.
We arrived just after 10:30 and found a good parking spot, but there was already a lot of people in the pool. It turned out that the pool was reserved from 10 to 11 by company picnics. At first, they weren't going to give us ride wristbands, and wanted us to wait in the long line to get in to the pool at 11, but Matt convinced them to just give us the wristbands and we would come back later for the waterpark. We also got a free round of mini golf, and 2 Eurobungy tickets.
We just walked around taking pictures of all the rides while they were getting ready to open. We pretty much had the park to ourselves. All the employees looked depressed. It's the last full day for most of them. The rides will be open again next Saturday for Fire Up the Night, but only from 4pm to 11pm. There were some other people taking pictures - both park patrons and freelance photographers. A lot of people were also talking about the petitions to get them to keep the rides. But I don't think any petitions are going to have any impact.
First ride was on their Ferris Wheel - they were running it fast, and for a long time. We got 19 full revolutions, and another couple during loading and unloading. We ran into the first set of other enthusiasts while waiting for it to open. Garrett and Josh were from Pittsburgh. Later we ran into another group who came from Indianapolis, and later some other people from the Dayton area.
Next we did the Python. It has a different type of train now, snake themed and only 6 seats. The ride is running very well, and the first drop is still jarring. We hated the brake just before the last dip, and especially hated the brake just after it. My kneecap is going to have a lovely bruise where it slammed into the bar in front. So only one ride for us.
Next we did Dodgems. They weren't running very well - kind of slow. Then we did the giant slide. The burlap sacks are ripped up a lot but it's very zippy. We skipped over the mini golf for the time being, but ended up not doing it at all. After the slide, we walked back to the flood thermometer, which now has 2018 marked on it. We went down to the river gate, and saw one of the freelancers.
We walked over to the museum and took pictures. There were 2 more enthusiasts who came in at the same time.
After that, we did the Carousel, which is in sad shape. Whoever buys it has a lot of cosmetic work to do. Skipped the Scream Machine (Moser tall frog hopper) and headed over to the paddle boats. I think we may have been the first to take out a paddle boat, because most people were doing the swan and dragon boats. But after we took one out, more people started doing them. We went out around the fountain, then around the island, then back. On the way, we violated Ohio waterfowl laws and harassed the Canada geese by paddling right into their little group.
The Scambler was running well, and very fast, then we did the Tempest. We were on with a Dad and his young son (probably about 4 or 5) and deliberately did not spin the tub until the end. But our stomachs were still not feeling well when we got off. Tempest was fun and I hope it finds a good home.
We decided to not do the River Runner, their canoe-themed swinging ship, because stomachs. We walked over to the Flying Bobs and we were going to ride it, but only on a cycle going forward. We didn't get on for the current ride cycle, which was forward, so we decided to wait out the next one, which would have been in reverse (they were running it earlier in reverse). But they started it forward. Since we couldn't guarantee which way it was going to go, and stomachs, we decided not to do it. Another ride that we hope finds a good home.
Instead, we walked over so Matt could try to be the tallest Eurobungy rider that day, but there was a long line of kids. Forget that, we'll hit the pool instead. Grabbed the swimming stuff from the van, then went in for about a half hour just to cool off. Deep end was decidedly cold but not freezing, shallower end was fairly warm. Probably from sun and "other" stuff - lots of families and small kids there that day.
On the way out, we stopped and took video of the Python, then exited. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait 25-ish years again and maybe they'll bring rides back again.
Sharon
Matt and I went down today, Sep 15, to do the rides for the last time. Lots of people were there, mostly in the water park. This is one of their bonus weekends - general admission for $19.95 ($15.95 online). I also got parking online for $10 instead of $12 at the gate.
We arrived just after 10:30 and found a good parking spot, but there was already a lot of people in the pool. It turned out that the pool was reserved from 10 to 11 by company picnics. At first, they weren't going to give us ride wristbands, and wanted us to wait in the long line to get in to the pool at 11, but Matt convinced them to just give us the wristbands and we would come back later for the waterpark. We also got a free round of mini golf, and 2 Eurobungy tickets.
We just walked around taking pictures of all the rides while they were getting ready to open. We pretty much had the park to ourselves. All the employees looked depressed. It's the last full day for most of them. The rides will be open again next Saturday for Fire Up the Night, but only from 4pm to 11pm. There were some other people taking pictures - both park patrons and freelance photographers. A lot of people were also talking about the petitions to get them to keep the rides. But I don't think any petitions are going to have any impact.
First ride was on their Ferris Wheel - they were running it fast, and for a long time. We got 19 full revolutions, and another couple during loading and unloading. We ran into the first set of other enthusiasts while waiting for it to open. Garrett and Josh were from Pittsburgh. Later we ran into another group who came from Indianapolis, and later some other people from the Dayton area.
Next we did the Python. It has a different type of train now, snake themed and only 6 seats. The ride is running very well, and the first drop is still jarring. We hated the brake just before the last dip, and especially hated the brake just after it. My kneecap is going to have a lovely bruise where it slammed into the bar in front. So only one ride for us.
Next we did Dodgems. They weren't running very well - kind of slow. Then we did the giant slide. The burlap sacks are ripped up a lot but it's very zippy. We skipped over the mini golf for the time being, but ended up not doing it at all. After the slide, we walked back to the flood thermometer, which now has 2018 marked on it. We went down to the river gate, and saw one of the freelancers.
We walked over to the museum and took pictures. There were 2 more enthusiasts who came in at the same time.
After that, we did the Carousel, which is in sad shape. Whoever buys it has a lot of cosmetic work to do. Skipped the Scream Machine (Moser tall frog hopper) and headed over to the paddle boats. I think we may have been the first to take out a paddle boat, because most people were doing the swan and dragon boats. But after we took one out, more people started doing them. We went out around the fountain, then around the island, then back. On the way, we violated Ohio waterfowl laws and harassed the Canada geese by paddling right into their little group.
The Scambler was running well, and very fast, then we did the Tempest. We were on with a Dad and his young son (probably about 4 or 5) and deliberately did not spin the tub until the end. But our stomachs were still not feeling well when we got off. Tempest was fun and I hope it finds a good home.
We decided to not do the River Runner, their canoe-themed swinging ship, because stomachs. We walked over to the Flying Bobs and we were going to ride it, but only on a cycle going forward. We didn't get on for the current ride cycle, which was forward, so we decided to wait out the next one, which would have been in reverse (they were running it earlier in reverse). But they started it forward. Since we couldn't guarantee which way it was going to go, and stomachs, we decided not to do it. Another ride that we hope finds a good home.
Instead, we walked over so Matt could try to be the tallest Eurobungy rider that day, but there was a long line of kids. Forget that, we'll hit the pool instead. Grabbed the swimming stuff from the van, then went in for about a half hour just to cool off. Deep end was decidedly cold but not freezing, shallower end was fairly warm. Probably from sun and "other" stuff - lots of families and small kids there that day.
On the way out, we stopped and took video of the Python, then exited. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait 25-ish years again and maybe they'll bring rides back again.
Sharon