Anyone been to Camden Park?

Typically, I avoid these types of threads, but I'm just curious.

Work has me within 2.5 hours of Camden Park in Huntington, WV, which is typically 5+ hours away, and I'm wondering if it is worth it for me to make the drive to ride the two coasters that are there.

Any thoughts?

I had fun there a few years ago. It's a small park but it has its charm.

I was there over Memorial Day weekend. It's a nice, charming little park and one I've been trying to get to for a few years. We spent a few hours and rode the kiddie woodie once and Big Dipper a few times. We spent most of our time on the park's excellent flyers, whip, and spider.

I say go for it! :)

Flyers, Best fastest whip in the nation and two pure with true NAD coasters as NAD train, Paratrooper, Spider, catapillar, Choke and puke diner :) and a Pretzel darkride/coaster and a Indian Burial mound to boot.

Chuck

I was considering making my first trip this July. Our family reunion is near Parkersburg. Figure it can't be more than another hour or so to the park from there.

Yes, go for it!

Have to agreen with everyone elses opinions. Went down there with my wifes cousins last year, and it was a memorable little park. It was sort've funny, that her family being from there hated the park and encouraged us not to go, saying it was boring. They prefer to drive to CP or KI. But that was the opinion of some locals who are not even close to being enthusiasts.

I had a lot of fun! What Chuck said about the Whip was so true. And the coasters were a blast, as well as, being family friendly. The only regret I had for Camden was that they never did get KI's old Screamin' Demon running so many years ago. I miss that ride.

I would say go as well. Camden is a lot of fun. I haven't had a chance to make a go of the flyers, but that will be remedied this year. Also of note, they just opened a new miniature golf course that I have personally seen from the road that goes right by there and it looks really cool.

Actually, Camden DID get the Screamin' Demon running many years ago. I never rode it at Kings Island, but I rode it several times at Camden. THEN the ride fell into disrepair, for a few years it stood actually with major support members missing, then they finally took it down. The new miniature golf course (extra $$) is on the site of the old coaster.

I was at Camden a couple of weeks ago. Big Dipper, Lil' Dipper, carousel, Paratrooper, Caterpillar (disguised as a Himalaya), 8-car Whip, Scrambler, Flying Scooter, bumper cars, Sky Ride, log flume, NAD train, Tilt-A-Whirl, Kite Flyer, and the best-running Spider in North America.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Camden was one of my boyhood parks, my family's from Ironton and Grandma would take me every summer. Two summers ago when I was working in the area I took an afternoon and went back to the park. Even thought the park had lost a lot of it's flash, it was surprisingly the same, in fact a lot of it hadn't changed in 40 years.

The coaster was fun (although not nearly as tall as I remembered!) and it is true vintage. There used to be a great neon sign over the station, but it's gone now, replaced with a plain painted sign. The Whip, as mentioned above, is THE BEST WHIP EVER! I hung on for dear life. I also rode and re-rode the dark ride, a gravity driven Whacky Shack type ride. (think Conneaut) Tacky and hilarious.

Nobody's mentioned the great sign the park has out by the road. I understand most of the neon on it doesn't light anymore, but the happy clown still points the way to fun. I guess the park has considered restoring him, but for now the cost of the project is overwhelming. But it's a vintage treat for those that like that sort of thing. A picture of it can be had on a tshirt sold there, and you can bet I bought one.

All they offered the day I was there was POP, the website says it's around 20 bucks. So if you're near, yeah, by all means go. Especially if you like small, funky parks.

The himalaya ride is actually a caterpillar? A-ha! I knew there was something odd about it. Do they still have the skydiver?

The Skydiver was SBNO over Memorial weekend.

My family went with my 11 year old cousin a few weeks ago for a School field trip. The park hasn't changed much since I was a baby. The Big Dipper was my first coaster...Mom took me on it when I was about a year old. Back then, they must not have had a hight requirement.

I would suggest going in the evening when they offer a lower price. The park is less crowded and it's only about $16 vs. the $24ish for all day. I always get slightly bored after 3 or 4 hours in the park anyways.

The new mini-golf was not ready yet when I was there, but it was looking very nice. FUN FACT - Before Thunderbolt Express was built and removed, a mini-golf course was in the exact place as the new one.

Camden Park is in no way perfect. It could use some more flowers and be a little cleaner, but it is quite nice for it's size. The kids and adults who work there seem friendly enough. I think it is a little pricey for what they offer, but the park does have a lot of charm. One could get a discounted Kings Island admission for the same price as Camden Park, and Camden is not even close to offering the experience of a large park.

Hello it's WV.. not Ohio.. Can't be to picky

The park is well worth a day trip and the Evening ticket is the best deal.. Go for it

I forgot about the Skydiver in my ride list. People were actually riding it the day I was there, but it is NOT a popular ride.

AV Matt, yes, the Hot Cat is an Allan Herschell Caterpillar ride. The tub design should be a dead giveaway; it's also cable driven if you look close, and it has 18 cars. Camden added a building with a partition across the center that makes it look more like a Mack or Reverchon Himalaya.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The mini-golf was open as of Memorial weekend.

SkyDiver was open the day after you were there Moosh, because Steve and Jordan rode it.

Camden is a nice little throw-back park. We finally got there this year on Memorial Day and can't believe it took so long for us to get there. No lines, ride to your hearts desire, some unique rides, and a really nice brand new mini-golf course.

I'm not surprised Lori...it looked newly-painted and ready to roll.

I've heard the park is quirky in a good way. I also got my first review of the Zamperla version of Cliff Hanger (called Kite Flyer) and it wasn't very good. Supposedly the restraints are hateful.

These two people who visited did so so coming back from the last Stark Raving Mad, and still had to drive back to the Baltimore area. So they got the credits and enjoyed some of the other park offerings, but had forgotten just how much longer they had to drive to get home.

It's a shame that the Arrow shuttle got taken down as that was the only thing I could see from the road in 02'.

^Intamin Fan, you must've been driving awfully fast, because you can see a lot of the park from the road. The Big Dipper goes along there, there's flats between it and the road, the carousel is up there, as well as a little kiddie land.

I cracked up when I saw the Hot Cat. I also assumed (from a distance) that it was a one-trailer Himalaya until I recognized the old Caterpillar tubs and track. That ride was there when I was a kid, of course, but it was in that ride area that's directly across from the gate. Even then it didn't have the canvas cover. They had an original Bisch Rocco Flying Scooter back then, too, and it was called the Butterflies. The new one sits about where the original one was.

The dark ride back then was a one story permanent ride called Laff in the Dark, and may have been an original from that company. The station wall (behind the cars) had a green-faced witch painted on it. Grandma took me on it once- she was laffing her head off, so I opened up my eyes long enough to see a hoot owl then shut them again until we were safe outside! The new one went in sometime around the early 70's I think. It may use the original cars.