Need help on an OLD coaster in Myrtle Beach..

Hey, now the first thing I wanna say is.. I'm not talking about the Swamp Fox.

I lived in Myrtle Beach until I was 5 years old, and the memories I have of it are very sketchy. However, I know some things that might help.

I was 5 when I moved so, that would make the years it WAS there at least from 1974-1979. It was located on what is now out towards North Myrtle Beach past Barefoot Landing. I know that there is Kroger supermarket there now on the corner where it stood. I also seem to remember there being a waterslide called Mount Olympus very nearby. I can't remember even what color this coaster was, but I don't think it was as tall as the Swamp Fox, but I was a kid, so my perception was naturally distorted.

If anyone has any info on this former scream machine, I'd love to know. It's been killing me to find info on it, but I don't have a clue where to turn. Thanks!

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Homey G, proud founder of the CCC. Join up now! :oÞ

Go to rcdb and search for it.
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CLICKCLICKCLICK..... WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Favorite Steel: Top Gun: the Jet Coaster
Favorite Wood:Hershey Park Wildcat.

Could it have been These United States? (yes, that was a coaster)

EZ, that was the first place I looked, I figured everyone knows to look there first, I guess I should have been more specific.

Rob, I don't know. The true answer is probably gonna have to come from someone who is older than me that remembers. Where did you get that name "Theses United States" though. I might could try to research that, but it's not in rcdb either.

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Homey G, proud founder of the CCC. Join up now! :oÞ

It was called These United States and was located in the forementioned Kroger plaza. I don't remember when it was tore down. The color scheme that I remember was white. I was thinking there were different flags around the track. As for the color of the trains, I don't recall them either. If you can, e-mail at the address below and I'll have some more info later for you. I'm trying to contact a friend in IM who knows about the coaster but he's not answering :(

Max

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Max Cannon

"there's someone in my head but its not me..." "Brain Damage"-Pink Floyd

This isn't it, but here's another neat defunct MB park:
http://www.defunctparks.com/parks/SC/Magicharbor/magicharbor.htm
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Don't.....look.....back! The Headless Horseman awaits you in 2002!
Model coasters and rides

Yeah, I remember the "Harbor". It actually housed the corkscrew previous to the Pavilion having it..

MB Hurricane, I'd love to hear anything you come up with.. thanks. :)

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I rode "X" and never went upside down.

EEEK! Magic Harbor! That places is scary, LOL. I remember SEEING the corkscrew there, but I was too young to want to ride.

Same thing, I don't remember These United States, but somebody was telling me about a ride with a funny name at MH, they were obviously confused. Finding info on old Myrtle Beach is very difficult, you have to find somebody who just happens to know.

no joke pcr.. I don't even like riding by the old lot on HWY 17..
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I rode "X" and never went upside down.

What we need a REALLY good site with info on all the defunct parks/coasters/rides...no offense to anyone at all, but it IS kind of hard to find out the OLD stuff...
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PoTP acolyte - remove fear to reply
Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!

*** This post was edited by rollergator on 12/22/2001. ***

I agree, rollergator. It's very hard to find the old stuff. I like searching by the area, but usually I only find a name with no info or something. defunctcoasterbuzz.com(j/k), but seriously, especially with Myrtle, old info almost doesn't exist, you have to find a person who just knows. The real touristy type stuff didn't happen in the area until after the 50s, & most stuff to do is 'new'. Nothing really too impacting until the 70s, the older residents usually are not from the area, too. It's not like some historical trolley parks that were in major cities. Just like where I live, right down the road is Carolina Beach, there was a coaster of some sorts there until the 80s, but there's no info about it. The park still exists as Jubilee Fun Park(even though defunct parks lists the site as closed), but ask around, and nobody knows anything about it. BTW, I mention this because I THINK a new hotel is about to go over the site. I've even found people that rode it, they can't remember it.

Makes me want to plow through strangers old pictures, no telling what's out there:)!

When it was open, Magic Harbor was a wonderful park. It was after the removal of the Corkscrew that the park went downhill by means of several changes of ownership. The place just never recaptured that magic (no pun intended.) Several name changes didn't help either.

I remember the year the Corkscrew opened and everybody was in awe of it. My cousin rode it and I told her she was crazy and that you'd never catch me on something like that.......famous last words....

MH had the best chairlift ever. It was the kind that your feet dangled from and it went out over the lake. The turnaround was on this island and there was no light on it. In fact, the whole ride at night was very scary! Just about pitch dark! They had a great dark ride in one of buildings that was a lot of fun. I just loved the park. It was always the highlight of my summer vacation.

For those of you who don't know, the land has now been divided up between Pirateland and Lakewood campgrounds. They've expanded out in the MH site. Its really sad to go riding through that area and know what use to be there. (My parents are retired and live at Lakewood.) What was really sadder was before they cleaned up the area and it looked like a jungle in there. You could see still see some of the buildings standing. There was once a fire that destroyed most of them.

Max

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Max Cannon

"there's someone in my head but its not me..." "Brain Damage"-Pink Floyd

p_c_r....

I might be thinking of Carolina Beach but I could be mistaken...there was a Galaxi coaster set up there. I think it use to be near an arcade area. My church went there for a week and I could see this Galaxi coaster from the motel. I don't think it ever ran. Is it still there? Could this be the coaster that you mentioned? This might have been the early 90s/late 80s.

Max

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Max Cannon

"there's someone in my head but its not me..." "Brain Damage"-Pink Floyd

It could be the defunct Corkscrew. I read that the layout was identical to Python at Busch Gardens Tampa.

No.. this is totally off the subject from my original post, but...

The Galaxi style coaster was called Black Witch, and the reason it never ran was because a girl was killed on it when she stood up and was nearly decapitated. Litigation held up the reopening of the coaster. In fact, I don't think it ever did.

The defunct corkscrew is the standard layout of most corkscrews at the time. It went to Pavilion for many years, but was dismantled and I believe shipped to a theme park in Mexico.. where's Mario (the one from Mexico) when you need him.

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I rode "X" and never went upside down.

I knew about the Black Witch at Magic Harbor. The Galaxi coaster I am thinking about is at Carolina Beach in NC. It was next to an arcade type area. I've only been to this beach one time. I can't even remember the year this was. Had to be 10 years-ish. The coaster didn't run while I was there. I don't even think it was open. It looked like it was ready to fall apart.

Funny thing about the girl getting killed...I've been told that it was the kiddie coaster in the back of the park that the girl was killed on. If you've seen the kiddie coaster at the Family Pavlion, this coaster which was at MH looked exactly like it. There was this huge apple on it! The coaster ran up until the time that the girl was killed. In fact, grass had grown up all around it and it just sat there for the rest of the season. The Black Witch continued to run..A few years ago when I started on the 'net, somebody mentioned this accident. I said it was this kiddie coaster. This person blasted me and told me that I was wrong and that it was the Black Witch. Even pointed me to a website about coaster deaths. All it said was that a girl was killed on a roller coaster at MH. It never said anything about the BW.

So, the next time I went to visit my folks, I did some investigation and asked somebody who worked in security about the accident. His answer was it was the kiddie coaster in the back of the park and that was why it wasn't running. The Black Witch ran after the accident. I know because I rode it. This kiddie coaster vanished after that year. I want to say it wound up at Family Kingdom. It has the worm cars exactly like the one at MH.

Food for thought...

Max

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Max Cannon

"there's someone in my head but its not me..." "Brain Damage"-Pink Floyd

Oh yeah...the reason why we're here....These United States opened in 1970 and was demolished in 1986. Not for sure how long it stood dormant before that.

Max

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Max Cannon

"there's someone in my head but its not me..." "Brain Damage"-Pink Floyd

That's funny... I rode that little coaster when I was a kid.. it was an apple coaster and the train was a worm like it was eating the apple.. Strange that reports state it was the Black Witch... even this link claims it (stolen directly from above.. :oÞ )

http://www.defunctparks.com/parks/SC/Magicharbor/magicharbor.htm

Thanks for the info on TUS.. where did you get the info from bud? I'd like to read up on it.. specs.. etc.

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I rode "X" and never went upside down.

I was reading that article on Magic Harbor with great amusement last night. Lemme add a few things...

Before it was Magic Harbor, it was called PirateLand, after the campground next door to it. This "wild, wild west theme park" was a few years before my time. PL was remodeled into Magic Harbor. After the Corkscrew left for downtown, the park hit it bad and this is when the British company took over. I'm trying to remember when Lakewood had their hand at running the park. At one point, it was called "Lakewood's Magic Harbor." It tried to be a "Christian" theme park. That didn't last long. The article makes it seem like Blackpool added a log flume to the park but this is wrong. It was already there. The article didn't mention the fire that took place in the ruins. Supposedly, it was started by devil worshippers who were hanging out there. I'm not going to nitpick because I'm glad to see Magic Harbor being remembered. The park holds a special place in my heart.

As for the coaster that the girl was killed on, who knows. Sounds like a case for Scully and Mulder...

As for the TUS info, here is the page that my friend got it from http://www.incoasterpaedia.com/ Look up South Carolina/Sun Fun Park at North Myrtle Beach. There's really not a lot of specs there. At least this is a start!

Max

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I thought the Black Widow accident & the girl getting killed were two different accidents? Amyways, MH is hard for me to remember, I was too scared to ride too many rides then, so it's very sketchy. I remember going by there one of the final years, it creeped me out. I'm sure they've cleaned it up nice, now, I don't have to ride by there anymore. I know kids & so-called devil people used to shoot fireworks out there alot(?).

100% fascinating stuff, MBHurricane! About TUS, MH, & the Carolina Beach info. Nothing stands of any coaster now. You say you saw a Galaxi, that fits the profile, it's a starting point. My friend next door rode it, he doesn't know coasters, though, he's useless on the subject. Now, there's just some waterslides, one that's real steep, that's next to the main highway & a Wings store. You wouldn't happen to remember any of these in proportion to it:)? I can't place any current arcades. I used to go there in the mid90s to play video games near the bars in the boardwalk businesses, but I do not remember any other arcades then.

BTW, Max is responsible for complying definative MB info for preservation(j/k).