The one park you wanted to go to as a kid

I wanna go to Cedar Point! Being a Brit, who doesn't know many local coaster fanatics, makes this rather difficult though.

LOL Does anyone local to CP -who doesn't have an extensive axe collection at home- wanna help me realise this dream? :-)

Dawn. I'm with you on the Disney thing, except I cried when I saw the line for Space Mountain!! :-)

B

When I was a kid, I never really knew about any parks outside of the mid-Atlantic other than WDW/Epcot. I only ever really knew about HP, KD, BGW, Enchanted Forest (in MD), DW and WDW/Epcot. With the exception of DW and Enchanted Forest, I got to go to all of them..and I never really wanted to go to DW or EF.

Oddly enough though..I didn't really like going to HP or BGW when I was a kid (I always wanted to go to KD instead). Now they are my two favorite parks.

Sean

As a kid, mine was Worlds of Fun, I had been to Adventureland year after year but the big thing around Iowa was WOF, got to do that my sophomore year of high school.

Six Flags Over Texas for me, because my parents had gone there when they first married, and they had an old map that showed the mine ride. It apparently has/had an underwater tunnel, which fascinated me.

Also, in high school, I was obsessed with videos featuring Steel Phantom and B:TR (the original). Fortunately the youth minister at my church was very accommodating, so he planned church trips to go ride both of them (4-hour and 7-hour drives, respectively).

When I was about twelve, I remember hearing about the Beast at a place called King's Island. 24 years later, I made it!
It was worth the wait:)

When I WAS a kid growing up in Jersey, I wanted to go to DisneyWorld....all the time. We went during Thanksgiving most years, and I was thankful...:)

Now, being older, I find it hard to believe I never once made it to Palisades...that's the park I *wish* I had gone to as a kid...does make me appreciate going WHEN you can, cause you never know what might happen.

Do yourselves a favor, plan a trip to Miracle Strip in its final season...I will make *at least* one trip to the panhandle to say farewell (and to put in MY bid for Starliner)...;)

Any word yet on some kind of get together at the Strip.....either official or unofficial? :-D

-Tina

< planning trip to Miracle Strip as I type ;)

It was my dream as a kid to go to Disney World and Universal Studios. I was a big scaredy cat as a kid ,and rode only 2 coasters, the Flitzer and Super Screamer at Adventureland, so Disney had the kind of rides I wanted to try. I finally got to go when I was 16, and I can't wait to go back soemday in the future again, since so much has changed.

I'm sure there will be others who can relate to this one...
I lived in Virginia but when we got cable we started getting WGN. I loved watching the Bozo Show, mostly to see the Grand Prize Game and the inevitable shots of the prize in Bucket number five... a trip to Marriot's Great America. For some reason the footage of the Log Flume and the old timey cars always got me excited, so going to Great America and seeing the Bozo Show live became the object of my dreams.
Moving to Chicago as an adult, I was sad to find out the Bozo Show was no longer in production but happy to finally get to go to Great America.

Ah yes... the Bozo Show from Chicago. Bozo, Cookie, Wizzo, and a cast of thousands! I have lived in Cleveland all my life, but we got WGN ever since cable was new to my area in 1982. For some reason, even at the age of 12, I found the Bozo Show to be hilarious. The original Bozo (Bob Bell) was far superior to his predecessor Joey D'Auria, but nonetheless the show remained entertaining until Cookie left. Then when the show moved to Sundays only, that was pretty much the final nail in the coffin. I have seen several Grand Prize Game redemption games in amusement parks and FEC's in my travels... however it's just not the same when all you win is a few tickets instead of a brand-new, crisp $50 (or $100 in later years) bill and a Schwinn bicycle! ;)

As far as parks go, I always wanted to go to Euclid Beach. Living only 10 or so miles down the road from a park that made millions of Clevelanders happy is always a depressing thought. Add in the fact that there were 4 wooden coasters (including a massive Norman Bartlett Flying Turns), a fun house, a dark ride, a Traver Tumble Bug, Traver Circle Swing, and a set of awesome Flyers and you've got a park that sounded like a true winner. Unfortunately, the late 60's were not kind to the park and EB passed into oblivion in 1969... I came around one year too late.

And the one park that is not defunct that I have always wanted to visit is Blackpool Pleasure Beach. 55 acres and nearly as many rides sounds like a small slice of heaven to me!

ray p. (who actually was picked as an "At Home Player" for the Grand Prize Game many years ago and won a Wizzo Magic Set!)

Six Flags over Mid-America to ride the world record breaking (in 1976) Screamin' Eagle. Maybe I'll get there before it turns 30.

I'm with Chitown...Riverview. Actually, before I ever heard of Riverview, I wanted to check out the Pike. Problem was, my folks didn't want to field questions like, "Mommy, why is that man giving himself a shot? I thought doctors were supposed to do that!"

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ThemeDesigner said:
I'm sure there will be others who can relate to this one...
I lived in Virginia but when we got cable we started getting WGN. I loved watching the Bozo Show, mostly to see the Grand Prize Game and the inevitable shots of the prize in Bucket number five... a trip to Marriot's Great America. For some reason the footage of the Log Flume and the old timey cars always got me excited, so going to Great America and seeing the Bozo Show live became the object of my dreams.
Moving to Chicago as an adult, I was sad to find out the Bozo Show was no longer in production but happy to finally get to go to Great America.

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I remember that too. I also remember them having a chase scene through the entire park. They all rode the Whizzer and that part was put on their station identification for years while the show was on. Anyone remember the song "Kids of Chicago having a good time, they are watching...Channel Nine."? That was the song they played while Bozo and Cookie were going up the spiral lift of Whizzer.

I was on the Bozo show once... I was asked what I would do if I ever had the house to myself with no parents. My brother was picked for one of the games (not the grand prize game).

Back on topic, I always wanted to goto SFMM like most of you, after Nat. Lampoons, I was hooked.

Other parks were Kings Island, CP, & Riverview (thanks to my dad hypin' it up).

The local library (Park Forest, IL) had a couple of books about Riverview that probably spent more time in my possession than on the library shelf for a year or two.

Another one for SFMM (but for different reasons)...

The movie "Rollercoaster" in sensurround. A looping coaster was pretty incredible in 1977.

By the way, I still haven't made it, and from reading the TR's, I would spend a day in southern CA at KBF.

I wanted to go to Crystal Beach to ride the Comet.

By '76 I had been to Waldameer,CedarPoint and Conneaut lake.Finally made it to C.B. in '82. Could have went to Idora and Westview in '83 when I began to drive. Both of them were closed in the next year! Aauugh!

Dollywood, I don't know why... Must be the southern charm.