TR - Dixie Landings 8/3/06 - The world's Weirdest Boomerang

Despite living an hour away, I've never been to this little Amusement Park/fairly large waterpark in Baton Rouge, LA. Well, upon learning they had $12.95 after 6:00pm amusement park tickets and realizing it was my only chance this year, I convinced the wife to go with me and I headed out to nab two new credits and get some pictures. (She couldn't ride due to being pregnant, so the deal was we went to Babies-R-Us afterwards :) )

I didn't know what to expect out of the park but I was VERY impressed. I was expecting an almost carnival like atmosphere, but found a very well landscaped, clean, and very family friendly park with a really nice selection of rides. Man, every city with a population of 100,000+ could use one of these. I imagine this is the 21st century version of the local amusement park that every town had 50+ years ago.

So first impressions - Cleanliness, apparent upkeep of rides, landscaping, selection - either an A or an A+. A can think of some large parks that could take lessons (*cough*...Six Flags...*cough*)

Rides - I wasn't expecting much, but boy was I wrong. This place had more flats than many larger parks (*Cough*---Magic Mountain---*cough*). In addition to the coasters, they had a dozen kiddie rides, S&S Double Shot Tower, Log Flume, Train, Antique Cars, and a good dozen flat rides. What a great selection for a small park!

The Coasters - I didn't expect too much, after all, this place is primarily a water park. I was right. There was a fun little Galaxi, just like you'd find at a good 50 other locations around the world, and a Boomerang (which I hate), the Ragin' Cajun, just like you would find at 50+ other locations around the world.

I'll spare description of the Galaxi, it's not worth it, but the Boomerang is DEFINATELY worth note! When it was purchased (from Australia, I believe), it must have come with an improperly powered motor for the sled which drags you backwards up the spike. From the time you started moving in the station to the time you were released it took...(brace yourself)...3 minutes and 6 seconds. I kid you not. I think I watched a snail crawl it's way up the track way faster than us. To make matters worse, the op. was clearly not allowed to unlock the restraints after the ride until the sled lowered back down and re-engaged the train, resulting in a 90+ second wait after you stop. Total cycle time per ride 10 minutes, 30 seconds. WOW! Thankfully I walked on, but still. It was my one complaint about the place.

If you're ever in Southern Louisiana or new New Orleans (and I hope for your sake, you're not ;) ) don't overlook this place. It's actually pretty cool. The waterpark looked amazing, especially the extra large Proslide Tornado :)

Nice that you had a good visit here. This park is even more important now that SFNO is gone. They could benefit from a well-planned expansion if they have enough room for it.

The southeastern states just don't have enough of the smaller, more traditional parks. All that I am really aware of that are worth mentioning besides Dixie Landings are Lake Winnie, Alabama Adventure, and Family Kingdom (and the soon to be gone Pavilion). Could anyone fill me in on others if they are around? Recently the region lost Libertyland and Miracle Strip.

Nice TR. My family lives an hour away from Baton Rouge. Guess on one of my visits back home to visit them I need to get to Dixie Landings.