Off to the Renaissance Faire to consume copious amounts of meat on a stick. What is / was your favorite theme park?
Question of the Day, Labor Day
Off to the Renaissance Faire to consume copious amounts of meat on a stick. What is / was your favorite theme park?
A gun show.
Legoland in Carlsbad, California is the only amusement park I’ve ever enjoyed. It has these scale models of various cities built in lego blocks that are amazing, and all sorts of other things built out of legos. It is much more quite, clean, and civilized than most amusement parks, and a lot of its attractions are interactive, which suited my kid much better than standing in a line for 45 minutes and then taking a 2-minute ride. They have a huge jungle gym arrangement where kids can run and climb around to their hearts content, and a water complex where they can play in the water. They also have a pavillion where kids can put together things with—what else?—lego blocks. These are welcome features if you have high energy kids. It has rides, but a completely different philosophy than most ride-based amusement parks. It’s geared for kids up to early teens, although the adults will enjoy all the lego models.
Knoebels, in Elysburg Pa. Spent yesterday afternoon there. The children are all of age, no more kiddy land until the Grandchildren start arriving.
SHHHHH… dont tell anybody about that place. It’s still pretty much unfucked by the unwashed masses. We spent summers there at a cabin which is now sadly gone.
Yes and no to that. America on display in all of its rotund glory. Pa Rednecks we is without the rotundness. Pittsburgh on the west, Philadelphia on the east and Alabama in the middle.
Never been to a theme park. Been to several amusement parks . Does that count ? Never been to an art gallery. Only museum I ever went to was a WW11 museum .Been to gun and car shows.
But now with the internet I can go wherever I want. So I am thoroughly modern , contemporary and culturally sensitive if that’s your question.
Hate all these corporate theme parks. Disney Land – a horrid place – I think they sell Micky Mouse condoms.
Used to be a park near Allentown, Pa. – Dorney Park – wood roller coaster – independent food vendors. It’s all gone to shit – corporate – fucking Puerto Rican’s / Neegrows from NJ invade it every weekend. No place for white people.
Actually this has now happened all over eastern PA. The trash from Jersey invades the parks in these little towns. IF there is a Fourth Turning – it will have to do a major cleansing.
Ten thumbs up Dutchman.
I dont know about theme parks, but there once was a “Bavarian Beer Fest” in Barnesville PA that was lots of fun. Eyi-Eyi-O. Then the MadMothers arose…
My favorite amusement park growing up was Cedar Point in Ohio. Maybe because it was the closest, but it was nice because it wasn’t one of the chains. Instead of theme parks I liked historical places and museums – i.e. Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI and Sturbridge Village, MA. That was about a million years ago, so I have no idea what any of them are like now.
Up until the last 3 years or so my favorite place to go every year was the local state agricultural fair in Hopkinton, NH. You could experience farm animals, local businesses, junk food, rides (I never went on any of the rides, though) and huge crowds of people of all types. The quality of the fair had been slipping slowly, but about 3 years ago it was bought out by a different company and hit the skids. They raised the vendor prices so over half the vendors aren’t there anymore. Not sure what they did to the farmers and 4H, but the number of animals attending dropped drastically, too. They raised the price to get in and started the typical “no guns allowed” bullshit so fewer people show up. This year they raised the price to get in again, but stopped charging for parking so for most people it was a wash. The problem with this is that the people with houses on the route and various charities with property close by used this event as a fundraiser by charging for parking. So now in addition to pissing off the vendors, farmers, and attendees they’ve also pissed off just about everybody in town, too.
I’m going to try the other state fair in Deerfield, NH to see if it’s any better, but if it’s not next year may be the first year in about 20 that I won’t go to an agricultural fair.
@Annie: “You could experience farm animals,”
bb would go for that!
So would you, Mr Roboto.
Only if they’re wearing house dresses.
Here in Minnesota (where everything is sanitized) we might have the largest state fair in the county. Might be 30 square blocks – lots of permanent buildings built in the WPA era.
The admission is $13 – goes up every year. It’s turned in to a junk food fest. There is every kind of imaginable fried / dipped shit on a stick. The going price for anything is $8 – $9 cooked by some acne faced 17 year old, who fucks it up. These ‘cows’ from MN, roam the fair grounds grazing on this crap.
Beerbaconandcheeseworld. It is also known as Wisconsin.
Yet again I have to put in with the Dutchman, can’t stand corporate sheep fleecing facilities like Disney World for one example. They tell you , stay in our overpriced hotels and your wait time in ride lines will be shorter and that is still too long but they made your wallet a little lighter and their profits much higher. What is “fun” about waiting in long lines to get on a five minute ride? The food is nothing special and also over priced.
At the end of your Disney stay you have spent 2K and been completely underwhelmed. I rather slam my hand in the car door than do it again.
Olympic Park, Newark …. a 10 minute walk from our apartment …. god, I LOVED that place.
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And lest you think it was just a cheap old funky local park with bullshit rides … you couldn’t be more wrong. Many of you probably recognize this incredibly gorgeous carousel (built in the early 1900’s) at Disney ….. well, they bought it from Olympic Park when it closed in the late 1960’s.
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Remember Palisades Park?
Grew up In Toledo Ohio and worked at Cedar Point for 2 summers. First blind drunk first piece of tang but not the same night.
Nothing else comes close.
Other than that, I’m a ROLLER COASTER guy ….. (don’t give a shit about other rides).
And within that genre WOODEN roller coasters are the best. My top 3.
3. The Cyclone, Coney Island — built in the 1920’s, not particularly high or fast (according to today’s standards). The thrill was wondering if you’d come out alive, or crash into the ocean. Although safe (I suppose), it was in somewhat of a state of disrepair in the 1980s … nothing more thrilling than seeing a few dry rotted timbers on the way up. lol
2. The Beast, Kings Island.
1. El Toro, 6 Flags(NJ) — Almost 200 feet high and a 75 degree drop … it’ll shake and rattle your fillings right out of your head … considered by many “experts” to be the best wooden coaster in the world.
Seriously. Bad. Ass.
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Geez Stucky are you about done with the kitchen? You could have built on a room by now, damn you’re slow. We need you here.
Screw a lazy susan, Stuck is adding a roller coaster salt and pepper shaker dispenser inside the cabinets. Patience, Bea.
EC
I’m no spring chicken, I could be dead and buried by the time Stucky does this kitchen make over. I only had two friends left maybe three if you count Ed but I fear he has flown the coop . I hate when people leave…seriously I hope old Flash comes back.
Dutch wonderland, smaller and caters to the littler kids without as much big corps involved
Callaway Gardens, Georgia. Not really an amusement park but a wonderful family vacation spot. Best thing was something for everyone. Camping or cabin or motel accommodations, bike trails, golf course, lake or pool swimming, water skiing, hiking, nature trails, craft workshops, and even weddings. My favorite activity was the FSU Circus tent…not only daily shows, but the FSU students gave lessons in high wire, tight rope, juggling, and various gymnastics. High wire is a hoot, better than any park ride. My kids loved it. Water skiing lessons for my son was a bonus..he finally learned to barefoot. Don’t recall the price, it was about $150 for a week in the cabin…some activities had nominal additional fees. This would have been the early 80’s.
Never went to a theme park. I never had kids, so that’s probably why. My parents always struggled with money so they couldn’t take me to one, and I respect them for that. There were other things more important, like food and rent.
I stay away from crowds. I went to a lot of rifle ranges though.