Amusement These Days
I went to Knott's Berry Farm, America's FIRST Theme Park, a banner announced as we entered.
Times, they have changed. I went a couple of years ago and the last time before that was probably a decade ago. I've never been to Scary Farm, a travesty as I am told.
I can't believe I had the energy I had back in the day. We would go, squeezing out every last second the park would remain open to enjoy the rides. Now, we were all planning to leave by 6 or 7. Back then me, my siblings, and friends would run from ride exit to ride entrance...wait in line, goof around, make inappropriate jokes to pass the time and then get on the ride, enjoy it, exit and find the next line. As kids we owned Montezooma's Revenge. And, even now, I'm glad to hear that before you are launched with aircraft carrier technology off through a giant loop and back, you hear those nostalgic, comforting words: "Clear. . .Dispatch." The words are so treasured, that now most of the "big kid" rides use it. I wonder if Camp Snoopy uses it on their Manual Labor Cars.
What's gone? The Soap Box Racers. A classic ride where you could pile into a car and race others in their own cars, and use bobsledding techniques recalled from the last Winter Olympics or that one James Bond film. Dueling coasters...that's a fun concept!
But I couldn't believe how slow me and my siblings moved from one ride to the next. We would discuss each ride, contemplate which we wanted to go on or could go on. Even my older brother (2 years older) said no to one, and stood back and observed if his stomach could handle it, then changed his mind. I'm glad he did. I'm more glad he didn't puke.
I found myself looking into shops and stores. I even stopped to play a couple carnie games, with which I had no luck. That day we didn't touch a ride twice. But we did discuss which rides they took out because of accidents or which ones still are around that people died on.
And then came Ghostrider, an old style roller coaster that showed up after I stopped going to the park when I was younger. There's no fancy magnetic propulsion system, no loops or vertical drops. Just a wooden roller coaster that goes up and down and twists here and there. The line was long. Not as long as others you can experience at a Six Flags...but long enough to make you start joking around, playing Hot Hands and all its variations, and making inappropriate jokes about today's silly youth. Ridiculous, I tell you.
We got on that ride and we flew. That speed. That chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk sound as the cars sailed on the tracks on those wooden boards. It took us out of the park, over into the parking lot back into the park back over the parking lot and then the return home. A long ride. My brother, sister, her boyfriend, and I were yelling, screaming, and even WOOOing higher than a Radiohead song. Ghostrider belongs on the list of anyone that's missing a little classic thrill, for we laughed and sat back, got jolted around, and enjoyed that rush of what it was like to simply be a kid again.
Times, they have changed. I went a couple of years ago and the last time before that was probably a decade ago. I've never been to Scary Farm, a travesty as I am told.
I can't believe I had the energy I had back in the day. We would go, squeezing out every last second the park would remain open to enjoy the rides. Now, we were all planning to leave by 6 or 7. Back then me, my siblings, and friends would run from ride exit to ride entrance...wait in line, goof around, make inappropriate jokes to pass the time and then get on the ride, enjoy it, exit and find the next line. As kids we owned Montezooma's Revenge. And, even now, I'm glad to hear that before you are launched with aircraft carrier technology off through a giant loop and back, you hear those nostalgic, comforting words: "Clear. . .Dispatch." The words are so treasured, that now most of the "big kid" rides use it. I wonder if Camp Snoopy uses it on their Manual Labor Cars.
What's gone? The Soap Box Racers. A classic ride where you could pile into a car and race others in their own cars, and use bobsledding techniques recalled from the last Winter Olympics or that one James Bond film. Dueling coasters...that's a fun concept!
But I couldn't believe how slow me and my siblings moved from one ride to the next. We would discuss each ride, contemplate which we wanted to go on or could go on. Even my older brother (2 years older) said no to one, and stood back and observed if his stomach could handle it, then changed his mind. I'm glad he did. I'm more glad he didn't puke.
I found myself looking into shops and stores. I even stopped to play a couple carnie games, with which I had no luck. That day we didn't touch a ride twice. But we did discuss which rides they took out because of accidents or which ones still are around that people died on.
And then came Ghostrider, an old style roller coaster that showed up after I stopped going to the park when I was younger. There's no fancy magnetic propulsion system, no loops or vertical drops. Just a wooden roller coaster that goes up and down and twists here and there. The line was long. Not as long as others you can experience at a Six Flags...but long enough to make you start joking around, playing Hot Hands and all its variations, and making inappropriate jokes about today's silly youth. Ridiculous, I tell you.
We got on that ride and we flew. That speed. That chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk sound as the cars sailed on the tracks on those wooden boards. It took us out of the park, over into the parking lot back into the park back over the parking lot and then the return home. A long ride. My brother, sister, her boyfriend, and I were yelling, screaming, and even WOOOing higher than a Radiohead song. Ghostrider belongs on the list of anyone that's missing a little classic thrill, for we laughed and sat back, got jolted around, and enjoyed that rush of what it was like to simply be a kid again.
posted by matty at 10:43 PM
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