Amusement parks

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi Bill, Hi Maddie,

We both love a good amusement park, although maybe I enjoy them a slight bit more than Lisa. When we visited California for the first time we had the chance to go to “Six Flags” in LA which had by far the best roller coasters from anywhere we had visited. It’s one of the things Americans do really well! ???? We also went to Universal Studios and Disneyland, and they all had really unique and fun rides.

I found this clip from “Six Flags” in 2007 when we went on the “Goliath” ride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwJWucFf5kI

I love all types of thrill rides … the more scared you are while queuing the better 😉

I remember bumper cars from the local fairs from where we grew up – If you could evade all other cars for a full round you would get to go again for free which became my mission for the entirety of the evening!

If we ever make it to Pittsburgh we’ll have to try and stop by at Kennywood Park!

All the best to you both, I hope Maddie’s softball playing is going well!

[Jung Roe]

Mona, speaking of roller coasters, Vancouver is proud of it’s vintage 1958 wooden roller coaster. Despite the other modern corkscrew high speed roller coasters we have, the city has kept it’s vintage 1958 roller coaster by popular demand, because it is one of the scariest rides you will ever remember!

https://www.insidevancouver.ca/2010/09/01/best-ever-the-wooden-roller-coaster-at-the-pne/

“With the PNE in town, it might be a good time to revive the age-old debate: Could the Wooden Roller Coaster at Playland be the best coaster ever?

Upon initial consideration, this claim might seem a bit over the top. The Wooden Roller Coaster, after all, was built all the back in 1958. Its maximum height is a mere 75 feet and its top speed is a sluggish 90 kilometers per hour (Modern steel coasters, by comparison, can reach heights of nearly 500 feet and speeds in excess of 200 kilometers per hour). The Wooden Roller Coaster doesn’t go upside down or backward. And the ride lasts a mere 90 seconds.

But the old coaster’s got one big thing going for it: The ride feels really, really unsafe. It’s not, of course. No one to my knowledge has ever been seriously hurt. But talk to anyone who’s survived a ride, and you’ll hear the same refrain: Oh my god, I thought I was gonna get thrown right out of the @#!$ car.

And it’s this element – terror; the sensation that your body is in immediate physical peril – that sets Playland’s coaster apart from all of its competitors. Get on a gleaming new steel coaster, and they strap you in snug as a bug. You may race along at blistering G-forces and corkscrew until you’re dizzy, but you never feel in any real danger.

Not so on the Wooden Roller Coaster. It starts off innocently enough. The rickety cars are slowly towed to the top of the first hill. Been there. Done that. Nothing to write home about. But then comes that first, horrifying drop. It’s not the speed so much as the fact that you’re literally lifted out of your seat, held in place only by the skinny steel bar stretched across your lap. That’s when the adrenalin kicks in: the feeling that something’s gone terribly wrong with the ride and you might not make it through.

That’s what makes the Wooden Roller Coaster special. As many times as I’ve been on it and as many times as I’ve told myself “It’s just a ride,” there’s always a point where doubt creeps in and my fingers dig into the metal safety bar and I just know I’m about to end up splattered on the Playland pavement.”

https://youtu.be/atCJxlmrfCw?t=1

So if you’re ever in Vancouver, there is a thrilling roller coaster to try out. You haven’t been on a real roller coaster until you’ve tried this one.

BTW, loved seeing your first hand roller coaster ride at 6 Flags, thanks for sharing that video clip! 🙂 Can see an excited little Mona and Lisa as the roller coaster makes it’s way up to the first drop. I haven’t been on that one, but it looks like a thrilling ride! I love the peaceful moment on any roller coaster at the top just before that first terrifying plunge! It’s too late, you can’t stop now, and you know you are in for a massive thrill about to happen!

[John Hollister]

Hi Jung,

I think I need to talk to you before I plan my next trip to Vancouver!

[Jung Roe]

Here is a picture of me and my niece in 2005 on that roller coaster, shot from the roller coaster cam. She came over from Korea to study, and she wanted to try a Canadian roller coaster. I don’t think she’s ever experienced a roller coaster ride like this. I was hanging on for dear life.

[David Herrick]

I know what you mean about wooden coasters, Jung. The constant loud clackety sound, the vibration of the car, and the relatively loose lap bar all conspire to make you think that at some point you’re just going to fly off (or crash through) the track to your doom.

I was also always scared during the lift to the top of the hill, worried that the chain would break and we’d quickly slide back down into the stationhouse, with no way to see when to brace for impact. The higher we got the more nervous I became, and I was actually relieved when we finally started down the hill.

When I was a kid we went once every summer to a major amusement park just outside Cincinnati. In 1979 they debuted a new wooden coaster which at the time was the longest, the tallest, and the fastest in the world. It’s still a great ride!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dC6uJDNf64

The first time I rode it I remember going down the first hill and thinking there was no way we were going to fit through that tiny tunnel at the bottom. And then the tunnel vastly amplified the noise of the coaster, turning it into an absolutely unearthly roar (which this video unfortunately doesn’t really pick up). What a thrill!

[Jung Roe]

Hi David, I see what you mean about the wooden roller coaster, at one point as it goes up that first big ramp and creeps to a slow crawl, it makes you wonder if the chain pulling you up the ramp is so old and fatigued it might finally give out, and send you flying backwards! That one is a nice long and fun wooden one! I think on these old fashioned wooden roller coasters not too many people are able to hold both hands up as the coaster goes down, because you are hanging onto that little lap bar for dear life!!! as you start feeling your body lift off the seats (no seat belts!).

[Tim Johnston]

If you go to Kennywood Park let Bill or me know. I will gladly cover the Wagner bill for the tickets and I am sure Bill would want to hang out too. It is a really nice park. I am more of the stroll and eat speed nowadays at the park but I love to go and riding with you guys would be a blast!

Tim Johnston

[Jacki Hopper]

Sad to say as a kid, I endured bad experiences on Amusement/Fair rides as a result traumatized me that I refuse to still not go on any rides, rather enjoy and prefer walking around, visiting the farm animals, tractors, hot rod cars, etc playing tent bingo, playing midway games, etc

[Jung Roe]

Jacki, I always enjoyed going to the fair for just that, the games, exhibits, flea market, car and tractor shows, dog shows, farm animals, international food fair, and many other themed events including a free concert and fireworks at night at the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver). Sometimes they have big acts that play there like 3 Dog Night, BTO, Beach Boys etc…I could spend all day in there. It’s a long standing tradition in the last 3 weeks of the summer, ending on Labour Day. Haven’t been to it for quite a few years, but during the pandemic I sure missed it, and will go next year hopefully when it opens. They have these special famous fair donuts that you can’t get anywhere else.

[Bill Isenberg]

Jacki, sorry to hear that, but still walking around and enjoying the day and food is a great experience. Jung great picture of you and your niece, cool! Thanks for sharing. Tim that sounds like a plan I am in to cover the expense of Mona and Lisa coming to Kennywood Park. But I also found a new place to have fun, it is Hershey Pa. Wow I love chocolate and they have a tour of the factory where they make the chocolate and then the park. I went on the Candy Maze ride and it is 210 feet drop at 75 miles an hour and ok I did it and wow what a rush but that is not a ride to repeat! LOL…But the park is awesome and that is another one to check out in Pennsylvania. And another one is in Ohio Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world.

[Bill Isenberg]

Mona thank you for asking about Maddie with softball, she made the all star team and we are in a tournament this coming weekend. Wish us luck!!