It's been a while since I've been to Cedar Point.
Why? Besides the fact that I'm getting a little long in the tooth to be riding roller coasters, the last time I was there, I just felt that the park had changed too much for my taste. I missed the Cedar Point of my youth, when my family's annual visit there was often the highlight of summer during the 1960s and early 70s.
But my disappointment is to be expected. Cedar Point is constantly evolving, striving to provide the kind of modern thrills and excitement that the younger guests enjoy. So the park isn't going to maintain an older ride or attraction strictly out of nostalgia to make the over-60s crowd happy. It's out with the old and in with the new – both rides and guests.
And with the park admission price reaching astronomical highs, it's more economical for families to purchase a season pass and go several times during the summer. I know several people at work who do just that.
Anyway, fifty years ago, the Frontier Trail (connecting the main park and Frontier Town) was still relatively new, and the subject of the article below. It appeared in the Sunday Journal back on July 29, 1973 and pointed out the (ugh) educational aspects of the Trail.
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| Vintage souvenir currently on eBay |
10 comments:
The anonymous post haters might not like this but here goes.I remember going to Cedar Point one time and I was on The Blue Streak.Besides having my guts shaken,not stirred a bit from the roughness of the ride someone else was having trouble of their own.He or she must've had a sneeze or something blown out of them from the ride because I noticed a big ole' hocker on my leg at the end of the ride.Luckily I had a pocket knife that I used to scrape the slimy green growth off of my jeans.Then I flicked it off.My friends and I were laughing our butts off when we realized what was going on.Good times.No politics.Just anonymous,innocent good clean slimy fun.
No politics... Just slime... I agree...
I worked an amusement park back in the '70s.
*Some* ride operators used to try to make people sick, y'know?
Probably the worst thing I ever witnessed was at the "Round-Up" which was one of the centrifugal rides. You stand inside a big cage circle, it spins real fast, then it goes up on its side and the spinning holds everyone in place.
Anyway... About halfway through the ride, somebody barfed. All that puke went hurtling through the ride, splashing on people, half of whom, when they realize what was happened, also puked.
It was like something out of South Park.
It also took considerable hosing down to un-vomit the ride.
Oh, and we called the "Tilt-a-Whirl" either the "Tilt-n-Hurl" or the "Vomitron."
Professional Advice: If there's a water hose near the ride, be careful.
Oh, and Frontier Land. Yeah.
My rule of thumb (or stomach) used to be that if a ride had you going in two directions at once, stay away from it.
These days, my rule is to stay away from any ride with height, speed or really any motion. Which pretty much limits me to Frontier Land.
Buster:
I hear you, pal.
I can get motion-sick on an escalator if I put my mind to it!
I use those acupressure "seasickness bands," now. They actually work pretty good, for me at least.
Don:
The other issue for me is heights. Never used to both me. Now I can't get beyond the first step on a ladder without becoming woozy.
Buster:
I don't have that problem, but when I get up a few dozen feet, I start hearing the "call of the void" and get a very strong urge to jump!
Don:
My urge for self-preservation is too strong for that to be a problem.
The funny thing is, I was very sure footed when younger. Please used to call me "old mountain goat," but now I wonder if it was my poise afoot or something else.
DAN!
I just finished up following your trail of older and older posts on Cedar Point.
Listen pal, I have to say that your dedication to this blog is something else entirely. I don't know anybody else who has worked so hard and for so long maintaining something like this.
I appreciate your dedication to this place. I want to be just like you when I grow up!
Don
Very interesting. The crafts mentioned in the article are longer on the trail. However, there is still a woodcarver and glass blowing demonstrations, keeping some of the charm alive.
Don, I agree about Dan's dedication to this blog. Just amazing.
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