| Gabe's Park Reviews |
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| The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom, Lake George, NY |
| This park, now owned by Six Flags, was first opened in 1954 as Storytown USA. I visited the park with my father on a Thursday in June, 2003. It was hardly crowded at all. First I rode the Steamin' Demon in Ghost Town, an Arrow steel corkscrew/loop coaster. The line took about 30 seconds, which was close to the length of the ride. It wasn't all that thrilling, except for right after the loop going into the corkscrew. Don't ride unless the line is short. My next ride was on the Condor, a tame spinning ride across from the Demon. It had a scrambler-type motion while ascending a tower. It provided a good view, but that was it. After the Condor, we queued up for Nightmare at Crackaxle Canyon, an indoor compact coaster. The line moved incredibly slow because each car only seats two people (1 in front, 1 in back). Believe the sign at front that says a 2-hour wait from that point, because it's true. As for the ride itself, it was quite thrilling, although not as exciting or visually interesting as Space Mountain at Disneyland. Unlike some compact coasters, Nightmare was delightfully smooth. Unfortunately, the new mine train coaster Canyon Blaster, formerly the Rock 'n Roller Coaster at Opryland, was not open yet. A further dissapointment, however, was the fact that to build the Canyon Blaster, Six Flags removed the Ghost Train AND the classic dark ride Tornado, neither of which I had been able to ride in the past. This is a perfect example of why I consider Six Flags' purchasing of old parks a mixed blessing. In one way, it is good because they keep the old parks alive by maintaning them well and adding new attractions. On the other hand, this often results in the removal of classic rides and some of the tacky attractions that made these old parks so great. This results in a reduction of atmosphere and a sterile, thrill-only park. Another result of SixFlagsification is the placement of extra fee rides in the park. This truly shows that Six Flags' only concern is making a buck. I mean, you're already paying so much to get in and get food, they should just stop there. I wasn't happy, but I didn't let it spoil my day. We made our way through the tunnel that connects Ghost Town with Story Town, and passed a kid-sized village and a petting zoo. Then we crossed Great Escape's picturesque stream to Fest Area, which is basically a bunch of carnival rides with little theming. Our goal was the Comet, a classic wooden coaster located in the back of the park behind Splahwater Kingdom Waterpark. The line was short, so we hopped right in the front seat. The ride was a combination of great drops and airtime galore. I can see why enthusiasts rate this coaster so highly. We got right back on in the back, which was a little more brutal, but still loads of fun. It was getting hot, so we headed over to the waterslide. I took the blue one, which was about average as tube slides go, nothing spectacular. After that we took a quick dip in the wave pool which was pretty chilly. We stopped at the Beer Garden for lunch. The decor was a bit sleazy, obviously not improved by Six Flags yet, but the food was cheap as amusement parks go, and not too bad. After lunch we got on Raging Rivers, a rapids-type ride in round rafts. The line moved quickly, and the ride was enjoyable, even though I didn't get very wet. We took a ride on the ferris wheel to see the view, then walked over to the bumper cars which my dad wanted to ride. They weren't shown on the map which leads me to suspect they were put in late this year to increase capacity. While my father was waiting in line, I decided to check out Alice in Wonderland, one of two walkthrus in the park. There was a sloping low-cielinged rabbit hole, which led out to a pathway through some trees going past plastic characters from the book. A recorded narration about Alice's adventures played overhead. Overall very tacky (in a good way). The bumper cars were OK, then we went to Chipper's Magical Mystery Tour, an indoor scrambler with flashing lights. After that, we hopped right onto the sky ride. We caught a glimpse of the high-dive show, quite a unique feature in theme parks these days, as we glided by. The cars moved very slowly, but it was a nice break. We went to the swings next, and then walked to Jungleland, another walkthru attraction that has somehow survived all these years. We passed stiff animals while walking along wooden boardwalks. Jungle sounds played in the background as we ran across a swinging bridge. It may not have been hi-tech, but it was fun. Our final ride of the day was the train, a quiet ride going along the creek and back into the woods by Jungleland. It appeared that there was some work being done in a backstage area over a berm by the turnaround. We mused at the tiny storybook houses as we walked toward the exit, tired and happily content after our "great escape." |
| ROLLER COASTERS Alpine Bobsled - N/O Boomerang Coast-to-Coaster - N/A Canyon Blaster - N/O Comet - 10 Nightmare at Crackaxle Canyon - 8 Steamin' Demon - 4 WATER RIDES |
| Below are reviews of several amusement parks I have visited throughout North America. I hope these will help you in your amusement park traveling plans. |
| KEY N/A - I did not go on ride N/O - Ride was not operating when I visited Ratings are on a 10 point scale |