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I went to a place I used to go once a summer with my grandfather when I was a kid today with my 2 and a half year old nephew.
I felt terrible seeing what happened to it.
66 years ago, a man by the name of Charlie Woods beat Walt Disney to the punch by three months on the whole theme park thing by opening Storytown in Lake George, NY. In fact, in some circles, he's known as the "father of the theme park". That summer started a tradition in my family, one we continued up until a few years before my grandmother's death, the Labor Day trip to Lake George to go to Storytown. We had been going every summer as a family for over 40 years, since that day in 1954 my grandfather stopped with my mom and my aunt and my uncles on the way home from Mechanicsville, NY.
Storytown became the Great Escape sometime around 1985 and even then, it was still the the best day of the summer for me, even after my grandfather passed on. It would always feel like he was still with me whenever I went through the gate and walked down the paths of the park. It wasn't what there was there, it was the times we had. My grandfather loved that place, he looked forward to Labor Day every summer. The night before we'd watch Jerry Lewis all night on TV and then get up early, pile into the car and drive the 70 or so miles down there to spend the day just being a family. I wouldn't see some of my relatives much of the rest of the summer, but they'd all turn out just for that last real day of the summer.
I kept asking myself, what happened?
Six Flags took it over and there's almost nothing left of the things I remember. They removed the heart and soul of the place, all the good things I loved and looked forward to. Sure, it's nice for my nephew the way it is now, they've put in a ton of things for kids his age, but I walked around wondering what happened to this or to that all day long. Even the one thing I used to despise I found myself missing, there was a ride through building called "The Tornado", where you'd get into an old car and ride through a light and sound show of a tornado. I used to hate it, but I found myself actually sad to walk by the place where it used to be and find it had been demolished to put up some metal monstrosity of a roller coaster.
So much of what I loved about the place is gone, and I'm sitting here about ready to cry over it.
I don't know if it's that I'm getting old or if I'm just being childish.
Addendum: I hadn't been there in at least 10 years. The last time I was there was just after Six Flags took it over, sometime in the late 90's. We went maybe twice after that, before the ticket prices, food and drink prices skyrocketed. So it's been a long time. The only thing I'm planning on doing is getting season tickets for next summer, just so my nephew can go more than once, as he had a ball. I spent most of my day being maudlin and nostalgic.
[last edit 9/5/2010 11:02 PM by Shael - edited 2 times]
"The best wine lies at the bottom of the pail/And Happiness lies below the navel." - Drukpa Kunley, "The Divine Madman of the Dragon Lineage" and "Saint of 5,000 Women". | |
i haven't been to the Sucky Escape since 1998 or so... what is it now? $49 to get in, $4 for a bottle of soda... they can lick the sweat off my ballsack. Stand in line for an hour for a 30 second ride...
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Posted by Samurai
i haven't been to the Sucky Escape since 1998 or so... what is it now? $49 to get in, $4 for a bottle of soda... they can lick the sweat off my ballsack. Stand in line for an hour for a 30 second ride...
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That's why when we go we pick the days that aren't usually very busy and try to find discounts, which we did. Yesterday only ran about 150 dollars for the four of us for admission, drinks and food. I bought everything over the last two weeks before we left home and turned in vouchers all day. I got vouchers for these drink cups where when you buy them, you get free refills all day long on the day of purchase and if you bring the cups back on your next visit, you get refills for 99 cents and even those weren't that expensive and I was given a discount card for everything else, like ice cream and other stuff. So no real big expenditures but gas to get there and a couple of tee shirts I bought for Ben and even that only cost me about 40 dollars, 10 each for the shirts and 20 for gas.
Labor Day weekend has always been one of the not very busy times. Even yesterday wasn't really that busy. No wait times for anything. You just have to know when to go and when not to. Stay away from July, that's the worst. Middle to the end of August is usually pretty good and Labor Day weekend is always best because the tourists are starting to go home.
It just wasn't like it used to be. Certain places in the park have nothing in them anymore. Other places were torn down.
Like the petting zoo. I was looking forward to taking Ben there. Since they always had lots of little animals and baby animals. That's gone. Ghost Town really is a ghost town, not much up there but the roller coasters and the Condor ride anymore. Everything is down below. Even the Magical Mystery Ride is gone, that really made me sick. The building is now a storage shed and the ride that was inside they moved outdoors.
I guess you can't stand in the way of progress, but so many good things are gone now.
[last edit 9/6/2010 12:44 PM by Shael - edited 1 times]
"The best wine lies at the bottom of the pail/And Happiness lies below the navel." - Drukpa Kunley, "The Divine Madman of the Dragon Lineage" and "Saint of 5,000 Women". | |
Posted by Shael
That's why when we go we pick the days that aren't usually very busy and try to find discounts, which we did. Yesterday only ran about 150 dollars for the four of us for admission, drinks and food. I bought everything over the last two weeks before we left home and turned in vouchers all day. So no big expenditures but gas to get there and a couple of tee shirts I bought for Ben and even that only cost me about 40 dollars, 10 each for the shirts and 20 for gas.
Labor Day weekend has always been one of the not very busy times. Even yesterday wasn't really that busy. No wait times for anything. You just have to know when to go and when not to. Stay away from July, that's the worst. Middle to the end of August is usually pretty good and Labor Day weekend is always best because the tourists are starting to go home.
It just wasn't like it used to be. Certain places in the park have nothing in them anymore. Other places were torn down.
Like the petting zoo. I was looking forward to taking Ben there. Since they always had lots of little animals and baby animals. That's gone. Ghost Town really is a ghost town, not much up there but the roller coasters and the Condor ride anymore. Everything is down below. Even the Magical Mystery Ride is gone, that really made me sick. The building is now a storage shed and the ride that was inside they moved outdoors.
I guess you can't stand in the way of progress, but so many good things are gone now.
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your best bet might've been Santa's Workshop.
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Posted by Samurai
your best bet might've been Santa's Workshop.
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We did that already this summer. I just felt bad seeing everything gone, that's all.
"The best wine lies at the bottom of the pail/And Happiness lies below the navel." - Drukpa Kunley, "The Divine Madman of the Dragon Lineage" and "Saint of 5,000 Women". | |
Posted by Shael
We did that already this summer. I just felt bad seeing everything gone, that's all.
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ah.
gotcha.
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Posted by Samurai
ah.
gotcha.
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Yeah, it was always a place I wanted to take my kids, that's why I took Ben. I was just hoping a little of the magic that was there when I was a kid was still there. There's still some there, but it's not like it used to be. I figured the names and characters would change, which they have, but that some of the things in the park would stay the same. It's just that in the name of progress, they've taken a lot of the heart and soul out of the place.
"The best wine lies at the bottom of the pail/And Happiness lies below the navel." - Drukpa Kunley, "The Divine Madman of the Dragon Lineage" and "Saint of 5,000 Women". | |
Posted by Shael
Yeah, it was always a place I wanted to take my kids, that's why I took Ben. I was just hoping a little of the magic that was there when I was a kid was still there. There's still some there, but it's not like it used to be. I figured the names and characters would change, which they have, but that some of the things in the park would stay the same. It's just that in the name of progress, they've taken a lot of the heart and soul out of the place.
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you hung around me too long... you're turning into a romantic cynic.
nothing stays the same and sometimes it's best to not fuck with the memories. Somehow the current dilutes the strength and sweetness of the past.
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Posted by Samurai
you hung around me too long... you're turning into a romantic cynic.
nothing stays the same and sometimes it's best to not fuck with the memories. Somehow the current dilutes the strength and sweetness of the past.
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Yeah, you're probably right.
"The best wine lies at the bottom of the pail/And Happiness lies below the navel." - Drukpa Kunley, "The Divine Madman of the Dragon Lineage" and "Saint of 5,000 Women". | |
Posted by Samurai
you hung around me too long... you're turning into a romantic cynic.
nothing stays the same and sometimes it's best to not fuck with the memories. Somehow the current dilutes the strength and sweetness of the past.
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That was one thing that I really loved about having kids; you're able to re-live all those times vicariously through them. And now that my kids are older (18 and soon-to-be 13), taking them exploring helps me re-experience the wonder of youth.
“We are not going to have the kind of cooperation we need if everyone insists on their own narrow version of reality. … the great divide in the world today … is between people who have the courage to listen and those who are convinced that they already know it all.”
-Madeline Albright | |
Posted by splumer
That was one thing that I really loved about having kids; you're able to re-live all those times vicariously through them. And now that my kids are older (18 and soon-to-be 13), taking them exploring helps me re-experience the wonder of youth.
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On the other end it depresses me when I take my daughter someplace that was cool when I was 10 and its been safteyfied to the point its not fun anymore or been bought out and they completely changed it. Or its abandoned now. There was a lil gem mine not far from here with a lil man made paddle boat lake that I thought was the coolest place ever when I was her age. Now its a torn up building and drained lake of briars and vines 
Ezekiel 25:17 | |
Posted by jeepdave
Or its abandoned now.
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You say that like it's a bad thing! I took my 18-year-old to Germain Amphitheater in Columbus, OH, where he saw his first concert back in 1999. It's abandoned now, and he had a blast.
“We are not going to have the kind of cooperation we need if everyone insists on their own narrow version of reality. … the great divide in the world today … is between people who have the courage to listen and those who are convinced that they already know it all.”
-Madeline Albright |
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