Disclaimer: Written by David Bowers. This feature is Copyright 1997 David Bowers. All pictures used in this feature are by the author, and may not be reproduced on electronic or paper forms without permission! This review of Ghost Town has not been reviewed by the park and is solely my opinion.
Welcome partner! It's time for your virtual on-line visit to Ghost Town in the Sky. So let's pull into the parking lot and buy our Pay One Price ticket:
As you can see, we are very much in the Smoky Mountains
as we park our car in a FREE parking lot in the little town of Maggie Valley,
North Carolina, (Right on US 19). So the park is not quite open
yet, and we did arrive early, so we got in the first row of general parking.
Time to walk up to the building under the Ghost Town sign and buy our
ticket: that will be $17.95 please.
Now,
you may be saying, "Wait a minute, I don't see any amusement rides here!?!"
If you will look through the front gate (on the right) you will see
that your first ride is waiting for you! We must now take the climb up approx.
3,300' up a steep mountainside in order to reach the park. Since I'm
not an alpineist, I'll choose between the two rides offered here: The Chair
Lift, and the Incline Railway. Since I've been on my share of chair
lift's, I think I'll choose the incline....
So it's through the one entrance
turnstile,
then head to the right, and up the steep ramp: first come first serve for
the incline seats. (Each row seats 3, group yourselves accordingly). Then
after the gates close, it's up, uP, UP the side of the mountain, up a 70
degree mountainside. Don't worry about the seats being tipped way back
when you get on, that will be dealt with on your way up. So you get
a good view the seats face the bottom of the mountain!
Ok, so we've gotten inside the park, let me give you a couple views so you can see just how high up we really are:
Pretty
good view, huh? Well except for that fog :(. On the left you
will see the main 'drag' far below, and on the right you can see straight
out. See the mere 4' high fencing on the mountain edge?
You would think we are at the summit of the mountain, wouldn't
you? Well, not exactly, see Ghost Town is literally a mountain side
park! And the Incline let's you off at the lowest point of the amusement
area. In order to get to the upper sections of the park , while avoiding
a steep hike, we must take one of Ghost Town's many blue busses, as shown
here. You may notice the roller-coaster in the background, we'll get
to that in good time.
Our
friendly bus driver has taken us up to the highest stop along his route,
which happens to be the base of the ride's midway! (Yup, you'll be
climbing some hills to reach the rides). At the bottom you will see
some games, gifts and food stands, then Kiddieland with it's small kiddie
coaster (which I absent-mindedly did not get a picture of :( ) The adult
rides are higher up the hill, come on, you can make it!
As
you can see, Ghost Town has a collection of classic rides. It's midway
almost seems frozen in time, with such rides as a Chance Casino (commonly
called the Trabant), a Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl, Paratrooper, Sea Dragon, circle
swing, carousel, and a Round Up, along with several kids rides interspersed.
Note the mountain view behind the Sea Dragon. Yes the ride is
built along the mountain edge!
Note the
customized Chance Yo-Yo, with the revolvers on the support boom. Yes
the 'stocks' on those guns say "Chance Rides" While this Yo-Yo does
not tilt much, you can see it's main feature is that you swing out over the
mountain edge! I wonder what the security guard in that little gray
shack is for, you are far away from any shops or gates. Picnicing is welcome
in this park, if you want to haul your basket all the way up to the top.
The Yo-Yo is the highest ride, and the picnic grove is beyond that! (In case
you are interested, that is me in the blue shirt coming off the Round-Up)
But,
the top of the mountain is not all Rides, (except in the Mile High Ride Area),
you have Fort Cherokee behind the Round-Up, which features a Country Music
Show, Indian Dancers, a Country Critters show, as well as games, gifts, and
gold-panning. And head on down to the bottom of the Rides Area, and you have
Ghost Town in the Sky: The Themed Area. When this park first opened,
it was solely a Ghost Town attraction, and it's street, can still be walked
with its saloon shows, cafe's, gift shops, and photo opportunities. Yes
the Bank in the photo below is a deserted Bank you can walk through. (As
is a school, church, etc) The Bank also has a guest-register, so make
your visit known!
The
main show, is of course, an old town street Gun Fight! And here, they
use real guns! (Note no guests straying off the boardwalks). What other park
can you get a bullet-shell off the ground for a souvineer, FREE!. The
Ghost Town also has the Mysterious Thriller Theater, it shows a motion-simulator
film, with one small problem, there are NO motion bases to be found, just
folding chairs. (As Todd Long would say "Rock your own chair"). A train ride
around the area completes the theming.
Well, it's back on the bus to go down to the middle level of the park, and to discover just what they keep in that Red Barn! (It's not animals)
It's Duce Bumper
Cars!!!!! The best bumper car ride south of the Mason-Dixon
line! FAST cars, HARD bumps. Spin-outs, rebounds, and a ride-op who
likes to get into the fun! There may not be a height requirement to
ride this but don't worry if you chicken out, the operator will ride with
you, standing on the back of your car, trying to help you nail those other
park guests!
Which raises another point, The rides at this park do not have
timers, and once the ride-op starts having fun on the Bumper Cars with you
a ride of 6-15 minutes in length is not uncommon! (Then again almost
all the parks flat rides give a MINIMUM of a 5 minute ride!. Spin-and-Spew
Challenged people, look out!) Oh and what if a bumper car 'breaks down'.
Have the technician fix it, on the bumper car arena floor, while the
ride is in operation. (see right). The gray circle on the bottom of the picture
is my steering wheel.
Also on the middle level of the park, is for coaster-enthusiasts, the MAIN attraction (for the average park guests it seems to be the Bumper Cars, or Black Widow (later on))
Okay, I'll get the description out of the way first, and then let you feast your eyes on the slides!
The Red Devil is unlike any other coaster, in that's it's station is located at the TOP of the lift hill! Yep, that's right, you get in, lower your safety bar (no stinking horsecollars here), and are immediately released onto that first drop! After your drop, you hit the vertical loop, and then do a figure-8 to bring you around to the lift hill, climb the lift, and you get out at the top! Don't sound too impressed? Did I mention the strong LATERAL G's on this ride, did I mention the Positive G's in that small loop, did I mention the first Drop going DOWN the side of the MOUNTAIN! (And if the back 2 cars weren't roped off, I might have been able to mention some AIRTIME in that push off to the drop)
Well, now that we have ridden the Red Devil a few times, (and gotten some double rides, thanks to the small line), it's time to take the bus down to the Lower level of the park, to "Mining Town"
Welcome
to Mining Town. The feature ride in "these here parts" is the Black
Widow Dark Ride! Now this is not a dark ride in a traditional sense,
but a carnival ride that has been enhanced by the process. The Black Widow,
at it's roots is a Scrambler, which is painted entirely in black, and put
inside an octagonal shaped building. After your 7-minute ride starts,
the lights go out, the loud music comes on, then the strobes come on.
After that it is entirely up to the ride ops. In the back of
the area, to the right of the Black Widow you might see the sign for the
"Ghost Mine", this is a traditional dark 'walk-through' haunted house.
Food, games and gifts round out the area.
Well, we;ve seen the park, now it is time for the sermon:
While most of us would agree, getting an amusement ride, such
as the "Round Up" above to yourself can be an exciting experience, we must
also realize that it is not a good sign for the park. :( Folks, the
future of parks relies solely on OUR attendance. So come out to a small,
traditional park near you (or near where you are vacationing at), and help
Support the park, like I helped "Support" the Red Devil! As Ray
Brashears said "Without our support, these parks won't be around to entertain
us in the future"
<Getting off of soap box>
Well
as we ready to leave the park, we need to take care of the usual formality,
the "We Were There" photo! In the group photo to the left, I'm in the
blue shirt, my cousin Ricky is in the Red, and my cousin Mary is in the middle!
Hey we also got the Red Devil in the picture, what a Deal!.
We
took the Incline Railway up, so I think we should take the Chair Lift
down, in order to get the whole "sense" for the park. This picture shows
the chairlift at the very top of the mountain, the little red car you see
is the incline train getting ready to take a group down. But of
course we can't say goodbye without one more picture of the Red Devil!
This is the view of the Red Devil, as seen from my chair lift chair (Thats the pole in the loop). Say goodbye! Now the chair lift only seats 2 per seat, so group yourself, and the ride never stops so be ready to jump on and lower your own bar.
Well, did you like the feature? If so send any comments, complaints, etc to me . Interested in more columns like this one, or PLEASE, tell me you looked at it!