So, What is There to See and Do?
First, let's take a look at the rides:
The Santa Maria was your typical 'battering ram' type ride that you find at
carnivals. The basic idea is that the ride is on a pendulum, swinging back and
forth, higher and higher. Riders sit in two opposite sets, which often causes
there to be many screams, vulgar obscentities, or the ever popular "taste great,
less filling" saying.
I'm not quite sure what The Swiss Bob was. Its description was 'Feel the cool wind in
your hair as you sled up and down rolling hills in this 60-second ride.'
The Double-O was the park's looping rollercoaster. Simply, it sent you down a hill
through a loop, then back up another hill. Then you went down that hill backwards,
back through the loop and into the station. If I remember correctly, these
coasters were called shuttle loop coasters.
In this picture, you can see both the Double-O and
the Munchner Rutsche which is mentioned below directly behind the Looping Coaster.
The Munchner Rutsche was your typical carnival sliding board.
The Big Wheel was the park's other landmark, its huge ferris wheel. This 137 foot
ride was visible from both Interstate 4 or U.S. 27, and when I passed by the
park on my way to Cypress Gardens, the Big Wheel was the one thing noticable about
the park, and trust me, it lived up to its name.
The Dizzy Dean was your typical carnival 'Gravitron'
The Ranger was your old midway style whip, which was a ride that was popular
especially in my homestate of Pennsylvania, where both Hersheypark had
it, as well as Dorney Park. The basic idea is that your cars are locked on a chain,
that rolls you along a track at a nice pace, until it reaches the circle at the
end. The ride then proceeds to 'whip' you around the circle, hence its more
popular name at parks, the whip.
The Jaguar Express was apparently one of those rides where you sit down in one of a
series of cars joined in a circle, that then sent you around the circle at
a high speed over many hills. There is no 'typical name' for this ride at
theme parks or carnivals, so I'm left with only giving you my poor description.
The Bumper Cars are somewhat self explanatory.
The description for 1001 Nights is also very poor and I can not figure out what
it was. It reads 'Alley oops and you're over. This ride works its way into a
full 360-degree revolution. Swing up half-way, then three-quarters, then all the
way to the top where you'll hang a few seconds 50 feet above the ground before completing
the cycle in reverse.'
The Enterprise was your typical carnival enterprise. The idea is that your cars are turned
sideways on one circular bar. The ride then lifts from the ground up into a ferris wheel
like setting. Then due to the high speed at which you are spinning, the car lifts straight
up, and you are left going upside down about thirty times, as you go around the circle.
The Schlitenfahrt was similar to the Jaguar express, but where that ride spun forwards and
backwards, this ride only spun forwards.
The Monster was your typical carnival ride called the octopus, which was especially popular
in the 1970's. Eight arms each have a car, hooked on so as to allow the car to spin. Then
as the ride spun around, raising and lowering you back down in one direction, the cars would
spin in the opposite direction, causing you to lose your lunch faster than any other ride
I have known.
The Calypso was similar to the Monster, except that it didn't raise or lower.
The Paratower was another park landmark, a huge 100 foot tower, that you were shot up
to, and then lowered back down to the earth.
The Hurricane was the park's trademark wooden rollercoaster. To this day when people talk
about Island of Adventures coasters, the discussion usually starts with...not since
Boardwalk and Baseball have there been any kind of 'roller coasters' in the Orlando area.
A picture of the coaster is visible on the previous page.
The park also featured a carousel, which featured thirty hand painted horses and two
chariots.
The swings also appeared here in the form of the Wave Swinger. Popular in every
park I've ever been in, this large swing set raised you far above the earth, where it
proceeded to move around in a circle.
The Grand Rapids was the park's four minute log flume ride, built before Boardwalk and
Baseball, to take the place of the Weiner Looping coaster.
The park also featured a children's area called Kiddie Town (or Kiddie City). It
featured the following rides:
A race ride called the Dune Buggies
A flight ride called the Air Planes
The Menagerie, another circular type ride, this time on the ground where
the kids rode in animal cars
The Kiddie Carousel is self explanatory
Venus was another circular ride, this time where the kids could
pilot spaceships.
The Helicopter was a ride where the little helicopters took off and tilted to
a fourty five degree angle
The Mini-Scooter were the kids bumper cars
The Play Port was a kids play land
The Ferris Wheel was a kiddie version of the parks popular ride, taking them up
only fifteen feet this time.
The Swings were also a kiddie version of the parks popular ride
The Pony Cart was another circular ride where kids rode in Horse drawn carriages
The Hampton Combination was a kiddie fire engine ride.
And The Dragon Coaster was billed as a milder version of the Hurricane
As for the shows, there were many to be found there
Inside the Boardwalk theater was to be found the Imax presentation on the
Grand Canyon. Placed there to fit in with the Colorado theme in that area
of the park, this theater was one of the other visible landmarks from the highway
as you drove by the park. When the park was Circus World, it was the Imax circus tent.
The Colorado Riders show was a show featuring horse riding et. al. ad nauseum. It was in
a theater found immediately next to the Boardwalk theater. Designed as a show
about how Colorado became a state, this show took the place of some of the old circus
acts from when the park was Circus World.
Finally Dancin USA was a tribute to all kinds of dance from Jazz, and Big Band, to modern
kinds of Dancing. It was found at the opposite end of the park from where the other two shows
were
Finally, there was A Taste of Cooperstown
This walk through museum of baseball history was one of the new additions to the park
after it became Boardwalk and Baseball. It ended with a 30 minute film about the history
of Baseball in America.
The park also featured many fine shops, and many fine restaurants. Among the restaurants were:
The San Antone Eatery, which was a Tex-Mex style restaurant. This was one of the parks
indoor eateries.
The Colorado Barbecue featured BBQ chicken, ribs, beans, and many other favorites from
the territorial Colorado period.
The second indoor eatery was the Chicken 'N Biscuit, where you could find Fried Chicken and
Biscuits (hence the name)
The Boardwalk Restaurant served Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. The menu was typical theme
park food, such as Cheeseburgers, and French Fries.
The Food Fair was a 'Midway of Food', and featured many popular carnival and boardwalk style
food choices. Featuring both indoor and outdoor seating, this restaurant featured such choices
as Meatball sandwiches, steak sandwiches, and crab meat salad.
Finally The Salerno Express Restaurant was the 'Fine Dining' establishment, set up in
air conditioned railroad cars. There you were served by waiters and waitresses such meals
as Veal, Baked Fish Salerno, and Fettuccini Alfredo.
