Photo Of The Week, Week-3: Desperado Plunge

[Dawg]

Week- 1: The Pink Whale

Used to be a staple in the section now known as "Loony Tunes National Park", was taken out a number of years ago, moved to a temporary location (not for public access), then removed completely.

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[Genius638]

wait, this is gone entirely? i thought it was just moved to storytown or something...

[Tomh]

Nope, it's out of there. For a short time, it was dropped on the grass over behind the Gingerbread House, near the stream there, then part of it was stored back in the picnic area, but now it appears to be gone completely.

[Dawg]

Week-2: Tumbleweed

The upsidedown ferris-wheel that was at Storytown & Great Escape used to reside right where Condor currently is,

Fun ride, but I never got to ride this model here.

[Tomh]

Nice shot Dawg!

[DJZacBarr]

Dawg - Any idea on when that shot was taken? Thanks!

[Dawg]

If memory serves me correctly, it might be either like 1974...

Or early 80's.
I say those two different because I got another shot of my brothers before I was born (1975) that is in ghost-town with the big sign saying "Storytown" and then I remember another shot with the Sea Dragon. I'll have to look at the original picture and let you know the stamped date. I'm pretty sure its the one from the early 80's.

[sfne stinks]

Oh man. I love the Chance Sky Diver. I never rode it at the Great Escape, but I've ridden it at Lakemont Park

If anyone wants to see what a POV of the ride looks like, I have one on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAX0Ll2ai7A

[Dawg]

A rare shot as you are about to "plunge" down the final drop on the Desperado Plunge log ride.

Usually someone is always sitting at the end there and would rip you apart if you tried to whip out your camera at that point!

[Tomh]

Awesome shot Dawg, and very true about there almost always being someone sitting there. In addition, I wouldn't even think about taking my camera on a water ride.

[mrceagle]

Great pics. I especially like the retro pic of the Erli loop-0-plains in the second picture.

[Dawg]

Thanks... I got a couple of more oldies coming soon... but just trying to diversify what I got in my current collection. Unfortunately, I don't have any direct ones of Danny the Dragon *sigh*...

[mrceagle]

was that the dragon ride of the I think it was purple dragon.

[Dawg]

There is the Sea Dragon, which is where boomerang currently sits... that wasn't purple, but greenish tones in there. That will be coming in a couple weeks. That had narrow seating from what I recall.

[Tomh]

Danny the dragon was basically a tractor engine covered in a fiberglass dragon body, with a train of cars behind it also made of fiberglass. I believe that the whole thing was indeed purple. It drove around a simple concrete circle, and was actually driven by a real person, no guide rails or anything like that.

[Dawg]

Was it a circle? I thought that it had a larger layout than a simple circle... I know there was a bridge it went underneath (well, it went in a tunnel... not a bridge per sa)... and thought the layout was that of just a simpler train-ride. I also thought the track was just as narrow as the train-ride, but I guess not...

...would the ride easily tip over if it was just a pimped out tractor with cars being towed?

...taking a look at the ride... I guess not, but it sure looks like it's on some kind of track... even if grooved



(BTW: this isn't Image-of-the-Week... just a random image ).

[Tomh]

You know, it's perfectly possible that my memories of Danny the Dragon are wrong. I never actually rode it, and I was fairly young (in my early teens I believe) when it was removed from the park.

Although in your photo it appears as if there might be a guide rail / track, this image from Google Images certainly shows (what I believe is the same Danny the Dragon) no track or rails.


On the other hand, in this image which was from Freedom Land (that is where Danny was purchased) it appears as if there was a rail. Note that this picture is from
www.benros.com/.../freedomland.htm

[mrceagle]

cool pics. was this ride in the area that the dive show is now?

[Tomh]

Danny was over where the Boomerang is now, and I believe that the tunnel that the Train goes under had Danny running over the top of it.

[mrceagle]

Wow, thanks for the info. While I hate seeing rides removed it sounds like it took up a lot of space.

[Tomh]

Yes, it did indeed have a fairly large footprint. In it's day, it was a popular ride with the kids, but it's time had come.

[mrceagle]

that can be said about so many rides. Too bad they don;t keep the front in a visible location. TGE has so much history would be nice if they showed it off a bit.

[Tomh]

A couple of years ago, while on vacation in Lake George, we took a drive to Old Forge and spent a day at Enchanted Forest / Water Safari. It started life out as a park not too much different than Storytown, largely themed around childrens nursery rhymes. Over the years, it evolved adding some thrill rides, and many water rides to become what it is today.

One of the most interesting things I saw in the park was a "museum" building which has a lot of historical displays about the park over the years. It was really interesting to look at. I really wish that The Great Escape would set up a similar exhibit to document, and display some of the parks rich history.

[DJZacBarr]

That WOULD be great Tom, but then again, according to the park's own literature, the very first roller coaster in the park was the Steamin' Demon!

Kinda hard to imagine what sort of distorted "history" might be represented in a museum that SFI put together...

[Tomh]

That is true, it might be horribly inaccurate, though one can always dream.