Joe, Sean, and Nick talk topical, HHN26! Then we cover monorail restaurant crawls, food and wine, trains outside Joe's window, Rivers of Light, Fantastic Beasts (we found them), Joe screwing up his mic input settings, and then some Nintendo news and speculation! Note my use of the oxford comma.
This delightful photo is copyright Universal Parks & Resorts and Nintendo.
I had a hard time deciding on how to write the title to this article. Do I do a play on "Sega Does What Nintendon't"? Nintendo and Universal announce projects? I think 'teaser' is a good descriptor; we hear some vague info on the locations, attractions, and goals of the project but not much else. To quote the press release, "All of the adventure, fun and whimsy you experience through a screen will now be all around you – in breathtakingly authentic ways," and "coming to... Universal Orlando," that's a very deliberate phrasing and a hint of what's to come. I would be remiss to mention these bullet points Universal is highlighting:
Nintendo-themed areas are coming to Universal Studios Japan, Universal Orlando Resort, and Universal Studios Hollywood.
These will be expansive, immersive and interactive. They’ll be highly themed and authentic environments filled with multiple attractions, shops and restaurants.
You’ll feel as if you’re playing inside your favorite games – in real life.
There will be something for everyone—regardless of their age or gaming experience level.
Planning and creative work on these areas is well underway; they will open separately over the next several years.
Also, enjoy this video with Shigeru Miyamoto, because he is delightful.
Nintendo World (my name) has not opening date, but is expected to open at Universal Studios Japan before the Olympics and stateside shortly afterwards.
For almost 20 years of my life, my primary location of residency was The Nutmeg State. All of my primary and secondary education from 1st grade through what college I completed took place here. Between 1989 and 2008, I went all over the damn place. Whether it was being the brat following his dad to work sites (he owned a paving company here), or on my own exploring every back corner, I know the state of Connecticut exceptionally well even many years after having moved west.
Connecticut is not a big place, but it is a place that is population dense. More people live here than in Arkansas or Mississippi, a fact that is often forgotten when discussing what is or isn't "real America". It claims to be the birthplace of the hamburger and the revolver, thus giving it the responsibility of having inadvertently killed more US citizens than any other state. Hartford was known for its position in the insurance industry, but that has eroded, and the state is primarily known for being home to major universities and where many a high powered executive lays his head after taking the train into Manhattan for work.
Geographically and ethnographically, the state is split in two pieces by the Connecticut River, which flows north to south, meeting the Atlantic Ocean in Long Island Sound. The eastern side of the river is home to a collection of old mill and whaling towns in various degrees of economic struggle. The western side is home to the 14 most populated cities in the state, and 21 of the top 25. As you'd expect under these circumstances, that means most of the amusements you'd ever have heard of exist on that half. But not all.
WRONG SIDE OF THE RIVER
Most of my youth was spent in New London County, one of the three counties located east of the Connecticut River. Things were generally sleepy out this way until the Mashantucket Pequot tribe obtained the funding to expand their bingo hall and create the "indian casino" boom in the 1990s. Now branded as the MGM Grand, and facing competition from the Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino, more tourists pour into this area of Connecticut than at any other time in history. Most arrive via I-95 coming from Metro New York, with a smaller percentage heading in from Providence and Boston. Much of the tourist infrastructure intends to meet them on their way to gaming. Yet, this is also a summer playground for families and has been for generations thanks to the rare combination of historic attractions and sandy beaches. Mystic Seaport is by far the most well known such item, grabbing over 300,000 visitors a year to the open air museum facility.
New London, CT is home to Ocean Beach Park, a city beach with a small amusement park of mostly kiddie rides, water slides that date to the dawn of the modern aquatics industry, and the state's best arcade. Off of Route 85 heading south from Hartford towards the Crystal Mall, one can also run into Dinosaur Place at Natures Art Village. The main attraction here is a "Dinosaurs Alive"-esque walk through the woods to admire giant animatronics. The gift shop attached is huge and features a lot of interesting local food items that are worth perusing. Eastern CT is also the location of the largest fairgrounds in the state; Portland and Hebron are probably the most impressive you'll see in Southern New England outside of the Big E grounds in Springfield, MA.
CAPITAL-IZM
Hartford, the state's capital, is seen by most as a literal crossroads. CT-2, I-91 and I-84 all crash into one another here in the sort of ghastly fashion most cities try extremely hard to avoid now. Also like many cities, there's still a reputation of danger downtown that makes it a virtual dead zone most days after 5PM. The city does operate a gorgeous 1914 Stein and Goldstein carousel in Bushnell Park, but that has limited drawing potential. If one chooses to, they can head down Route 15 towards the Merritt Parkway via the Berlin Turnpike, and discover the closest thing the state has to old Route 66. The Hartford area's Stew Leonard's grocery store is here: yes, the original is in Norwalk, but this one is just as good. There are three total in the state, and they all basically resemble a cross between Whole Foods and Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati. There are huge animatronic displays everywhere you turn. If static displays are OK with you too, you can go just a little further south on the same road and run across Safari Golf, a Doo-Wop era mini golf course with enormous plaster animals and bright blue waterfalls.
TRADITIONAL TREASURES
The major population centers of the Northeast are the nexus of the coaster enthusiast world. Trolley lines built amusement parks starting back in the 1800s at the end of their lines to promote off-peak use, and several are still operating today. Two of these are found in Connecticut. Now, in fairness, one is not really an "unknown" - Lake Compounce holds a number of notable distinctions. It is the oldest amusement park in the Americas. It is home to a wood coaster that has taken home both Amusement Today Golden Tickets and top Mitch's Wood Poll honors over the years. The Skyride there is a gem, running nearly vertical up the first 7 or so towers in one of the steepest ascents/descents in the world. There's also a real live trolley on loan from the folks at the CT Trolley Museum. I worked in rides there for the better part of 4 seasons, and there's a lot of memories and emotions attached to it. But again, it isn't that hidden. Less known is the New England Carousel Museum, roughly a 7 minute drive away from Lake Compounce's gates. No carousel here to ride, but horses undergoing restoration or kept as museum pieces and plenty of info about the history of the genre.
A few exits down I-84, another old trolley park operates on the shores of Lake Quassapag. Quassy Amusement Park, as it is known, would be borderline unrecognizable to me now having been years since my last visit. From the 1960s until the mid 2000s, the park's star attraction was a Herschell Monster Mouse, one of a dying breed of such old wild mice. However, with the ride wearing out and the park looking to modernize, it was removed in favor of a updated family coaster, the Gravity Group built Wooden Warrior. That ride (a much punchier attraction than the stat sheet suggests) has led to a wide scale rediscovery of the park, and it has ceased to act as little more than a "credit stopover" for enthusiasts traveling the New England/New York route in search of parks. As big an improvement as that is, I kinda miss the old Quassy, with its rickety Herschell Monster Mouse coaster, an arcade packed full of absurdly ancient claw machines and coin pushers, and a souvenir shop where the park's logo was screened onto literally any shirt they could find. My 1996 Fiesta Bowl Nebraska National Champions/Quassy Amusement Park shirt is a cherished possession.
Joe is joined by Brian from Orlando United to talk about a little Universal news then A WHOLE LOTTA DISNEY NEWS. We cover Avatar news, Rivers of Light, Epcot Festival of Arts, refreshing Epcot rumors, Magic Kingdom cabanas, Shanghai's opening a Toy Story Playland, and Hong Kong Disneyland is building a new castle and new attractions.
As Destination D is occurring Disney has started testing a new idea in the Magic Kingdom: 8 person cabana rentals. This information comes from friend of the site Len Testa.
MK rumor is in-park 8-person cabanas (like a pool/beach) in T'Land. $650-ish/day plus admission. Food&bev delivered, xtra.
Supposedly these are cabanas Walt Disney World is going to rent out for some egregious price. They look just as awful in person as photos. pic.twitter.com/2uGsRqkRek
Disney's working on increasing per person spending in parks as growth as attendance flattens and decreases. If this test is successful we imagine permanent locations being built in other parks.
Of the "Mountain States," it wouldn't be unfair to characterize Colorado as the spiritual hub of that universe. The 8th largest state in the Union and with the 22nd largest population, it is home to the region's largest city, Denver. The state's ecology ranges from plains to 14,000 foot peaks to desert. Compared to the US as a whole, Hispanics are a larger percentage of the population, but overall ethnic diversity is not something Colorado is that known for. The urban centers here saw immense growth at the very end of the 19th century/early 20th century, limiting the ability of the city to produce classic parks. Naturally, Denver confounded these expectations and wound up spending most of the 20th century with two.
MILE HIGH (WITHOUT DOUBLE ENTENDRES)
The first, sadly, is only with us in name and not even so much spirit. Elitch Gardens operated in its original location from 1890 to 1994 before most of the flat rides and their Arrow Shuttle loop were packed up and moved to a new location in downtown Denver. The reason for the move was initially that the park simply ran out of space and simply could not expand further. However, the city cut a deal with the family operating the park to move their facility to a similarly landlocked position near the urban core on top of an old toxic waste dump, next to train tracks and the Pepsi Center. The Gurtler family, having spent $90 million dollars moving the institution, wound up with less than enthusiastic crowds who missed the grand old rides left behind, and sold the park to Premier Parks at the end of the 1996 season for a loss of $25 million. Today's Elitch's is among the nation's most soulless and consistently poorly run theme parks. It has no standout attractions worth traveling for, and the recreation of the John Allen design "Mr. Twister" is a bottom tier wood ride. As an example of the park's mediocrity: their Sally dark ride was the second generation of the "Ghost Hunt/Blasters" rides installed at Lake Compounce and Mall of America and thus many variants exist, and was even un-inventively titled "Ghost Blasters II" in spite of Ghost Blasters I never having been at Elitch's. Perhaps current ownership will be willing to invest and make this place less....bland.
But alas, there is a second option! Yes, Lakeside Park is imperfect. They have a much shorter operating season, most of the rides could use a fresh coat of paint, and people have been asking when the Staride rusting away near the entrance will be coming down for somewhere around 30 years. However, let's talk about the good: This is a park with some of the best classic lighting anywhere in the world. If you want to at least imagine what something like Luna Park at Coney Island circa 1928 would have looked like, this is your best option. The Lakeside Cyclone, with its old school trains and non-articulating lap bars, is a gem. The whip is great. The train, if it is running, is over 100 years old and chugs around the lake. There's a whip ride and a great old Miler wild mouse. Owner Rhoda is getting up in her years, and she basically operates this park as a love affair for the community. When she's gone, chances are Lakeside is to become yet another dull housing development or Costco. Best of all, it is totally affordable. You can enter the park for a small fee and just walk around and soak in the atmosphere. Like I said earlier: come at night. Definitely come at night.
Between the lifeless 1990s theme park and the great turn of the century traditional park, Waterworld occupies the strange zone of being the most ambitious themed attraction in the city. The most famous slide at the park is the multi-person tube slide Voyage to the Center of the Earth, which features caves and animatronic dinosaurs. There's Lost River of the Pharoahs, which features a combination of projection and practical effects on a tube ride through a pyramid. There's a hydromagnetic water coaster, there's crazy old school concrete slides; basically stuff that suggests that this is the best water park around. And nobody talks about it?
Denver is also home to a pair of additional locations with rides that couldn't be any more different: There's a Carouselworks carousel and Chance CP Huntington Train over at the Denver Zoo, while some ex-portable rides have been set up at the Mile High Flea Market for kids to go on.
FOR THE PEOPLE, OWNED BY THE PEOPLE
Colorado is the first state in which we see more remote communities begin to start setting up their own independent midways for county fairs. Akron, CO is home to the Eastern Colorado Roundup, and there's a Eli Wheel and 4 small kiddie rides that run specifically for the event. over at the Kit Carson County Fairgrounds, they're home to PTC#6, which operates during the summer for periods other than the fair. Both of these towns are in the Eastern side of the state, not far from the Kansas and Nebraska borders. As you'll see in future installments of the series, that is the epicenter of the community owned carnival midway in the United States.
The Consumer Information Catalog had commercials on for eons informing TV viewers to write to their address in Pueblo, Colorado. While the ads are only a Youtube curiosity, the city itself is a very real place and a decently sized community. They've got a small kiddie park located next door to their zoo in the inventively titled "City Park.". And speaking of zoos with rides: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs may not be community owned (it is a 501c nonprofit), but it does have a skyride and carousel for visitors.
STORY, THEME, AND NONSENSE
While Elitch's claims to be a theme park, it doesn't really do much to back that claim up in the grand scheme of things. There are, however, two parks within the state that try just a little harder. The more grandiose of the two is Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, roughly halfway between Denver and Grand Junction. Like Silver Dollar City in Missouri, the park has a general "frontier" theme with the centerpiece attraction being cavern tours. The scale of the operation is not nearly as great, but there are some musical performances, a black smith, a gunfight, and rides. The location of the park over a gorge means that several of their most thrilling attractions are positioned with huge elevation changes underneath them - these include the SDC Hurricane coaster previously located at Branson's Celebration City and an S&S Screaming Swing attraction.
Another "frontier"/old time theme park is Hertiage Amusement Park. Previously named Heritage Square, the park has a nice main street sort of area and a mix of kiddie and family rides. The alpine slide is closed now, but there's a zip line for those looking for a little more excitement. Sans rides, there are some similar open-air museum style attractions such as South Park City and White Mountain Trading Post as well in the state.
Santa's Workshop fits a more classic basis for a kiddie park out by Colorado Springs. Like similarly named parks in New Hampshire, Illinois, Ontario, North Carolina, and New York, there's a collection of mostly kiddie rides with a rough Santa theme and the ability to visit the Big Red Toy Machine along with some live shows, animatronics, and arcade. For adults, the skyride, Flying scooters, and two person Soaring Eagle zipline will probably get the most attention.
Finally, there's no real theme at Royal Gorge Park, but they've got a couple rides to check out. You can zipline across the deep chasm in the earth, take an aerial tramway to catch a better look, or enjoy one of the most intimidating Skycoasters ever built. It may not be as physically large as either Fun Spot model in Central Florida, but this does sit on the edge of a cliff.
Here at Parkscope we like to roll into the party right as the good liquor is being put away and Cards Against Humanity is being brought out for everyone to play. So in tradition of our stellar track record of timely news here's our Universal Orlando news report!
Volcano Bay
Image copyright Universal Orlando Resort
In our prior Volcano Bay post we speculated on several features of the new park and last week Universal further clarified these new, cool details. First up are that tickets to the new park will go on sale November 15th and the park will open 'early' Summer 2017, moved back from Spring 2017. I expect a tired pricing system and a new level of annual passes that add the water park to the mix.
Image copyright Universal Orlando Resort
Volcano Bay's premier 'secret' experience was unveiled as the Krakatau Water Coaster. The water coaster will use magnetic technology similar to Holiday World's Wildebeest to propel guests up and over hills. The tubes, themed to canoes, will weave in and out of the volcano and feature several cool effects, such as projection effects.
TheNJBrandon, our trademark truffle pig, found a trademark for Kohola Reef, the sit down restaurant at Volcano Bay.
Universal has filed for trademark "Kohola Reef Restaurant and Social Club." This will be the name of the restaurant in Volcano Bay. pic.twitter.com/9eIwbY6qbE
I do wonder how a sit down restaurant will do inside a water park.
Similar to many water parks around the world, Volcano Bay will be adapting a wearable device for virtual queueing and payments. Each guest will receive a TapuTapu wearable and when they want to wait for a slide they will tap their wearable to a time station and be told to come back at a designated timed. As the return time approaches the wearable will give the guest a notification to return to the slide. Additionally the wearable will be used to activate effects around the park like jets of water and lighting effects.
TheNJBrandon also found information trademark filings for TapuTapu saying the device will do what's listed above plus unlock lockers.
From trademark filing, TapuTapu will reserve spot in line, open lockers, enable effects, pay for things and access accommodations and photos pic.twitter.com/bXRnWQ2QVO
Hey look at that new concept art, sharp, right? In the pre-show you can see historical props, set pieces, and equipment used in the Tonight Show, send a video Thank You Note to friends, and more. The pre-show will feature a traditional line along with a 'Studio 6B Club' where guests can interact and unwind before their time to ride. In studio 6B guests will board a flying theater to race Jimmy Fallon through New York. We believe the flying theater is very literal, imagine if the Tonight Show seating flew, not a flying theater like Soarin'.
Adventura Hotel
Long rumored, the sixth Universal Orlando Hotel has been announced. Run by Loews, this resort will be a prime value resort similar to Cabana Bay. The resort tower stands sixteen stories tall, feature a roof top bar, and a lobby Starbucks. The resort, like Cabana Bay, will not have Express Pass but will offer early entry. With a modern, minimal 'theme' and low price point it's clear this is for the single conventioneers and weekend HHN fans, but don't worry there will still be kids suites!
California is big. No state in the US has more citizens. Canada as a whole has fewer individuals. By area, California is the third largest state, contains two of the continent's most important cities and cultural hubs, mountains, islands, temperate rainforest, and vast deserts. RCDB shows the state having 86 permanent and operating roller coasters: more than any other state by a huge margin. The modern theme park industry as we know it was effectively birthed here. World Fairs have taken place. The center of the global movie industry is here. All of these things have contributed significantly to the state's reputation among amusement park nerds. And yet, there are things you may not know about.
First: What you should or are at least likely to already know about, and what I'll skip.
-Disneyland. Duh.
-Universal Studios Hollywood. Duh again.
-Six Flags' Magic Mountain (most coasters in one park on earth) and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
-Cedar Fair's California's Great America (originally a twin to the Great America park in Illinois) and Knott's Berry Farm
-SeaWorld San Diego & Aquatica San Diego
-Legoland California
-San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Park
-Santa Monica Pier/Pacific Park
-Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (multi-time IAAPA best seaside park winner)
-Queen Mary
You might be thinking, "Jesus, that's a huge list. Is there anything else to discuss?" Yes. Oh, very much yes. So much so, I seriously debating splitting this list up.
FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA
credit: Wikipedia
When Walt planned out the location of Disneyland way back in the early 50s, he ruled out an oceanfront location as beaches tended to bring out an "element" that he found to be negative to the purpose of running a theme park. What that element is; you can interpret on your own. Ultimately, he went to Orange County, and history was made. Meanwhile, California still had plenty of other such parks that either already existed or were constructed later. Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica and The Pike in Long Beach were perhaps the most famous, but there were many, many more. For a vast array of reasons, only two such parks still remain today.
I covered Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in my preface; it is clearly the class of the field and easily one of the two-three best such places in the US. Lesser known is Belmont Park, located just a stone's throw from SeaWorld San Diego. There's not a ton here in terms of rides; a new Tilt-A-Whirl, some small Moser flats, and a wood coaster. But the Giant Dipper is an important wood coaster. One of the great stories of coaster preservation, it was slated for demolition in the 1980s and had a grassroots campaign to save it that succeeded. Today, the "Pepto-Bismol Pink" ride still thrills guests as it has for most of the last 90 years.
BUD HAD A DREAM TOO
Historians of the amusement park industry have long recognized the importance of Wendell "Bud" Hurlbut. His Calico Mine Train is considered to be one of the first truly "immersive" attractions in the modern theme park space. As a concessionaire for Knott's, he operated in a different universe from the modern theme park expectation of everything being controlled under a single entity, and was responsible for creating the most impressive legacy rides and attractions for the Knott Family to boost his own income. While this style of park was exceedingly common 70 years ago, it is on the fringes in the United States, and is primarily seen in Europe. The Knott family ultimately took over the attractions, buying out Hurlbut. Often, these stories end there.
Hurlbut, however, ate, slept, breathed the amusement industry. And in 1976, he opened his own miniature version of Knott's Berry Farm in the city of Riverside, California. Castle Amusement Park is one of America's best small family parks; there's a Sally dark ride, a log flume, a couple of roller coasters (the Fabbri Mouse apparently isn't running, unfortunately), and unique for it's size level of design and care. Newer portions expanding the park aren't nearly as nice as the parts Bud himself worked on, but the fingerprints of someone who cared deeply about the customers of this industry are still all over Castle.
LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF SMALL PARKS
Castle isn't the only impressive small park in California. Along with Disney and Knott's, the Valley is home to Adventure City. Through 2012, Adventure City's largest attraction was a classic Miler Mouse dating to the 50s. However, the decades of wear took a toll on the ride, and it was closed and replaced. Now occupying the spot is a unique for North America ride from Gerstlauer called Rewind Racers. Similar in style and forces exerted to the Vekoma Roller Skaters that populate the Disney and Universal Parks under various names, the most major difference is that this ride is not full circuit, but a shuttle which goes forwards and backwards.
In Ontario, one finds Scandia Amusement Park under the local airport flight path. There's some weirdness here in the small S&S Screaming Swing and drop tower before you even get to the big coaster, but that big coaster presents all the weird. The Scandia Screamer is the largest roller coaster ever constructed by US manufacturer Miler. Standing 90 feet tall and at 2,600 feet in length, it is a non-inverting steel ride which might best be described as "a poor man's traditional wood coaster". And like traditional wood coasters of the past, it has a start-stop pacing that may be jarring for some who are younger. This is not a ride that ever spends long periods of time at high speed flying through elements. However, like those old wood coasters, it offers brief moment of what one might call "ultraviolence": extreme vertical G forces followed by long low-banked turns, with hills increasing in number as the turns become tighter and less time is spent in them. For the serious connoisseurs, the Screamer is a ride that has a cult following.
Up north - didn't forget Northern California! If you spend time reading Cedar Fair financial statements, and don't even pretend, I know you don't, you would notice that they're contracted to operate a park that's not listed on the corporate site. Opened as Bonfante Gardens, the town of Gilroy has since taken over the now eponymous Gilroy Gardens and hired the theme park company to run the rides for them. Imagine a theme park/botanical garden that is like the old Disney California Adventure farm area on steroids. There's a garlic themed tea cup ride, mushroom shaped wave swinger, and a monorail through a greenhouse. How "Living With The Land" is that? There's also one of the last Arrow Mine Trains here, named Quicksilver Express. As it is only managed by Cedar Fair, your Platinum Pass isn't any good here, but that shouldn't alone be a reason not to go.
These three just scratch the surface: There's Funderland in Sacramento, Rotary Storyland in Fresno, and Pixieland in Concord.
TRAINS, TRAINS, TRAINS
If there's one thing that there is no shortage of in California, it is narrow gauge train rides. Disneyland and Knotts have their famous train rides, but there's also the trolleys of California Adventure and the funicular of Magic Mountain. Walt's old equipment runs at Griffith Park in LA too. But that's just the start of it.
When you talk about Knott's. the Ghost Town is what most people think of immediately. This is a wild west themed section featuring actual period buildings and some big time attractions. If you've been to Knott's, you know about Ghost Town. Funny thing about Ghost Town and the Calico Mine Train: There is really a Calico Ghost Town. Or was, until the Knott's bought and moved the buildings. But there still is, with replica buildings the Knotts family build to replace the originals. And you can go there. And go in parts of the old mine. And take a train ride. Just past Barstow on the way to Las Vegas, you can't miss it off I-15.
But wait: there's more! Off in Wine Country, the Sonoma TrainTown Railroad features a 4 mile train ride on their quarter scale railroad. In addition, there's a small carousel, an Eli Wheel, and a Miler junior coaster. Roaring Camp Railroads even offers to take you to a great amusement park - Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - from out of the redwood forests. The town of Pittsburg has a Herschell metal carousel and a Chance train. And of course, Balboa Park in San Diego has a train of their own, along with a great classic carousel with a working ring arm.
If you like your fake commuter rail to be elevated, the California State Fairgrounds feature a UM built monorail (similar to Hersheypark's) to take passengers all over the grounds. There's also a sky ride and permanent giant slide that stay put here all year, and on top of that, a piece of Disney memorabilia with the original "CALIFORNIA" sign from the entrance of Disney's California Adventure.
OF AN AQUATIC NATURE
Cedar Fair, Six Flags, Merlin, and SeaWorld all operate water parks in the state of California. And yet, it is Golfsplash Roseville that is home to the first water coaster in the state and the much of the most advanced slide tech California has to offer. Raging Waters in San Dimas brought a hydromagnetic water coaster to Southern California in 2015. Unfortunately, liability insurance seems to have brought death to all the older concrete style slides, leaving very little that's unique in this genre within the state. Mustang Waterpark in Arroyo Grande seems to be the one possible deviation, with a classic hillside design for their slides, though now made of fiberglass.
There's much more to discuss by the water: Over at San Francisco's Pier 41, Merlin recently opened one of their permanent haunts from the "Dungeon" brand. A small drop tower will be featured inside. Over by Long Beach, one of the two the last remaining of California's two classic electromechanical games can be found at Looff's Lite-A-Line. The Playland-Not-At-The-Beach Museum features the other one, a Fascination setup, along with pinball tables, miniature circus. Laughing Sal (proto-animatronic popular in the early 20s century), and all sorts of other historic amusement related material.
WILDLIFE, AND SOME RIDES
Aside from San Diego Zoo, there's a number of other zoos in the state with permanent rides, including:
Carousel and Train at San Francisco Zoo
Small kiddieland with kiddie coaster and wood carousel at Happy Hollow Park Zoo
Small kiddieland with kiddie coaster and skyride at Oakland Zoo
Carousels at Los Angeles Zoo and Sacramento Zoo
Lane had a calzone and Joe groans about the Indians choking. We cover new info on the Jimmy Fallon attraction at USF, Volcano Bay news drops 10am on 11/3, new UOR resort busses and transportation info, Artegon is up for sale and to whom, Lane reviews his upcoming Disneyland trip, and then Joe closes it out with his impression on Hulk and Reign of Kong.
