Astroworld; looking back.

[Gordon Bombay]

For me, looking back to early memories at the amusement park consists of company picnics with my dad and grandpa at Coney Island and Americana then eventually going to Kings Island when I was 7. I grew up in the Paramount era. A time when Paramount had the theming in full force, and it worked to. The most vivid memories I have are of riding the Scooby Zoom, my first roller coaster. I also have vivid images in my head of the "Centurion" in Phantom Theatre, as well as the lighting, music, smoke, and missile effects surrounding Top Gun in 1996. To many, Paramount's Kings Island was "McTheme Park" and a slap in the face to the history of Kings Island. However, for me, and many others my age, Paramount's Kings Island was a great place to remember; from first visits, going as a kid, going on your first date there, first jobs, and so much more. While I cherish these memories, I do enjoy looking back upon the history and memories of other generations and what KI and other parks meant to them. My father worked at Astroworld (and when it became Six Flag's Astroworld) in Houston, Texas for many years. Sadly, I only got to visit briefly once in 2004. He passed on this link to me that a friend of his organized. I think many of you will find it interesting as it really shows the amount of quality and detail put into regional amusement parks back then. The website is:

http://www.mikerobinson.net/oldsfaw.htm

Sadly, in case you didn't know; Astroworld was closed a few years ago and is now completely gone, but thats another story for another day. These pictures on the website were some of my favorites:

-It's incredible how much theming and detail went into a regional park to get that "Disney" quality feel.

-Was this the same model as KI's zodiac?

Anyways, I thought a lot of you guys, especially older users might enjoy this, seeing some of the similarities between the way a similar regional park was built in comparison to the history of Kings Island

[DropZone99]

I wish Astroworld was still there, i could of gone just last week. Nice pics!

[WooferBearATL]

That's similar to Zodiac but Zodiac's arms did not move independently.

[The Interpreter]

Unlike many so called enthusiasts, I always liked Astroworld. It's a shame that latter day Six Flags management (Premier Parks era and Gary Story's people) didn't invest in the park. Had they, it'd probably still be there.

[Beast1979]

What is happening to the rollercoasters there? I heared most of them are in storage. . . .

[The Interpreter]

The coasters remaining on closing day at Six Flags Astroworld were:

* Batman The Escape: reportedly in storage at Darien Lake in New York.

* Greezed Lightnin': sold to Joyland of Texas, believed to open in 2009.

* Mayan Mindbender: sold to Wonderland of Texas, under construction, renamed Hornet.

* Serial Thriller: (Vekoma SLC): believed to be in storage at Six Flags The Great Escape in New York.

* Serpent (mini-mine train): Unknown.

* Texas Cyclone: destroyed.

* Ultratwister: believed to be in storage at Six Flags America in Maryland.

* Viper: unknown.

* XLR: destroyed.

So, of the nine coasters, three are believed to be in storage, two were destroyed, two are being relocated to other parks and two's fates are not known.