A few hours at Camden Park

[DaveStroem]

We left Powell just after work and headed south to Camden Park for their Starlight admission. After a 3 hour drive though some major storms we arrived to the park just after 7:00 pm. Since this was a night trip, we didn't bring the camera so sorry, no pics.

We first went and rode Lil Dipper which was a fun kiddie coaster with cool NAD Century Flyer trains. Next up was their new ride Rockin-tug. This had a fairly short cycle and since it stopped 1/2 way through to change directions never seemed to get up to speed. We then proceeded over to the Tilt-A-Whirl. These were pretty decent with a good amount of spinning. We walked past the flume which looked decent, but had a full queue so we skipped it.

As we crossed over the railroad tracks (train was down) we got on one of the 2 highlights of the trip. The Whip. This one seemed quite small compared to others we have ridden but what it lacked in size, it delivered in intensity. Best whip I have ridden. Next up were the eagles. The queue was pretty full so we doubled up and took them for a spin. They were fast and we got the tubs quite high, but they would not snap for all of our trying.

We then proceeded to the Haunted House next. This was the other highlight of the trip. It is a smooth fast and fun dark ride that seems more like a coaster to me then a flat ride. After you load in to the car, the op pushes you for a few feet till you start rolling toward the lift chain. After you get to the top you go around a 180° turn before the drop. After you go back up, you go through some doors and into a mouse type course with some cheesy theming till you exit though another set of doors where a second op jumps in front of your car an manually stops it. After the lift, the entire ride is only powered by gravity. While this ride does not have typical track, it has track boards and a guide in the center. It rolls, it coasts and is only powered by gravity. To me this = Roller Coaster.

After this we headed across the midway to Big Dipper. The queue in the station was about 1/2 full but was only a 4 train wait. Again this coaster had the 50's style trains with chrome trim and headlights. While the ride did have a few pops of air, it was just OK. After we exited we did a spin on the Bullseye which featured the look of a red & black dart board. After we got off we could see some heat lightning flashing. We got a zen ride on the Paratrooper and then rode the Carousel. It was starting to sprinkle and looked as though a storm was blowing in. We took another lap on the Haunted Mouse before getting some Pronto Pups and a soda.

As we were eating I noticed some park managers discussing closing the park early. I pulled out my phone to check the weather and saw that we were just about to be hit by a severe storm with lots of red and yellow. So we quickly got back to the car. Just as we left the parking lot the deluge hit with near zero viability and deep water on the roads all the way till we were out of town.

While we did have a lot of fun, I do have to say that we were not impressed with this park. It was filthy dirty with tons of trash on the ground. The rides even seemed to dirty. The employees seemed like zombies and did their jobs in slow motion trying not to even make eye contact. Most of them looked like they had been wearing the same dirty shirts for the last several days. I also noticed several ops smoking while the rides were cycling. I didn't pay attention to what Camden's smoking policy was, but I found this a bit surprising compared to the other parks we have been to.

Did we have fun: Yes

Would I go back again: No

[The Interpreter]

Saturday was the last of the Hot Summer Nights concerts. The park had been very busy, but that is no excuse for dirty uniforms, a dirty park or uncaring employees. I regret you experienced that. As for smoking, that is pretty much a given for that park (or for the Kentucky State Fair, for that matter). Many years ago, all parks except theme parks were like that...

Big Dipper has tremendous air in the back seat...so much so that, like Coney Island of Ohio's Python, the back seat is blocked off...1-3 also has good airtime.

Recently Camden Park cut the price of regular sized Coke to 99 cents...and took out the water fountain.

Let me repeat that...took out the water fountain.

My head still hurts at that one.

Did you have to pay for parking?

[KI FANATIC 37]

I'm glad you have fun! And yes the storm was very bad. I am only about 15 miles away and we lost power for a full 24 hrs.

It seems like you rode all the main rides.

[DaveStroem]

Yes, parking was $3.

Yea, I did notice that not only was the last row blocked off, but the seats were removed. 3-1 was also closed of for some reason. I had the design of the station. If your not at the front of the queue you can't pick your seat since a train load enters all at once.

While walking though the park I kept thinking about another small park that is close to the Ohio River a few states west of Camden and the choices that they made to turn a small park into a million + attendance jewel that we know as Holiday World.

[The Interpreter]

And Camden Park came this close to being acquired by Kennywood Entertainment. It would have had a drastically different future had it been. The Boylens, Nudds and Burleys worked very hard to make it what it was from about 1950 to the early 80's. And Bev and John Roberts (who also owned Fun Spot in Indiana, how'd that end?) nearly ruined the place. The current owners, the Boylens, took the place over the very day before it would have filed bankruptcy. They run it as a labor of love...I doubt it makes much if any money. And so it goes...