Introduction -
Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO announces what is one of the most interesting looking woodies built in the past 10 years, Outlaw Run.... And it happened to also be one of my favorite parks. So that set off the trip planning. Before I knew it, dates were picked, parks were planned, and plane tickets were booked to Oklahoma City, OK! I knew I wanted to do more than just Silver Dollar City on this trip... But what? Magic Springs & Crystal Falls in Hot Springs, Arkansas was the closest park and one I had yet to visit, in fact it was the "nearest" park to my house I'd yet to visit! (you know, 775 miles away... as the crow flies) so that for sure was in. Frontier City in Oklahoma City was looked at as well.... It didn't have a lot, but 3 of its 4 adult coasters were ones I wanted to ride. So I guess that was in too (also, flights into OKC were way less than flying into Little Rock / Hot Springs, Branson, or Springfield MO.) But there was also the small problem of my wanting to revisit Six Flags St. Louis. A park that back in 2005 was one of the worst park experiences I'd ever had but come 8 years later it was almost a completely different park, so much had changed!.... But more on that later
My friend Rob "Medusa1861 / dusa" wanted in on some of that Outlaw Run action and agreed that a 3-4 day trip between Oklahoma City, Hot Springs, and Branson would work. Turns out they didn't.... and he bailed from the trip altogether. I then booked flights on my own from Orlando to Oklahoma City via Atlanta and back the same way with five days to spend traveling... after everything was booked and I checked my time off I realized I had more than enough to just, uh, add 3 more days, 2 more flights and indeed visit St. Louis after all. So after fixing all my flights it went something like this............ MCO<ATL<OKC, OKC<ATL<STL, STL<ATL<MCO and even that ended up changing at the extreme-last second. But more on that later, as well...
Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO announces what is one of the most interesting looking woodies built in the past 10 years, Outlaw Run.... And it happened to also be one of my favorite parks. So that set off the trip planning. Before I knew it, dates were picked, parks were planned, and plane tickets were booked to Oklahoma City, OK! I knew I wanted to do more than just Silver Dollar City on this trip... But what? Magic Springs & Crystal Falls in Hot Springs, Arkansas was the closest park and one I had yet to visit, in fact it was the "nearest" park to my house I'd yet to visit! (you know, 775 miles away... as the crow flies) so that for sure was in. Frontier City in Oklahoma City was looked at as well.... It didn't have a lot, but 3 of its 4 adult coasters were ones I wanted to ride. So I guess that was in too (also, flights into OKC were way less than flying into Little Rock / Hot Springs, Branson, or Springfield MO.) But there was also the small problem of my wanting to revisit Six Flags St. Louis. A park that back in 2005 was one of the worst park experiences I'd ever had but come 8 years later it was almost a completely different park, so much had changed!.... But more on that later
My friend Rob "Medusa1861 / dusa" wanted in on some of that Outlaw Run action and agreed that a 3-4 day trip between Oklahoma City, Hot Springs, and Branson would work. Turns out they didn't.... and he bailed from the trip altogether. I then booked flights on my own from Orlando to Oklahoma City via Atlanta and back the same way with five days to spend traveling... after everything was booked and I checked my time off I realized I had more than enough to just, uh, add 3 more days, 2 more flights and indeed visit St. Louis after all. So after fixing all my flights it went something like this............ MCO<ATL<OKC, OKC<ATL<STL, STL<ATL<MCO and even that ended up changing at the extreme-last second. But more on that later, as well...
The Plan -
Fly into Oklahoma City, drive to Branson and hit Route 66 Carousel Park in Joplin, Missouri on the way, spend the next day at Silver Dollar City, the day after at Magic Springs & Crystal Fall, the day after that at Frontier City, and finally spend the day exploring Oklahoma City (I wanted to do the Zoo, Oklahoma City National Memorial (OKC Bombing site), and a place I had seen on the History Channel called "Pops") The next step was to fly between OKC and St. Louis but I couldn't go direct so I had to layover in Atlanta (story of my life I guess flying via Delta....) Once in St. Louis I wanted to visit the Gateway Arch, having seen it in passing back in 2005, as well as go to the massive St. Louis Zoo, City Museum, Six Flags St. Louis, and Grant's Farm.
The Plan PT.2 -
Yup, well it turns out.... Outlaw Run opens to absolute flawless reviews claiming it to be the great coaster ever (and ever and ever) So noowww Rob wants back in... and makes it work, minus the side trip to St. Louis, that will still be on my own . Of course at this point it's like 2 weeks till take off and Rob starts pestering me on "do we really need a full day in OKC?" So I head to the internet in search of something more adventurous, a fair? a waterpark? an overlooked amusement park? I didn't really see anything and just let it go..... Flash-forward to pretty much.. the day before leaving. I jokingly say "we can go to Wonderland in Texas.... Its only 4 hours... each way" "oh, and the park is only gonna be open for 3 hours" I guess I wasn't really ready for Rob's reaction to be "LETS DO IT!" ugh, indeed... so we did it (bitching aside it was 100% worth it and Wonderland ended up being fantastic)
ramble ramble, TL:DR - I went on a trip to parks and stuff with my friend Rob.
The Rob and James show. PT.1
Sub-Introduction
Due to my 4.45AM flight out of Orlando, Jeff suggested we spend the night at Fun Spot going on some rides and go-karts, get a late night snack, and that he'll drop me off at the airport afterward, vs trying to go to bed early to get up early to get me to the airport. After hanging around at MCO forever it seemed... I was airborne on my way to Oklahoma City via a plane change in Atlanta. The flight from Atlanta to Oklahoma flew me right over Six Flags Over Georgia and with no clouds, everything was easily visible but I was unable to get my camera out in time... Ok, jump ahead to OKC. Once I landed and geeked out to the fact I've now been to 40 US states (+DC) I picked up my rental and found Rob who had flown in the night before and was waiting to be picked up, once Rob was in the car we started off to Branson via a stop in Tulsa for lunch and 2 kiddie parks on the way (right right, on the way) after driving forever and a stop at Taco Bueno, we arrived in Kansas.
Yup, Kansas.... Kiddieland, Pittsburg, Kansas
ooooooh, I'm excited!
Kiddieland is pretty much 6 rides in the middle of a large city park. Most were meant for uh, well, kids? But we rode their coaster (woo woo!) and train before hitting the road again.
They had a little Ferris Wheel
But the T-Rex wouldn't let me ride it, jerk.
Pretty sure the hand-pump cars were handmade... And that none of the kids riding them knew how to pump them as the worker seemed to just.... kick the cart with her foot?
Also...... Uhhhhh
They had this! I'm pretty sure they just took some Fisher Price sandboxes and made this ride as well..
Proof this wasn't a credit run, see, we rode the little train too!
But this roller coaster, named... Roller Coaster was the reason for the stop.
Yaayyy! I just drove nearly four hours for this!
Of the two coasters I've ridden in Kansas, this is clearly my favorite.
(Uh, the other one I've ridden is halfway down this page)
Oh yeah! And Rob is here too, and THRILLED to be in Kansas.
But we've got other things to do, so it was back to the car and off for another 45 minute drive to Joplin. Before leaving Kiddieland the owners/ticket-seller talked with us for a bit about we had come all the way just to see their park and how they were amused a few adults wanted to ride their coaster but also informed us they had run into other enthusiasts that had come for the coaster as well. They also suggested to us we stop at the "Kiddie Park" in Joplin (Route 66 Carousel Park) after we had told them we were on our way to Branson. With my head-hung-low and laughing to myself, I let them know that my GPS had already been set for it and we had plans to stop there as well.... :( SO LAME
The drive to Carousel Park wasn't that bad or really even that long. But it was almost all on county,village,city street
Woo, park stop #2
Route 66 Carousel Park, in Joplin, MO
The park is home to two coasters, but one is a Go-Gator and we pretty much knew we wouldn't be able to ride. I don't even think we asked.
The park is mostly geared to smaller kids but it was well kept and surprisingly clean. The staff were all super friendly too. After finding my way to the tickets office and talking to the lady inside she too was amused we had come all this way just for their little park but even better she handed over free tickets to us! Enough for both of us to ride their larger kiddie coaster and Ferris Wheel! If I wasn't already amazed and amused she then suggested we check out Kiddieland in Pittsburg! Once again I found myself holding my head in shame and laughing telling her we had just came from there annddd how they also told us to come here!
(who would think people at two different parks in two different states would tell the same people in the same day to visit the other park?!)
Anyways...
Here's the Go-Gator we didn't ride
Yup, a Go-Gator.
Their other coaster is this lovely purple and blue, Tiger Terror
It tracks just as well as you would think a Wisdom kiddie runs... but hey, it was free, and uh, +1?
I mean, their targeted audience seemed to love it and that's what matters to them!
The only other thing we rode was the parks Eli Wheel
I'm a sucker for these things, just ask anyone who's been to the State Fair with me :D
an overview photo from the wheel showing most of the rides, there's also some go-karts, minigolf, bumper boats.... and.....
THIS THING!
Only the second one I've seen in the states
(had seen them at most of the smaller euro-parks I've been to)
Ok, off to Branson. Rob had booked us into a hotel with its own indoor/outdoor water park that could keep us amused for a few hours before he headed out to the strip and checked out some of the tourist-crap (and fulfilled a need of mine)
The drive to Branson from Joplin was just over 2 hours due to traffic and a snack stop but we did make our way to the hotel.
Castle Rock Indoor Water Park Resort
The hotel itself was mildly dumpy but far from terrible, in fact.... it wasn't even the worst on the trip!
The indoor-outdoor water park makes up for rooms that were a bit dated.
The outdoor area isn't all that big.... but its well kept.
The indoor lazy river was the longest of the 4 indoor ones I've been on.. It might even be longer than some outdoor ones too (looking at you Aquatica!)
Along with the river there was a good sized kids splash fort, a swimming pool, and an activity pool. There were also two fulled sized water slides made in Peru. One body and one tube.
The body slide was this lovely triple-helix
But the tube slide was this fast, dark, out of control beast! It might not look it, but almost every rider coming off it got flipped out of their tube and tossed into the pool!
After splashing around for a while we got ready to head into Branson for some food and to visit one of the many Track locations in the area.
The Track
(Location #4 in Branson... of the 4 locations in Branson)
I've now been to "The Tracks" in 4 states and over 6 locations? yay me!
Each and everyone of them look the same and have the same few rides and go-karts...
Might as well be in Panama City, Gulf Shores, or Pigeon Forge
reason were here
While its not one of the taller models.. I've been on a sort-of SkyCoaster rampage this year and couldn't pass this one up...
I SURE DID!
Here's the video!
Ozark Mountain Skycoaster, the 15th of the 16 SkyCoasters I've ridden
and one of the seven I've ridden this year (11 flights)
After eating at a random pizza buffet and driving around the tourist areas.. we stopped at a place with this odd looking stand up "zipline" thing.. but after seeing how slow it went decided not to ride it and head back to the hotel. By this point it was like 9pm and I'd been up pretty much since 9am the day before (outside a short nap flying between ATL-OKC)
Bonus photos via twitter -
The night before at Fun Spot
MCO/OIA empty at 12.45AM
Bonus random tweets -
Woo, day 1, finished.... Lets see how long day 2 takes?
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