In the last issue of View From The Back, I essentially played down the Super Bowl as a game nobody cared about. Two days later, the St. Louis Rams and New England Patriots battled in one of the better title games of all time. Personally, I still don't care who won or loss, but I have to hand it to both teams for putting on a heck of a show.

I'm writing this prologue just three days before ACE's annual Eastcoaster event near Dorney Park. This is one of my personal favorite events of the year. It is always interesting to hear what the parks have to say and more importantly to show. I've never been able to get a good picture as to what a ride will actually be like with drawings and descriptions, I need those videos to point me in the right direction. I'll have thought on, and news from, Eastcoaster in my next column. But for now...

Good-Bye To A Legend

Last time, I noted that an historic amusement park attraction was bidding us a farewell of sorts without much fanfare. This attraction was home to one of the most talked about events in the history of amusement parks. It was also home to some of the best memories of my life.

1936. Construction begins on this new, state-of-the-art attraction. It would take eight months to complete, with the final work being done ahead of schedule. At the time it was built, it was lauded as the best attraction of its kind in the world, let alone at an amusement park. The attraction would be used to attract people from throughout the region to the park, even when the rest of the park was closed.

March 2, 1962. Not many people expected anything out of the ordinary when they arrived at the park. There were no tv cameras, no extraordinary amounts of press, and disappointing crowds. In fact, just over 4,000 people showed up that day. Nothing spectacular was supposed to happen at all.

But what would happen is still talked about to this day. Statues have been erected and children have dedicated themselves to living up to the standards and accomplishments of this day, March 2, 1962.

For the sake of entertainment value, I'll move on to the next topic for now. The rest of this section can be found toward the bottom of this column. Take some time and think about this. Can you figure out what amusement park attraction I'm referring to? What was this historic accomplishment that took place on a windy March day? If you don't want to play along, read on. Otherwise, don't skip ahead too much. Think for a while and come back. There are enough clues here to figure it out.

Personal Favorites

My personal ranking system of choice has been Top Three and Top Five lists. It is similar to the tier system, except I only have two tiers and I get into a little more detail regarding my top tier. The more common tier system is still a ranking system, no matter what anyone else may want to claim. It simply leaves out some of the detail.

Last year, I published my favorites in four major categories: Favorite Corporate Park, Favorite Traditional Park, Favorite Woodie, and Favorite Steel Coaster. I began by saying then, as I do now, that my rankings are based solely on my own opinion. I am not ranking based on quality, but based on how much fun I have at this park or on this coaster. Sentimental factors are a big influence, as are atmosphere and, yes, quality itself. I in no way claim that the following are the best at their respective categories. Simply, I say that I enjoy them more than anything else in these categories.

I also take pride in the fact that my favorites do not change very often, with the exception of the steel coaster category. I am not usually impressed by the new gimmicks or the big record holders. Sentimental influences are a big reason why my lists stay rather constant year after year.

Below are my Top Three and Five lists for the 2002 pre-season. I include the respective ranks at the beginning of last year in parenthesis for comparison purposes, and will talk briefly about anything that may have dropped from my list.

Top Three Favorite Corporate Parks

1. Paramount's Kings Dominion (1) PKD has been in my number one spot since my first visit in 1978. The memories that have been building over these 25 years continued in 2001, including my first visit with my nieces and the most incredible night on any coaster I have ever experienced, which I talk about below. It will take something completely unexpected to unseat PKD from this position.

2. Sea World Orlando (2) Still number two even though I have not visited since I last published this list. This is still the only park I've visited where I have never been ready to leave at the end of every single visit. With every other park there have been days where I've walked away before closing or feeling that I couldn't have any more fun. But not SWO. It's a place I get to and never want to leave.

3. Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (unranked) I really had a good time here when it was Geagua Lake, I first started to think it was special when it was Six Flags Ohio, but I fell in love when it became SFWOA. A cross of sorts between PKD and SWO, it has nearly everything that I personally want at a park. I've heard so many mixed reviews about employees and dirty conditions, but I've been lucky to only visit the park, including three trips in 2001, on the good days.

No longer ranked: Paramount's Carowinds. The atmosphere at Carowinds is something special. Unfortunately, my job has kept my traveling days to a minimum and I haven't made it to the park since opening day of Top Gun in 1999. A return trip is overdue.

Top Three Favorite Traditional Parks

1. Knoebels (1) What can I say? This is the perfect example of a traditional park. It includes two awesome woodies, great food, and an atmosphere that I personally have found to be unmatched. Knoebels is a highlight of my year, every year, no matter how many times I visit. I'm not the only one to sing the praises of Knoebels.

2. Seabreeze Park (3) This is the most underrated park in the country. It provides a great day in a traditional atmosphere and only lacks one thrilling coaster to attract the enthusiast crowd that parks like Kennywood and Holiday World attract. But Seabreeze isn't about the thrills, its about the fun and the atmosphere. The carousel is my favorite attraction of any kind at any park, there is an indoor scrambler, and the Bobsled coaster is one of the most unique and fun rides in the East. Throw in an ample and popular waterpark and you have a great day for just about anyone. Now, why don't people talk about it more than they do?

3. Kennywood Park (2) Kennywood drops a notch despite the addition of Phantom's Revenge, an improvement to the Steel Phantom coaster that preceded it. My trip to Kennywood in 2001 was marred by some less than friendly park patrons, which I know is not the fault of the park. But it was a black spot nonetheless, and a near-perfect day at Seabreeze on Labor Day Weekend vaults the Rochester park past Pittsburgh's classic.

Top Five Favorite Wooden Coasters

1. The Grizzly, PKD. (1) The Grizzly has held this position since its opening in 1982. The coaster's performance improved in 2001 from 2000, and at times was back in peak condition. The overall performance was still spotty and it did run rather bland at times. However, one evening in September makes up for the few mediocre rides I had in the Spring and early Summer. An hour of re-rides with an enthusiastic crowd of enthusiasts and general public, and an even more enthusiastic crew left me with memories that I will never let go of. A mini-marathon on a brisk Sunday morning in April refreshed my mind at a time when office pressures were nearing the boiling point. Twice in 2001, the Grizzly was the answer to all of life's problems.

2. Phoenix, Knoebels. (2) The Phoenix had a very good year, capped off by one of the better Phoenix Phall Phunphests of recent memory. This is a certain crowd-pleaser, offering airtime galore of multiple varieties. The incredible pacing attracts fans from around the world each year.

3. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce. (3) Boulder Dash is so close to taking over number two in my book. The CCI coaster was putting on quite a show for me and my cousin this year (and the ACE Preservation Con that happened to be going on during the same day). BD runs great in the morning, but continually builds up until the night rides blow you away. This is a classic ready to be discovered.

4. Legend, Holiday World. (4) Whenever people used to ask me what I thought the best coaster in the world was, I always told them I was not qualified to answer that question. Then I rode the Legend. If there is a better overall coaster in the world, I definitely haven't ridden it.

5. Big Dipper, SFWOA (5) The top five wood were unchanged in 2001. The Big Dipper had an outstanding year, delivering airtime that almost matches the Phoenix. With classic trains and great pacing, the Big Dipper has been delivering for generations. It is often overshadowed by the bigger and newer coasters that surround it, but scrape away the gimmicks and the quality here is hard to beat.

Top Five Steel Coasters

1. Batman: Knight Flight, SFWOA (1) I was worried when I first approached Batman this spring. I had fallen in love with it in 2001, but it had received mixed reviews. Maybe I just caught it on a good day and I was about to be disappointed, I though. Well, I wasn't disappointed at all in 2001. I still cannot put my finger on it. BKF is not the best steel coaster in the world, but it just does it for me. Maybe it's the pacing, or the views, or the airtime off of the brake run. I'm not sure. Being stuck for 45 minutes on that brake run in June actually added to the mystique of this ride for me.

2. Volcano: The Blast Coaster, PKD. (2) There hasn't been a coaster I followed more closely during construction. I just had a feeling that V:TBC would fit my tastes well. I am a sucker for inverts (I even love Vekoma SLCs), and slow inversions make me giggle. Put the two together and you got the ride for me. Those three heartlines, where it feels like you just hang for seconds, are exactly the type of inversions I want in a steel coaster.

3. Superman: Ride of Steel, Six Flags New England (unranked) It may not be the end-all, be-all of steel coasters that some of the hype makes it out to be, but Superman is definitely not a disappointment. Non-stop combinations of airtime and laterals keep riders hearts pumping throughout the ride. There isn't a soft spot throughout the course of this masterpiece.

4. Nitro, Six Flags Great Adventure (unranked) While riding the B&M speedcoaster Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg I couldn't help but think that something was missing. I still may not be able to say that I know what that something is, but I know that I found it on Nitro. The ride is more intense than its sister and the airtime from the front to the back is fabulous. This is a real winner.

5. Loch Ness Monster, BGW (4) Nessie has been able to hold on to a spot on my favorites list longer than any other steel coaster ever. This is the perfect example of how theming can be done without ruining the ride. Nessie doesn't deliver the thrills of the other coasters on this list, but it does deliver the total package of fun and fantasy unlike anything else.

No longer ranked: Superman: Ride of Steel, Six Flags Darien Lake (last year's number 3) & Great Bear, Hersheypark (last year's number 5). For Superman, all I can say is that I rode its big brother. Enough said. Great Bear holds a special place in my heart, as I rode it over 50 times in its first two weeks of operation. Unfortunately for the Bear, B&M and Intamin have been busy and this family thriller has to take a back seat.

Good-Bye To A Legend, Part Two

March 2, 1962. A neutral site game as part of the regular schedule for the National Basketball Association pits the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knickerbockers. Philadelphia center Wilt Chamberlain is on his game and is racking up the points. It soon becomes clear that history is in the making, and with just a few seconds remaining, Wilt The Stilt does the unimaginable. He scores his 100th point of the game.

The crowd erupts upon this final basket. Throngs of fans rush to the floor, delaying the game. It would have been the SportsCenter moment to end all moments had cameras been present. Instead, we would just have stories. Stories of how Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points on March 2, 1962...at the Hersheypark Arena.

There isn't another event to take place at an amusement park before or since that has been talked about by more people than this. While not everybody may even realize it took place at an amusement park, nearly everyone knows what Wilt did on that magic night.

It was at the Hersheypark Arena that I watched the World Wrestling Federation's In Your House: Beware of Dog pay-per-view event in December 1995. After the show, I saw Stunning Steve Austin walking through the parking lot. Nobody recognized him except me and when I glanced up at him he smiled and gave me the head nod thing. Later that night I got to meet one of my heroes, Buddy Landel. Buddy had been an inspiration to me earlier that year through video and now I was shaking his hand.

Now, HERCO is building the Giant Center. This is a new, semi-state of the art building located just on the other side of the parking lot from the 66-year old Hersheypark Arena. While our beloved arena is not dying yet, it will no longer be the attraction that it was for all these years.

Calder Cup Championships will be replaced by Junior League hockey and high school games. There will be no more Wilt Chamberlains. The next Ice Capades will not be launched from the Hersheypark Arena. No more live pay-per-views will be broadcast throughout the world from the historic building. Indeed, the arena may very well soon meet the same fate as the historic Hershey swimming pool and dancing fountains. It may soon be gone.

While amusement park enthusiasts have often overlooked this historic attraction, the world has taken notice. Like an old-time western hero, the Hersheypark Arena is fading off into the sunset without much fanfare, but with the admiration of those who know just what it has meant to so many people.

And So Goes Drachen Fire

Funny how I plan on writing a good-bye to an amusement park attraction when the news is revealed that Drachen Fire is finally biting the dust. I personally liked DF, and never found it to be all that rough. It was different and the fact that it rarely had lines while I was there made it an easy re-ride for me. I can't say that I'm really losing any sleep now that it is gone, but I feel bad for the people that truly loved it.

Initial reports suggest that BGW may have other ideas for the land than a replacement coaster, and that might indeed be the right thing. There is a good use for the land other than the typical ride. It is what BGW has become known for, and it is what they can do here.

Whalom Park Not Dead Yet

Despite reports to the contrary, Whalom Park is not dead yet. Allyson Bowen continues to send emails to the list of contributors asking for help. We can still all stand up for the traditional amusement park. If you've already contributed, you can still help. Tell those you know who may have any fond memory of an amusement park of the tremendous opportunity they have to save history. It doesn't have to be memories specifically of Whalom that spark an interest in this project.

As always, please check out www.savewhalompark.com for more information.


That should do it for this week. Eastcoaster will have come and gone by the time most of you read this, and message boards will have probably covered any news from the event, but I'll be back in two weeks with some of my thoughts on what went down in Fogelsville, PA. I'll have that and MUCH more, with the next issue set for February 28.

Until then, enjoy yourselves. And if you can, take a back seat ride once for me...


                                                                                 Coaster 3:16

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