Daved Thomson

Just an FYI regarding the Circus World Arrow Shuttle. It's my understanding that the Circus World ride was the Arrow prototype and the elevator was included as an option for those purchasing the production ride. Also, regarding the Lightnin' Loops Cafe', I was an assistant manager at LLC during the 1981 & 1982 seasons and the restaurant did not have service windows directly to the outside. That is, although there was no indoor seating for the restaurant, you did have to go inside the restaurant to be served.

While this may not be exact (it's a few years old), it's pretty darn close.

Well, we know the outcome was that Great Adventure did develop the lake. The Switliks did not get any type of award because the lake was developed because they no longer owned the lake. Regardless of whether or not they intended for the lake to NOT be developed, they no longer owned the property and the contract originally entered into between Hardwicke and the Switliks was no longer enforceable (Stanley Switlik had died). The lake lawsuit was based largely on environmental issues that they claimed GA would pollute the lake. I don't know if it's still true, but the quality of the water in Switlik and Prospertown Lakes was amongst the highest in the State for the purity of its content. And, yes, the Switliks are still around and still producing parachutes and other aviation/commercial boating safety equipment. Their website is http://www.switlik.com.

I want to say it was November of 1982. Unfortunately, last year I went through my old scrap books of newspaper clippings from the park and scanned things into the computer instead. But, at the same time, I made the mistake of cleaning up the scans (sometimes eliminately the dates, headlines, etc.). As you can see this was one in which I accidently removed the headline and then went back and manually typed it into the scan myself. Here is one of the original articles that appeared in the NY Times and was Great Adventure's first victory in moving forward with construction. This article is dated January 6, 1974, so the estimate I saw in your picture regarding construction of the Fort not being completed until after the park opening and Enchanted Forest construction beginning around February 1974 seems about right. Interestingly, the piece of land that held everything up relative to construction was in the safari, not the theme park. But it was the theme park to which the Switlik's were vehemently opposed.

Great Adventure now owns 2,200 acres. Hardwicke Companies purchased about 750 acres from the Switliks and several hundred acres of what used to be a Boyscout (Girlscout) camp adjacent to the Switlik property. Total acreage was originally 1,100 acres. In 1977, just after Six Flags purchased the park, the original lawsuit with the Switliks was settled with Great Adventure winning several million dollars in damages (the award was to be split between Hardwicke Companies, The Pritzker Family of Chicago, and Six Flags). The Switliks, however, did not have enough money to pay the award and, as a result, the award actually swelled by thousands of dollars in interest (on a daily basis). Eventually, in order to pay the award, Great Adventure was able to seize property, money, and anything else of value from the Switliks that could be put toward paying off the award. Great Adventure was able to seize roughly another 1,100 acres of land (over the years). At one point, they owned 1,500 acres and following the last of the parcels of land that they acquired the total reached 2,200. Development of the lake, however, was a completely separate issue. Supposedly, the contract between the Switlik's and Hardwicke Companies specified that Switlik Lake would NOT be developed in any way. When Six Flags decided to introduce the water ski show and build the Greatlake Grandstand, the Switlik Family got wind of it and decided to go to court again to prevent it from happening. Here is the full article from the Asbury Park Press. http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2257971570017614399jyRqBA

The Parachute is NOT a tribute to the Switliks... As a matter of fact, the Switlik's were in court with Great Adventure just prior to the parachute ride being introduced. They opposed ANY development of Switlik Lake (The Great Lake) and Great Adventure wanted to use the lake for a new water ski show with a stadium for viewing purposes (The Great Lake Grandstand).

Fireball Express was (for lack of a better term) a game that was located on Dream Street just at the bottom of the ramp that had led up to the castle in the Garden of Marvels (the ramp was closed off at this end). The building was essentialluy between Mustard's Last Stand and the Carousel (if you were walking from Goodtime Alley toward the Carousel). Fireball Express electronically (I'd imagine it used radar) measured the speed at which some was able to throw a baseball I believe.

All you needed to do was do a little searching in the "Good Ole' Summer Times." The water tower is taller by ten feet (160 ft. vs. the Big Wheel at 150 ft.).

I believe what you see behind the Panorama Wheel is the Shooting Galary that stood there for some time. I believe it was called the "Safari Shootout." That is definitely the Fender Bender bumper cars to the left and the rotor would have been to the right of the shooting galary. Actually, the "Super Cat" was to the right of the shooting gallery and the rotor was to the right of the Super Cat... See the 1977 park map.

Was it 1980 when the Bucaneer was introduced?

I believe it was the 1989 season when the Great American Scream Machine opened on time with the very first day of park operations.

The water tower was added in the 1985 season following the disastrous 1984 Haunted Castle fire and is used largely for the park's fire protection systems. The first banner painted on the tower was "We Care About You."

I'm going to go with Railer's answer on this one... I think it's probably The Big Fury.

A. Continental Airlines

I love it and I think you got it right on the money! You said exactly what I tried to say when I wrote that people today do not seem to be able to laugh at themselves. That's exactly it... I DO NOT LIKE the Six Flags ads at all (as I have previously indicated), but people really do need to learn how to laugh at themselves because everyone on this earth will have plenty of times in their lives when they will laugh about others that are (in fact) different from them. We cannot be ethnically/sexually/racially, etc. diverse AND expect others to see us as no different. People are different, stereotypes exist, and every one of us fits a stereotype that others perceive as relevant and indicative of our differences. Some are real differences while others are perceived differences. Moreover, like it or not, perception is reality. You couldn't have said it better... People need to toughen up and get a little bit thicker skin! Sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will never her you.

I have to agree with you 100%... It seems nobody is capable of laughing at themselves anymore. Every group on this earth has some stereotype associated with them and, like it or not, while most people will not acknowledge the existence of such things in an effort to be "politically correct," they do exist. That being said, however, I personally find the Six Flags ads annoying and completely off target if they are really marketing themselves to families. A simple and very often used advertising copy test among their target would have guaranteed that these ads would not have made it on the air because respondents would have found them annoying, unlikeable, and off-target. I'd be willing to bet, however, that they would have scored high in terms of unaided and aided brand recall.

I think you can rest assured that the sky ride should be around for some time to come. While Von Roll as a company no longer exists, the company that purchased Von Roll in 1996 (Doppelmayr Garaventa Group) still exists, is very healthy, and the Gondolas they continue to build today are decendents of the Von Roll design. It is my understanding that they continue to support Von Roll installations throughout the world and getting parts should not be a problem. Here are two of Doppelmayr Garaventa Group's recent U.S. Gondola installations http://www.doppelmayr.com/default.php?tid=...1&detail=46 http://www.doppelmayr.com/default.php?tid=...1&detail=42

Just a guess based on Luis' guess (which I think he meant was a paint company)... Was it Sherwin Williams?

Wasn't he one of the figures originally part of the entrance signage for the Great Character Cafe (I hate that name!)?

Just wanted to add my two cents on this whole concept of what brings guests in (e.g., rides, shows, etc.). In the past, Great Adventure, and most theme parks for that matter, marketed the entire park. And, whenever a new attraction was added, the rest of the park's attractions did not take a back seat to the new attraction in their marketing efforts. Not until the introduction of the Great American Scream Machine did the park ever market/advertise/promote a single attraction without including all of the other benefits the park offers visitors in its marketing efforts (more than 100 rides, shows, attractions, picturebook landscaping, acreage, escapism, etc.) Disney and Busch do an excellent job of marketing their parks not their individual specific attractions. And, they consider the approriateness of new attractions to their parks and the section to which those attractions are added. The corporate branding Six Flags has done to its individual parks, especially in their marketing efforts, has been taken to the extreme. When you use stock footage in your advertising that doesn't show one ounce of unique atmosphere offered by the individual park, people will start to perceive all the parks as being the same and have little or no incentive to visit again if they have been to any ONE of the parks. Advertising for each park should target those that have never visited and those that need to be reminded of their existence (when they're open, what they offer, etc.) as a reminder to visit again. They need to be marketing each park for its whole package, not a single attraction. Regular visitors and enthusiasts don't really need the advertising to be drawn to the park. All parks offer rides, rollercoasters, etc. and for the most part, they offer the same rides with some variations. It is the packaging of the park as a whole (rides, shows, attractions, themeing, etc.) that makes one want to visit one versus another.

If I'm not mistaken, the Garden of Marvels was removed because Great Adventure did not actually own the buildings, trains, boats, cars, people, etc. that comprised the miniature village. Great Adventure simply "hosted" the village which was leased from the family that actually created and owned it (I believe it was a six year lease). I could be wrong, but I believe the lease expired at the end of the 1979 operating season). As such, the miniature golf course replaced the miniature village's buildings for the 1980 season. I remember reading somewhere (and I can't recall where) that following their removal from Great Adventure they were returning home or the owners were looking for a new place to host the village (it's all rather vague in my mind).

Just wanted to let you know that I agree very much with your observation... Great Adventure was amongst the most beautiful parks in the country (along with The Old Country - Busch Gardens) and a major part of that beauty came from the painstaking consideration given to the possible removal of each and every tree before one would be removed. The feeling of escaping to somewhere else really was produced, in large part, by the canopy of trees, excellent landscaping, and the larger-than-life theme elements. The recent loss of so many trees (by recent, I mean late 90's to present), from what I know and observed as an employee as well as a guest, began when Basil Hanger (I may have misspelled his name) passed away. Basil was hand picked by Warner LeRoy and was responsible, initially, for all horticultural aspects of the park. Basil remained with the park well into the Six Flags years and, unfortunately, passed away in the late 90's... About the time that Premier Parks purchased Six Flags. The War on Lines of 1999 brought signifant numbers of new rides to the park, but it also resulted in the elimination of many more trees. I do believe, however, that Mark Kane understands the importance of this park's natural beauty. And, certainly, Larry Cochran (the first of the Six Flags VP/General Managers to run the park) understood the importance of it. In fact, the park's natural beauty was amongst the reasons Six Flags bought Great Adventure. But, like you, I am mistified that a structure like the Super TeePee was removed. It was, in essence, another tent structure not all that different than the four Dream Street tents (which have had their canvas roofs replaced over the years). Replacing the rotted logs with steel imitation logs and putting a new canvas over them, just doesn't sound unreasonable or very expensive. Yes, I can understand budget issues can cause delays, etc. When the park loses a structure like the Super TeePee, however, it really amounts to poor planning, combined with too many general managers coming and going in succession. I hope, as I am sure you do, that you are wrong about the Skyride and Big Wheel being on the chopping board. If true, we would then have a rotting Fort not worth maintaining to go with them.

I am thinking it is Six Flags over Texas

I'm going to venture a guess that it was during the seasons in which what was called Circus International was performed in the Great Arena... If I'm not mistaken 1980 or 1981?

On simple observation I would say that your guess is probably correct, however, looking closely at the towers it appears that the Freedomland towers used an "I" beam construction whereas Great Adventure's tower's use a box beam construction. Other than that, I think they're dead on. The disastrous history of Freedomland is so bad, though, that I'd hate to think that any of it ended up at Great Adventure.