Wednesday, September 14, 2005

AstroWorld, I'll Miss You

"Now after 37 years, the landmark Six Flags AstroWorld theme park will close at the end of this season, the victim of rising land values that overshadow its worth as an entertainment venue."
rest of article

Most folks will yawn at this, but AstroWorld/WaterWorld in Houston is closing this year. Other than a horrifying experience as a 5 year old on Space Mountain in Disneyland (I had to use the bathroom and I was told to get to all of the restrooms you had to get on the ride), AstroWorld is where I really started to love riding roller coasters. I admit it was a little run down, but it was still fun. We would normally go on a weekday when it wasn’t crowded, on days like that the longest line was only about 15 minutes, some coasters you could ride over and over again with basically no wait. I could probably navigate the park with my eyes closed if needed. I would say Greased Lightning (sp) and the Texas Cyclone were my two favorite old coasters; I was also partial to the Batman coaster. Growing up I probably made at least one trip there each summer. When I was a little kid I also liked Looney Toons Land. We would normally stay in the Marriot, now Sheraton across the street, then catch the shuttle to the park. Going to Houston, AstroWorld and maybe WaterWorld, then if the Astros were in town catching a baseball game in the Astrodome was pretty much a summer ritual. I’ll miss that old park right off I-610. Maybe there will be a silver lining in this, if the New Orleans Six Flags ever reopens maybe they could move some of the AstroWorld rides there.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is so depressing. Boo on Astroworld closing!!!

The Underdog said...

i didn't know they were closing AstroWorld. Guess they're going to put up high rise condos now huh? What would be cool if they kept some of the features and used them within whatever is going to be built there. What if a roller coaster took you to your apt. door, or if one of those rides that dropped you making you think you're going to die and suddenly stops pushing your inner bowels into your face was used as an elevator. Of course I'd take the stairs but that would be cool.

All in all, sad to see it go. This is just another way to say that family activities are just not that important in this country. We spend less and less time with our families on road trips, at the malls, in the parks. We'd rather have a concrete jungle as opposed to a theme park jungle. It's truly a shame.

As the rich get richer, our world steadily declines. Wonder what would Jesus do?