Took the family to Six Flags over Georgia yesterday with some comp tickets. Yesterday was the final day of the season (although Fright Fest starts this weekend).
The Riverview Carousel celebrates its 100th birthday this year. It first went 'round in 1908 at Riverview Park in Chicago. In 1967 the park closed its doors and the carousel went into storage--in various home basements! Six Flags over Georgia purchased it and got it up and running in 1972, where it still runs today.
It was the first five-row carousel built and one of very few still in existence. It was originally made at a cost of $18,000. It's a National Historic Landmark. More info here.
We also took a couple of spins in Monster Plantation since it will be remodeled in the coming months and will return all spiffed up as Monster Mansion in May 2009. Monster Plantation opened in 1981 in a building that had housed Tales of the Okefenokee (about Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus stories) for 13 years. The new ride was birthed and engineered by former Disney Imagineers and was the first animatronic ride in a non-Disney park. It was cutting edge for its time.
The ride features one of those songs you can't quite sing right but can't get out of your head. "You're invited to a picnic! Monster picnic, but humans are allowed today!"
Read more in this AJC article. You can also hear the theme song here, and see a nice 1981-era video of the making of the ride.
