BarryHom
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 14,159
I had heard of a roller coaster near where I live (Southwest Florida), but Ive never seen it advertised in local newspapers or TV stations. A while ago, I had briefly heard a radio ad about King Richards Park in Naples, Florida that had a roller coaster. I had to dig around and I finally found an article about it in an online newspaper. I drove by it once, but I never went in. I was looking for a huge roller coaster looming from behind the building, but I saw none.
Finally, after doing a search on RCDB.com, I found their website. They had the Flying Dragon coaster, which was a kiddie coaster. The website claimed that their park had the only permanent coaster in southwest Florida. I almost passed it up, if I didnt need the credit. I am steadily approaching my 100th coaster, which I hope will be Cheetah at Wild Adventures in September. My coaster count is now 88 coasters. If I ride the Flying Dragon, it will go up to 89. I was planning on going to Six Flags Over Georgia and Dollywood before Wild Adventures. Dollywood has two coasters and Six Flags Over Georgia has nine. So if I ride the ones at Dollywood and eight at Six Flags Over Georgia, I will reach 99 and then I can celebrate my 100th ride at Wild Adventures on the Cheetah.
I wanted to add one extra in case a coaster broke down at Dollywood or Six Flags. It seems that out of the three Six Flags that Ive visited, at least one coaster was down. I wanted to cover myself. At the very least, I could skip one of the painful coasters, like Ninja.
Naples is about an hours drive from me. King Richards Park is on North Airport Drive. The outside is a castle, but the medieval theming stops there. The entrance to the place has a small water area for the kids. You pass through an arcade area (brightly-lit, but tight on space) to get to the rides in the back. The arcade had a bad odor.
The first thing that surprised me was the price. The website did not list any admission prices, which should have been a red light to me. I decided to go anyway. I expected to pay about $10-$15 for an all-day armband. However, the park sold each ride ticket for $4. Each ride costs 1 ticket. So even if you ride the Froghopper-type ride or the Go-Karts, its one ticket. The rides dont seem to be weighted properly. Surely, a ride on the Go-Karts is more valuable than one on a Froghopper! I had quite a sticker shock. You could buy a family pack of 6 tickets for around $22. Then you could buy an all-day armband for around $22.50 for juniors (under 9 years old or so), $24.50 for ages 9-16 or so, and $26.50 for adults. I opted for the adult armband and used a 10% off coupon I got off their website.
The park has a handful of rides: a Froghopper-type ride (but not painted with frogs), Tornado, Go-Karts, kiddie go-karts, a kiddie truck ride, the Flying Dragon roller coaster, bumper boats, Carousel, a swinging ship, a bi-plane Dumbo-type ride, batting cages (extra charge), and mini-golf (extra charge). I only rode the Tornado, Go-Karts, and the Flying Dragon. I tried to ride the Froghopper, but I think that I broke it. The ride op couldnt get the ride to go up! I guess Im too big for this one! The Carousel and bi-plane rides looked too small for me. I wanted to ride the swinging ship, but it was down.
The Flying Dragon roller coaster was just really a kiddie coaster. It had a tight turn in the middle, but thats it. It reminded me of the Dragon coaster at Dorney Park, only with a longer track. The coaster goes around the track several times, but after 2 or 3 laps, the ride got boring. It was no Millennium Force, but it was an OK ride. Kids would like it much more. One odd thing though: every time that I rode it, my left pocket would be wet! The bumper boats were next door, but there is no way that the water guns on the boats can shoot that far. Also, to unlock the lapbars, the ride op had to put in an air pump tube into a hole.
I rode the Tornado ride two times. You sit in four person cars and youre hung off an arm. The ride spins you around and you can also turn a wheel to spin yourself around. The first time that I rode, I didnt know about the wheel, so I just spun around. It wasnt a tornado on that ride it was a summer breeze! The second time was when I turned the wheel. I couldnt get it to spin very fast. I suppose four people in the car could spin it until someone hurls.
To break even, I rode the Go-Karts. This was the first time Ive rode go-karts and the track was pretty good. I did make a mistake on the ride. When the ride was over and all the cars were in the pit area, the other riders jumped out of the car. I followed them. The ride op foo-fooed us because he said that we had to stay seated until he was in the pit area. He said to remember that next time. At least he didnt eject us from the park!
I spent about 45 minutes riding the rides and then I took some video of the rides for the Florida Coaster Club. I managed to get 6 minutes of bootleg video. I say bootleg video because an employee came to me and asked me to stop videotaping. I needed permission ahead of time to do so. I was thinking, !!! but rules are rules. I put away my camera right in front of him. I found it odd that he asked me that. There really isnt anything proprietary here. I know a lot of parks will let you shoot the rides, but not on the rides because the camera might fly out of your hands and bonk someone on the head. I dont know how standing there would cause such a hazard.
Then I thought that he might be trying to guard the guests from sexual predators who might videotape kids for inappropriate usages. Honestly, I had never thought of such disgusting things. Still, it felt like an odd request to ask me to stop videotaping. Ive never been asked to do that at any other park. Besides, wouldnt it be nice if I showed it to family, friends, and Florida Coaster Club members to see how cool and fun the park is? That would be some great free advertising.
As I thought about what my opinion of the park was, I couldnt help think what other people have said about Dutch Wonderland. I thought about going there, but other people said that its good for very young kids. Adults would be bored there. I have the same feeling about King Richards Park. Kids will have fun here. Older kids may enjoy the go-karts. Besides that, theres not much that the entire family can enjoy together. I also think the park is a bit pricey. Other amusement parks have a greater assortment of rides and they charge only a few dollars more. Knoebels came to mind. They have dozens of flat rides and four roller coasters that you can ride for $27.75. Other parks with a small asoortment of rides charge around $10-$15.
The Florida Lottery jackpot is at $32 million as of today (8/24/02). I had a passing thought that if I won it, then I could contact the Gravity Group and build an outstanding wooden coaster. I could install some flat rides and add an arcade and go-kart track. Then I could charge $25 or so a head for an all-day armband and one-up King Richards! I could even offer annual passes! We can only dream
September will bring Dollywood, Six Flags Over Georgia, and Wild Adventures!
Finally, after doing a search on RCDB.com, I found their website. They had the Flying Dragon coaster, which was a kiddie coaster. The website claimed that their park had the only permanent coaster in southwest Florida. I almost passed it up, if I didnt need the credit. I am steadily approaching my 100th coaster, which I hope will be Cheetah at Wild Adventures in September. My coaster count is now 88 coasters. If I ride the Flying Dragon, it will go up to 89. I was planning on going to Six Flags Over Georgia and Dollywood before Wild Adventures. Dollywood has two coasters and Six Flags Over Georgia has nine. So if I ride the ones at Dollywood and eight at Six Flags Over Georgia, I will reach 99 and then I can celebrate my 100th ride at Wild Adventures on the Cheetah.
I wanted to add one extra in case a coaster broke down at Dollywood or Six Flags. It seems that out of the three Six Flags that Ive visited, at least one coaster was down. I wanted to cover myself. At the very least, I could skip one of the painful coasters, like Ninja.
Naples is about an hours drive from me. King Richards Park is on North Airport Drive. The outside is a castle, but the medieval theming stops there. The entrance to the place has a small water area for the kids. You pass through an arcade area (brightly-lit, but tight on space) to get to the rides in the back. The arcade had a bad odor.
The first thing that surprised me was the price. The website did not list any admission prices, which should have been a red light to me. I decided to go anyway. I expected to pay about $10-$15 for an all-day armband. However, the park sold each ride ticket for $4. Each ride costs 1 ticket. So even if you ride the Froghopper-type ride or the Go-Karts, its one ticket. The rides dont seem to be weighted properly. Surely, a ride on the Go-Karts is more valuable than one on a Froghopper! I had quite a sticker shock. You could buy a family pack of 6 tickets for around $22. Then you could buy an all-day armband for around $22.50 for juniors (under 9 years old or so), $24.50 for ages 9-16 or so, and $26.50 for adults. I opted for the adult armband and used a 10% off coupon I got off their website.
The park has a handful of rides: a Froghopper-type ride (but not painted with frogs), Tornado, Go-Karts, kiddie go-karts, a kiddie truck ride, the Flying Dragon roller coaster, bumper boats, Carousel, a swinging ship, a bi-plane Dumbo-type ride, batting cages (extra charge), and mini-golf (extra charge). I only rode the Tornado, Go-Karts, and the Flying Dragon. I tried to ride the Froghopper, but I think that I broke it. The ride op couldnt get the ride to go up! I guess Im too big for this one! The Carousel and bi-plane rides looked too small for me. I wanted to ride the swinging ship, but it was down.
The Flying Dragon roller coaster was just really a kiddie coaster. It had a tight turn in the middle, but thats it. It reminded me of the Dragon coaster at Dorney Park, only with a longer track. The coaster goes around the track several times, but after 2 or 3 laps, the ride got boring. It was no Millennium Force, but it was an OK ride. Kids would like it much more. One odd thing though: every time that I rode it, my left pocket would be wet! The bumper boats were next door, but there is no way that the water guns on the boats can shoot that far. Also, to unlock the lapbars, the ride op had to put in an air pump tube into a hole.
I rode the Tornado ride two times. You sit in four person cars and youre hung off an arm. The ride spins you around and you can also turn a wheel to spin yourself around. The first time that I rode, I didnt know about the wheel, so I just spun around. It wasnt a tornado on that ride it was a summer breeze! The second time was when I turned the wheel. I couldnt get it to spin very fast. I suppose four people in the car could spin it until someone hurls.
To break even, I rode the Go-Karts. This was the first time Ive rode go-karts and the track was pretty good. I did make a mistake on the ride. When the ride was over and all the cars were in the pit area, the other riders jumped out of the car. I followed them. The ride op foo-fooed us because he said that we had to stay seated until he was in the pit area. He said to remember that next time. At least he didnt eject us from the park!
I spent about 45 minutes riding the rides and then I took some video of the rides for the Florida Coaster Club. I managed to get 6 minutes of bootleg video. I say bootleg video because an employee came to me and asked me to stop videotaping. I needed permission ahead of time to do so. I was thinking, !!! but rules are rules. I put away my camera right in front of him. I found it odd that he asked me that. There really isnt anything proprietary here. I know a lot of parks will let you shoot the rides, but not on the rides because the camera might fly out of your hands and bonk someone on the head. I dont know how standing there would cause such a hazard.
Then I thought that he might be trying to guard the guests from sexual predators who might videotape kids for inappropriate usages. Honestly, I had never thought of such disgusting things. Still, it felt like an odd request to ask me to stop videotaping. Ive never been asked to do that at any other park. Besides, wouldnt it be nice if I showed it to family, friends, and Florida Coaster Club members to see how cool and fun the park is? That would be some great free advertising.
As I thought about what my opinion of the park was, I couldnt help think what other people have said about Dutch Wonderland. I thought about going there, but other people said that its good for very young kids. Adults would be bored there. I have the same feeling about King Richards Park. Kids will have fun here. Older kids may enjoy the go-karts. Besides that, theres not much that the entire family can enjoy together. I also think the park is a bit pricey. Other amusement parks have a greater assortment of rides and they charge only a few dollars more. Knoebels came to mind. They have dozens of flat rides and four roller coasters that you can ride for $27.75. Other parks with a small asoortment of rides charge around $10-$15.
The Florida Lottery jackpot is at $32 million as of today (8/24/02). I had a passing thought that if I won it, then I could contact the Gravity Group and build an outstanding wooden coaster. I could install some flat rides and add an arcade and go-kart track. Then I could charge $25 or so a head for an all-day armband and one-up King Richards! I could even offer annual passes! We can only dream
September will bring Dollywood, Six Flags Over Georgia, and Wild Adventures!
Its been there for quite a few years now, but I've never checked it out. Doesn't sound all that great.
A friend of mine, who knows a lot of info on Amusement Parks, did not have any Idea what I was talking about either.
How long has this park been there? As far as the "Illegal Taping" maybe this park was sued at one time, or something.
