The Battle of the Theme Parks

I have mentioned before about the spontaneous trips my family and I would take. One summer evening my family and I were discussing the local theme parks and the pros and cons of each. We came to a scientific conclusion to visit two of the parks back to back to test our hypothesis.

The very next day we all loaded up in the van and drove to Memphis’s local attraction--Libertyland. Libertyland opened on July 4, 1976 at the Mid-South Fair Grounds. The park opened with several rides, including the Zippin Pippin and the Grand Carousel. The park remained open during the summer months and was an extra attraction during the annual Mid-South Fair every fall. In its heyday, Libertyland was the place to be. My dad would tell me stories of how he and mom would spend all day as newlyweds riding rides and enjoying the life of the amusement park. Fifteen years later, however, Libertyland had lost its luster and excitement.

Dad paid our way in and we soon realized we needed tickets for every ride. So after my dad was forced to shell out even more cash, my brother and I had enough tickets for a handful of rides. We started in the back of the park and rode the Revolution. The Revolution was a spiral roller coaster with several loops and hills. It wasn't a bad ride, especially when the operator accidentally let the coaster roll past the exit bars...twice. We got lucky and rode that thing three times on one ticket. For the rest of the day, our time was spent on rides like the Tennessee Tilt and the Turnpike Antique Cars. We took a break from rides and decided to play a round of putt-putt there in the park. We walked up to the booth to pay for our putters and balls and the attendant was sound asleep. We literally watched him sleep for a solid minute, waiting to see if he would wake up. He never did though. We then proceeded to the ride that has always made Libertyland famous--Elvis’s favorite, the Zippin Pippin. My brother and I gave up the last of our tickets to sit in the front coaster. The Pippin was truly a thrill ride because, unlike any other ride I’ve ridden, I truly felt my life to be in danger. The wooden roller coaster creaked and moaned the entire time. I can only describe it as termites holding hands.

The very next day we packed our bags and headed toward Nashville to visit Opryland.
We paid our one admission price which allowed us to ride every ride possible. Now Opryland was an absolutely wonderful place to be. The atmosphere was bustling with the excitement of local shops and eateries, upbeat music, and surrounding greenery. We spent the entire day there riding the Wabash Cannonball, Grizzly River Rampage, and many other thrill rides. We were even able to squeeze in a few shows and ate some very good food, overly priced, but good. Now this was a theme park and in a completely different league than Libertyland.

Sadly, my kids will never be able to experience either one of these two parks. Both have been stripped down and sold off. Countless numbers of people were able to leave their mundane lives and step into a world of fantasy and enchantment due to these parks. After all, that is what theme parks are made to do--give us a break from reality and bring us back to a state of childhood. What a theme park that was!