Thursday Thirteen #5

Thirteen Theme Parks (or reasonable facsimiles thereof) That I Have Been To 1. Cypress Gardens, Winter Haven, Florida, 1966 I was only 3.5 years old, so all I remember is a couple of mental snapshots of the water skiers, and the Southern Belles they had placed here and there. (That's me in the red shirt holding my Father's hand at Cypress Gardens.) 2. Marineland, near St. Augustine, Florida, 1966 What I remember about this is agonizing over a souvenir in the gift shop, finally choosing a fake corn cobb pipe, and dropping it into the giant sea turtle tank. Mom or Dad had lifted me up so I could see over the edge into the tank, and a turtle swam right up in front of me, scared me, and I dropped my pipe into the water. Hmmm. Maybe I should be grateful, I'm not a smoker, and that might be why! Marineland is now one of those places you pay a bunch of money to swim with dolphins and stuff. 3. Silver Springs, Ocala, Florida, 1966 All I remember about this is being on one of the glass bottomed boats and looking over and down into the water. That's it. I think it's cool they used to film Tarzan movies here as well as the classic, Creature From The Black Lagoon. I always loved the old Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies when I was young. 4. Weeki Wachee Springs, Weeki Wachee (north of Tampa), Florida, 1970 Live underwater mermaid show, that is still in operation. I was 7.5 years old during this trip and remember the show, and the boat tour on the incredibly clear river. It was the first time I had seen a bald eagle. 5. Six Gun Territory, Ocala, Florida, 1970 I sho-nuff remember this! It was a western town with a bunch of 'b' level amusement park rides next to it. We had a blast here and I rode my first roller coaster, The Mighty Mouse, and got a killer sunburn. At one point, my cousin Scott and I decided to do something different and went over and started riding kiddie rides that we could fit into. We were in some little dinky boats going around in circles, looked up, and there was my Dad and Scott's Dad, my Uncle Alden, standing there laughing at us. Busted on the kiddie rides! Plus, the Main Street western shootout was pretty impressive to this seven year old. What with guys falling off buildings and stuff. I think it closed down in the 1980's. 6. Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri, 1970's (several times), 1984. What can I say about this place? You just would have to go yourself. It's like a city in the 1880's with craftsmen and arts and music going on all around you, but also really cool and original rides. Oh, and a gi-normous cave under the park that you can tour through. Absolutely one of my favorite places on this earth, I kid you not. Plus Lovely Wife and I made a stop here on our honeymoon. 7. Sea-Arama, Galveston, Texas, 1985. Lovely Wife and I went to Galveston for a long weekend, and this was one of the things we did. I LOVE sea-aquarium type places. It closed down in 1990. 8. Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, 1990, 1992. This was originally a second Silver Dollar City, but Dolly Parton bought into it, and they changed the name to Dollywood. We brought our daughters here twice when they were little. We all loved this place, though at the time, it wasn't nearly as big as the original Silver Dollar City in Branson. 9. Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Orlando, Florida, 1994, 1996,... I was 31 the first time here. I was every bit as excited as the girls were. We've been a number of times now since we live only an hour away from Disney World. But it has been several years since our last visit. 10. Disney World, EPCOT, Orlando, Florida, 1994, 1999. Pretty cool place, but they seem to have some major attraction there closed for renovations every time we go, but well worth the trouble nonetheless. 11. Gulfarium, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, 1995. An older but well-kept sea-aquarium with dolphin shows and such. A really great and fun place. 12. Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida, 1998(?) This was pretty cool, but I've only been once, and I haven't been in a hurry to go back. Like one of those movies that you enjoy, but don't really care to see again. Your mileage may vary. 13. Disney World, MGM Studios, Orlando, Florida, 1999. We took Sis In Law to one of the Soap Opera weekends they have here most years. The whole park was peppered with dozens of soap opera stars that she got to meet and get autographs and photos with. I don't watch soap operas, but I must say every last person there was SO kind and patient with the fans. I though that was really cool. The Rock'n Roller Coaster is an incredibly intense roller coaster, almost worth the admission price of itself. The Tower of Terror is awesome too. The shows are super well done productions and much more enjoyable than I would have thought. Bonus 14th Park! Astroworld, Houston, Texas, 1975, 1979. I threw this in because it's the only other theme park I've been to. It's now a Six Flags park and pretty predictable though as a kid, I thought it was great. The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!