Well, that might be taking it a little to far. 48 of the 92 acres were purchased for $42.8 million just two years ago. Thats a lot, don't you think? LINK
I heard it from a cop who did security work there. Take it up with him. I have no idea since my kids had stopped going there by the time it closed. It was never my experience that gangs were a problem. I would suspect it had more to do with whether or not the place was making money or not.
SF had a lot of debt across the nation at the time from new ownership who had purchased multiple smaller parks across the nation. This coincided with low budgets, and aging parks that they already had which were not getting the benefit of much new investment due to the amount of debt taken on at the time. Wrap that up with Reliant Stadium being built and the surrounding area being improved, declining attendance (for above reasons among other things mentioned) and you had a perfect storm for the land being sold.
There's always rumors about people dying. I heard that they demolished the Texas Tornado because somebody fell off and died, which I doubt is true because I've never heard of it in the news.
It was doing okay not had enough to close but the one thing about houston is it has zero tourism and that hurts in the long run because of the law of diminishing marginal utility.
First girl I ever finger-banged was in the cable cars when I was like 13. So I've got that going for me.
On a trip with my brothers and dad, seeing a group of cute girls out of the corner of my eye go to a jukebox and put on "Blame it on the Rain." Being suprised at vending machines selling cokes for a dollar. Getting into a cursing match on the YAK terminals on my 12th birthday. Almost getting left behind on the eight grade band and orchestra trip and walking around the dome parking lot.
Sometimes I burn a steak, and don't take out my garbage for a little too long, and it reminds me of astroworld. But I must have spent a LOT more time looking at that map as a kid at home than I realized, the original, because that thing spiked memories even more powerful than the smells. Wow. I'm almost glad it's gone now strangely. Memories can't be molested.
I remembered the first time I rode Bamboo shoot. Right as you're about to go down, I had this weird uncomfortable feeling on my crotch area, lol. Idk, it's kinda hard to explain.
I was there that night as well. I worked there. A concert had just let out, and the park was suddenly flooded with extra people waiting in line for the rides again. Well, when that happens, they add extra 'trains' to the tracks on certain rides, like the Cyclone, to increase the number of 'rides per minute'. But whenever they add those trains, they have to run it through once as a test, before guests could ride. So, whenever a train was being added to any ride, a notice would go out over the walkie-talkies to the manager/supervisors in the park in the various different departments, basically saying 'We are adding a train to the Cyclone, be here in five minutes to ride the test ride, if you want to.' So, supervisors all over the park would tell their crews, 'Be back in a few minutes, going to run and ride the Cyclone!' It happened a lot. Only that night.. When the train is added to the tracks, there's a track-switcher down near where the guests get on. The trains were stored in a shed which had tracks that went around a little u-turn from the regular line. The switch the tracks, wheel the extra train around onto the main line, and are SUPPOSED to then switch the tracks back, to make the main line a closed loop again. That didn't happen this time. The test train, filled with park employees, started ratcheting up the first incline. The track had not been switched back yet. When the train reached the top, something broke, and the train descended rapidly backwards down the first incline, hit the bottom, then whipped around that u-turn, through the little shed, and then plunged into open space below. I don't know exactly how many people were killed, but I know one of my department managers was among them. My direct supervisor was not killed, but was seriously injured. It was a chaotic night, because they were sharing absolutely zero information. All of that, I learned over time afterward.
Well, call it whatever you want. I had season passes for the final two years it was open, and I would take my wife and two small children there, and each time it was worse and worse. Literal hordes of 'urban youths' just standing around, taking up space, milling around in groups. Not riding rides, not buying anything or spending money, just being there, milling around, making it an extremely uncomfortable experience for the people who were there to actually enjoy the park. I can't speak to the 'gangs' notion, but I can definitely attest to the fact that it was 'infested' with a very large number of people who probably should not have been there.
I rode it one time. It was fun. Didn't get stuck. Probably the most G's I have ever experienced on a roller coaster. Always tried to ride again but it was always closed.
It was 1983 and only one person died. His name was Frank Wamble and he was a grounds supervisor. What actually happened was not exactly what you said, but rather it never got to the lift. The track hadn't been switched and it went straight to the shed. Not that I'm saying you're lying -- but that story has been embellished a thousand times over. The above is directly from the accident report filed afterward. Also, here's the newspaper clipping: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19830731&id=hOIhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JGMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7190,6719143
