Eh, I'm not so sad that it is going. To me, Astroworld has been in decline for years. My favorite Astroworld memory is Bob Dylan w/Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in 1986 (or maybe 1987). That and puking on the rides... It will be developed into apartments & retail so people can walk to the Fannin South station and take the light rail to their jobs downtown. Now if and when they announce the Astrodome is going to be levelled, THEN I will be really sad. But Astroworld...eh....
It's going to be a Schlitterbahn (like the one in New Braunsfeld). I think they just started construction and will open in the summer of 2006. Here is a link: Schlitterbahn is coming to Galveston Island!
My family is Disney nuts. Seriously. It's sick. I've been hearing this idea that Disney would build in west Houston/Katy/Brookshire for as long as I can remember. Literally, nearly 25 years I've been hearing that. Because of that...I sincerely doubt it. It would be a huge shot in the arm for our economy...but I doubt it.
Actually, the indoor part will open this December. Here's a recent construction photo...The only problem is that I don't see any room for expansion. It looks boxed in, like Astroworld is...unless those buildings on the right side are temporary construction buildings...
Cheap land is all Disney cares about. They don't need side attractions..they are the attraction. They build it and people come...that's the way it's ALWAYS been for them. Orlando was nothing before them. Seriously...just land out in the middle of nowhere. Katy is far more developed than Orlando was back then. Far more. And accessible to far more, as well.
I'm pissed. Anyone want to go in together and buy the dungeon drop and put it somewhere on westhimer? I bet we could make a fortune on that ride alone.
I have missed Astrowolrd for a while. What we miss the Astroworld from the '70s when is was great. It was nothing like it is now. I will miss the Cyclone and Greased Lightning very much. I have such great memories. Astrowolrd map from 1976:
Codell you were right it is where Archer Body Shop is now. I used to go there in the late 80's early 90's LOL
This is from a Texas Disney rumor website...the information was last updated in 1999: http://shamu.tamu.edu/~mickey/rumflag.html
I'll be honest guys I knew the Theme park would shutdown eventually. I've been several time the past 6-8 years and it keeps getting worse. I dont know about you all but you havent noticed those Ghetto wannabe thugs just loitering around the park all day. And I mean Everyday. All they have to do is buy a season pass and bam. Free Entrance... I dont bring my family anymore because of this. The cursing and abnoxious attitudes they bring into the park was horrible. And I know that has to be the reason why families dont want to bring there kids. All I can hope for now is that when they accept bids for the theme park that new Managment would take care of this huge problem.
As a native Houstonian, I miss the really old Astroworld days... BEFORE the concerts of the 80's.. back in the really old days, Astroworld was spectacular! In the 80's it was still pretty good, but the prices were starting to get out of control, customer service was starting to go downhill, it was becoming a litlle less family-friendly and a little more thuggy. After Six Flags bought it and brought in the WB characters, things really started going down the crapper. It got very thuggy, not family-friendly, too over-priced and just not fun. I can understand how some here won't miss it. But if you had grown up with it during the good times, and had some great memories of the place from when you were a kid, I guarantee you'd feel different. It was a different park back then. It was a fanatastic and fun place. I was sad to see its decline and I'm saddened more to know that it will be closed down permanently. It was a part of my childhood.
I'm just glad that I got to enjoy the park in it's prime. We used to get family pack season passes every year from the mid 70s thru around 85. I met many of my early girlfriends there. I have many many good memories..and frankly am sad that my kid will never get to experince what Astroworld was really about...she has been a few times over the last few years...but it just wasnt the same. RIP Astroworld....thanks for the mammor....uh...memories.
where will all the high school kids go for physics day now? they need a place to hook u....er, i mean, learn about inertia and centripedal force.
Okay guys, I'm positive there used to be one off of 610 North, on the near northwest side of town because it was pretty close to Oak Forest where my grandparents live. So, after two minutes doing a freaking google search to asuage my paranoia , it appears it has been in several locations. People talk about it over off the north loop, then apparently it was down on the south side somewhere in the Almeda Mall area, then, as you guys mentioned, it was where the old body shop was on the southwest side until it closed sometime in the 80's or 90's. I wasn't aware that there were multiple locations for that place.
the one i remember was off the north loop i did find this picture, though..of the monorail test track set up here in Houston:
was that the one with Gilligan? I think they tore it down for XLR8. Anyone remember the videos they used to show on the monitors in the lines for rides. They used to have one with Hakeem, Barkley, and I think Jordan, to the song that goes "bang bang, I am the warrior".
I never much liked Astroworld. It's not because it fell short in its amusement parkness, like some have expressed, but just because I don't much like amusement parks. I haven't been there since 1984 or so I'm guessing; I didn't even know they had WB characters there. But, I'm still sad to see it go. I feel nostalgic for it even though I never much liked it as a kid.
There was a location on the north loop at TC Jester near Oak Forest. I have pictures from the early 70's of birthday parties that I had there. Loved the place. It wasn't the same after it moved to the SW freeway.
