Camden Park


Camden's Haunted House is a great "retro" ride.	And, I added it to my coaster count.

Two notable rides were the Haunted House and the Whip. As someone mentioned in an earlier thread about Camden Park, the Haunted House could be considered a coaster. It uses a chain lift to go up a hill, stays on a track and gravity does the rest. The Haunted House was fun in a kitchy sort of way. It was the first time I have been on a ride where my car was grabbed by an attendant who served as the brake at the ride’s end.

The Whip is still a blast!

This was the first park I have been to with a Whip, and after my first ride I fell in love with it. The ride is deceptively simple, and even watching from the outside you never realize how fast the ride goes. The cars were still in great condition, but the platform could have used some work. I had a big smile on my face throughout the entire ride and immediately got back in line after it was over. As I was waiting I noticed small brass or gold plates on the right side of each car. Upon closer inspection I saw that they read:

I blows my mind that a ride built by the famed William Mangels, probably in the 20’s pr 30’s, is still running great today. This ride joined my list favorite flat rides, which were the Flying Scooters and the Cedar Downs. I have so much fun on each of these it would be criminal to pick just one.


The kiddy-Whip is a Mangels classic that still runs at the park.	The handcars are a great way to exhaust the little ones. The park's carousel spins in the background.

Sadly, the Thunderbolt Express no longer runs at Camden Park.

A trip to Camden Park is definitely an education. It has a great character all its own, but it would surprise me if the park makes it through more than a couple of seasons. The atmosphere could be helped a lot if they simply put their materials out of sight. On the Hot Kat and the Big Dipper there were all kinds of surplus parts all over the place. The Thunderbolt (an Arrow shuttle loop formerly at Kings Island) was sitting idly by. I have heard the park has had a lot of problems with the launch mechanism breaking, but there was a sign at the park which promised it would be open in May…hopefully they can get it going again. If ever a coaster needed a coat of paint, this is it. The track is a potpourri of red, white, blue and rust. I saw most of the Thunderbolt from the sky ride, which provided a slow ride to the end of the parking lot (where I got a good view of two old El Camino’s in someone’s backyard) and came back.

The kiddy coaster is the last N.A.D.-designed children's coaster in existance.

I hope if ever you are doing one of your cross-country coaster journeys that you do not forget Camden. It is right off of I-64 so many traveling to or from the mid-west will drive right by it. Spend a couple of hours at Camden if you can. You will (hopefully) help the place survive another year and, if worst comes to worst, you will have gotten to visit the park before it is lost to us forever. In a world full of Supermen, mice and miles of asphalt, there is something refreshing and unique about Camden Park. I only hope I can get back to it.