Sunday, June 30, 2013

From The Vault: Castles 'n' Coasters 1997 Brochure



Here's a fun one that has been buried away for a long time, a 1997 brochure from Castles 'n' Coasters, located in Phoenix, Arizona.  The actual brochure is not date specific, but it was sent to me that year so let's go with that!


The park is a mix of amusement park and family entertainment center, and obviously there is a castle theme going on somewhere in there, too.  The park's small size means they pack a lot of attractions into the boundaries, and also as the name states that includes a couple of roller coasters.


The park opened in 1982 and changed names a few times as additions were make and new attractions opened.  This page of the brochure describes the park as Arizona's "newest" park - I'm pretty sure the list of amusement parks in Arizona is a really short one however!


The park has two roller coaster, Desert Storm which is featured prominently here, and also the Patriot.  Both were created by Hopkins.  Desert Storm has two loops so it is aimed more toward thrill seekers, while the Patriot is a smaller family ride.


The center of the brochure is a map of the park that shows all the rides and attractions that were offered as of that time.  You can see that the mini golf courses take up a lot of real estate, but as an amusement park / family entertainment center they are a must. 

The log flume, named Splashdown, has a really interesting description in that it says its theming includes a logging town, African elephants, and a Polynesian village.  What!

There were also bumper boats, go-karts, and some flat rides like a Carousel, bumper cars, Sea Dragon, and a Magic Carpet.


1 comments:

jtlyk said...

The log flume, Splashdown, was a precurser and built by the same manufacturer as it's more famous sibling(s) Splash Mountain at the Disney parks!