Back in 1985, when cavemen still wandered the Earth, my uncle took my brother and me to this same park. I have fond memories of that trip, and the great time we had splishing and splashing through the various rides.
Well, a lot has changed in the last 25 years. The biggest ride at Noah's Ark back then was called "The Plunge." It was a pretty simple ride -- you lie on a mat and go down a fairly tall slide. It's a bit of a wussy ride nowadays, by comparison.
This year they opened a new ride called the Scorpion's Tail (pictured above on the left; The Plunge is beside it on the right), and I must say it was the most awesomeist, butt kickingest ride ever. I had seen it on the Travel Channel before we took our trip, and I knew that I had to do this baby.
You climb up a seemingly endless number of stairs (which is why my calf muscles are still aching), and you come to a transparent capsule thing. You climb into the capsule (after being weighed by the staff, purely so they can mock you, I assume), and before you know it, a creepy woman's voice is giving you a 3-2-1 countdown.
Once the countdown is over, the bottom drops out of the capsule and WHOOOSH! Away you go, falling 10 stories at 40 mph down the tube, and through a freakin' LOOP! They should make a video of the faces of people as they get to the end of the countdown -- it's a riot to watch them! Of course I faked a yawn each of the times Little Smoot and I rode it.
I will reluctantly admit that at the end of our first day, I was praising the good Lord for whoever invented the concept of the "lazy river" raft ride, which involved no line, and absolutely no physical exertion.
Coming Soon: Part III -- The Slip-N-Slide
No comments:
Post a Comment