 1984
In the News |
‘Second Seemed Forever’ For Man Stuck On Flume Ride
By
Tim Funk and Steve Thomsen
Cincinnati Post
July 19, 1984
David Mullins recalls that “the few seconds…seemed forever”
last Saturday when he says he was trapped in a 650-pound log-shaped
boat at Americana Amusement Park near Middletown, Ohio.
“I was sitting in the back of this boat,” said the 30-yerad
old Erlanger, Ky., man. “We were stuck on the way up the treadmill
and our boat was filling up with water. My legs were above my head and
my face was down where the water was.”
Suddenly, Mullins said, another log-shaped boat came from behind and
hit the boat Mullins and his wife were riding, ending up piggybacked.
Mullins said he and his wife were trapped in the bottom boat. The 285-pound
Mullins said he tried to get up, but couldn’t. Thanks to his wife’s
efforts to free him, Mullins says he was able to get out of his “log”
on the Raging Thunder log flume. He says he remembers little of what
happened after his wife helped raise him up.
However, Mullins reported from his bed at Good Samaritan Hospital, where
he is listed in good condition, that he suffered a concussion and “some
type of swelling on my spinal cord.”
According to Guy Sutton, vice president of the amusement park, it was
the first accident on the new water ride since it debuted two months
ago. The accident occurred after operators shut down the attraction
because another group of riders had rocked their boat sideways filling
it with water, according to Sutton. The ride “was very crowded
at the time,” Sutton said. He said the park “shut the ride
down for 45 minutes for a complete inspection to make sure there were
no defects.”
Mullins’ boat was at the bottom of the 45-foot treadmill when
it was hit from behind by the other boat, Sutton said.
Sutton said Mullins walked to a first aid station after the accident.
He was later taken to Middletown Hospital and then transferred to Good
Samaritan.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ride, Park Fans Find Attractions In Butler County
By
Terry Boschert
Cincinnati Post
April 1984
Amusement park fans heading north out of Cincinnati aren’t necessarily
on their way to Warren County’s Kings Island.
Two Butler County parks – Americana Amusement Park and Fantasy
Farm Family Park – have some distinctive offerings of their won
on Greater Cincinnati’s north side.
“We try to provide people with an alternative to Kings Island
in terms of rides,” said Guy Sutton, vice president of LeSourdsville
Lake Inc., which operates Americana.
“I think there is a pretty big difference” between Fantasy
Farm and Kings Island, said Audrey Meehan, in charge of advertising
and public relations at Fantasy Farm.
Both Americana and Fantasy Farm, next-door neighbors on Hamilton-Middletown
Road between Hamilton and Middletown, will open this weekend. Kings
Island is 25 miles east.
“There is room for more than one park in this area,” Sutton
said. “Thee are about 4 ½ million people in the area. I
think we are a very viable alternative.”
Both Americana and Fantasy Farm have added rides and other attractions
for this season. Americana Amusement Park is building a log flume and
Fantasy Farm a Monster Mouse Roller Coaster. In addition, Americana
has added a miniature golf course on the main midway and a reconstructed
and expanded food complex in the old Tombstone Territory – now
called Logger’s Run. The park’s privately owned picnic grounds
are the largest in Southwestern Ohio.
Americana also offers a swimming pool, shows, an animated bear attractions,
Kids World, 32 major rides and 19 “kiddie” rides.
The park, which employs about 475 seasonal workers, has 75 developed
acres. About 500,000 visitors came to Americana last year, Sutton said.
A large number of the visitors were on group and company outings which
took advantage of the park’s 14 covered shelters.
Americana’s schedule will change periodically during the year.
It will be open only on Saturdays and Sundays until Memorial Day. Then
it will be open daily for some of the summer, except in June and August,
when it will be closed On Mondays. From Labor Day through September,
the park will be open on the weekends.
Admission will be $6.25, but children ages 3 to 5 will be admitted for
$2, children under 3 for free and senior citizens for $3.
Americana got some assistance with expansion through a $200,000 loan
from Butler County to build the new ride and food-service facility.
The loan will be paid back over a 10-year period at 5 percent interest.
County commissioners have said they will place the money, as the loan
is repaid, into a revolving loan fund to provide low-interest loans
to other small businesses.
Howard Berni is president of LeSourdsville lake Inc., which took over
the park in 1960. The name was changed to Americana in 1978.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Americana Opens Log Flume Ride
By
Tom Grant
Hamilton Journal-News
April 1984
There
are two swell signs at the entrance to the new log flume ride Raging
Thunder at Americana Amusement Park.
Let me assure you both are quite accurate. The signs read, “You
can bet you are going to get wet” and “No joke you’re
going to get soaked.”
On a hot summer afternoon a dunking is not all that bad. Dunking may
not be accurate, but the amount of water feels the same. Wet is the
key word here.
The new log flume, at a cost of $750,000, is an integral part of the
expansion at the Butler County amusement park, according to Len Gottstein,
director of marketing and sales. Capital improvements at the park total
$1.5 million, including the flume, centered in an area called Logger’s
Run. The area was formerly a wild-west ghost town known as Tombstone
Territory.
Meanwhile, back to the log flume ride. First, there is a 1,200 feet
shuttle, a waterfall, rapids and a tunnel leading to an incline that
climaxes with a splashdown. This is where the flume riders get wet.
Other Americana attractions include the Dry Gulch Saloon, with live
entertainment on weekends, 32 major rides and 19 kiddie rides. There
is also a large swimming pool, concession stands, games and shows. Near
the 13-acre LeSourdsville Lake are 14 covered picnic pavilions. Patrons
are permitted to bring picnic hampers in to the park, but not glass
bottles or alcoholic beverages.
General admission, including all rides and shows, is $6.25; children
3-5 years old, $2; 2 years old and younger, free; and senior citizens,
$3. A sunset special, after 5 p.m., is $4, and an extra special sunset
price is $2, Tuesday-Friday when the park is open until 10 p.m. Admission
also includes swimming, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Additional information may be obtained by telephone: 539-7339 or 539-9205.
