RampagingRex Productions

31/10/2024

I was shocked to learn yesterday of the sudden permanent closure of Myrtle Beach's Funplex amusement park. Some of you might remember that I visited this park back in June. At that time, anyone there would never have guessed that we were in its final season of operation. The park was absolutely packed, and I swear it held the record for the most compact park in existence. The ride lineup was surprisingly solid, with a good mix of flat rides and of course the "hamster wheel" coaster Fun in the Sun. The park was located right at the end of the main tourist strip in downtown Myrtle Beach, not too far away from the empty lot that housed the former Pavilion, so the location was not the issue here. What may have been the issue was the park's microscopic size. Pathways inside got extremely congested and most people probably only rode one or two rides instead of buying the expensive all day pass. Whatever the case, it's always a sad day when an amusement park closes. Funplex only lasted three years; not quite as short-lived as Hard Rock Park but pretty darn close. Is Myrtle Beach cursed for amusement parks? It seems only Family Kingdom has cracked the code and found a way to keep going. Hopefully the rides at Funplex can be dispersed to the company's other properties, or other parks altogether. Did you ever get the chance to visit here? Let me know your thoughts down below.

02/10/2024

BIG NEWS!!! I never thought I'd see the day, but at this past weekend's Portland Retro Gaming Expo, a ROM of Garfield: The Lost Levels was revealed to not only be found, but it was publicly playable! This area of the expo was hosted by the Video Game History Foundation. How this ROM was found remains a mystery, although it's been confirmed that it will be released publicly sometime soon. In the meantime, channel PointZoneTelephone has posted a video showing the first three Lost Levels, those being Bonehead the Barbarian, Alien Landscape, and the Catsablanca train. This was one piece of lost media I had written off as being impossible to find, so my mind is blown over this. Fantastic work to everyone involved in tracking down this elusive game (even though we don't know who they are yet)!!

You'll get to play it sooner or later so don't be a nuisance and/or a menace plsAll you had to do was follow the damn train Garfield

26/09/2024

It feels surreal to be saying this, but there are finally signs of some real structural work happening on Steel Curtain! Rebar for new support columns has arrived and is sitting just past the Steelers Country entrance. Nearby, a section of fence has been removed; this will possibly be the location of one of the new supports. Additionally, a stockpile of parts and equipment can be seen next to the entrance sign, including crates marked as being direct from S&S. I'm not sure why it took until now to see the work beginning, but I hope the effort is worth it to turn one of the most unreliable coasters into something that most people have a chance at riding.

21/09/2024

KENNYWOOD PHANTOM FALL FEST OPENING NIGHT
Just like that, summer has flown by and it's time for Halloween once again! Tonight was the official opening night for Kennywood's annual Halloween event Phantom Fall Fest, and I had a fantastic time. On Saturdays and Sundays this event runs all day, with the haunts opening at 6 PM, but tonight was a strictly "haunt-only" night, so the park opened at 6:00.
Let's start with haunts. All were open except for Voodoo Bayou, which was a shame since it's in my top three Fall Fest haunts. Hopefully that was a tonight-only thing. mAlice in Wonderland is great this year! You now go through the haunt backwards compared to last year, and I still think this haunt has some of the best theming and setpieces of the entire lineup. Dark Shadows was great as always; a pitch black walk through a foggy maze where you can't see anything, including the actors. Shady Grove Memorial Hospital is a solid haunt with some solid theming, but it has awful capacity and takes forever to get through the line. Kennyville Cemetery continues to rise up in my ranking, as I'll always love the aesthetic of a spooky cemetery at night. The entrance archway got some fancy new pillars and they added the skeletal horse to the queue which used to be part of the old Death Valley scare zone. The only open haunt I didn't do was Villa of the Vampire, which had the longest line in the park. It's a good haunt and I'm sure it's still good this year; I'll just do it on my next visit since time was of the essence tonight.
Crowds were pretty light tonight on rides, so I was able to ride all the open coasters at least once. Thunderbolt is sadly not part of the ride lineup this year, but taking its usual place is Racer which is running great as ever. I also grabbed a Black Widow night ride which I highly recommend. When you're flying toward the night sky you'll swear you just entered a different dimension. Phantom was absolutely FLYING tonight and I wouldn't have it any other way. A station wait with two trains is absolute bliss to any coaster enthusiast.
The Halloween season is off to a great start with this opening night, and I'm sure I'll be back very soon. Once Voodoo Bayou opens I'll make my return, because Fall Fest is one event I don't get tired of.

10/09/2024

Phoenix recently won the Golden Ticket Award for best wooden coaster for the sixth year in a row! I had the pleasure of returning to Knoebels about two weeks ago and had myself a Phoenix riding marathon. There's no doubt it's a meticulously maintained wooden coaster, and the story of its painstaking relocation from Texas to PA justifies the accolades before you even consider the ride experience. Phoenix's airtime is so legendary, I frequently have to remind myself that this thing was originally built in the 1940's. The fact that there's only a lap bar holding you in sweetens the deal even more. Now my opinions on Phoenix, though they've always been positive, fluctuate every time I visit, and recently I've been finding myself preferring Twister more. You can't deny though that this at least deserves a top ten spot among the best wooden coasters the world has to offer.

19/08/2024

I’ve been pretty open over the years regarding my distaste for Banshee. Every time I ride it, I’m hoping I’ll finally understand why everyone seems to love it so much, but this was not that time. Banshee is ROUGH. The train shakes like an earthquake the entire time. It honestly feels like the wheels have flat spots on them! Not helping things are the infamous B&M vest restraints. These hold tightly onto your upper body, making sure you feel every slight bump and rattle. The elements on Banshee are much more drawn out than your typical B&M invert, which sounds like an interesting change, but what this does is prolong the discomfort. If you like Banshee, can you please tell me why you like it? I’m tired of being the outlier. I really want to like this thing! It just hurts too much!

13/08/2024

Can I offer you a nice Arrow in this trying time? I’m a huge fan of the Bat (or Top Gun. Or Flight Deck. Or whatever you wanna call it.) Actually, I’m a huge fan of Arrow suspended coasters in general! Ohio is fortunate to have two of them, this and Iron Dragon, and Bat is definitely my favorite. The swinging is so aggressive and you get a great sense of speed going through the layout. It’s a shame Arrow didn’t sell more of these, and even then, many of those have closed. Big Bad Wolf, XLR-8, the original Bat, and the legendary Eagle Fortress are just a handful that are no longer operating. Maybe one day I’ll make my way to the other two Arrow suspended coasters in North America and see how they compare, but for now I’m perfectly happy marathoning this!

10/08/2024

After three years I returned to Kings Island and got back on a coaster I just can’t get enough of: Mystic Timbers! This is absolutely my favorite wooden roller coaster of all time. It gives a great sense of speed throughout and never seems to lose momentum. The entire time you’re being thrown left and right by the banking of the track, and I always get some excellent airtime during these moments. The only thing I’ve never understood about this coaster is its theme. It’s a…haunted lumber company? With giant mystical creatures outside? And there’s 80’s music in there too for some reason. I may not understand the theme but it’s certainly unique. Kings Island and GCI knocked it out of the park with this one. I was marathoning Mystic Timbers for most of the day during my visit and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it!

08/08/2024

I have a new video out over on my YouTube channel! It's time I rank all the coasters I rode back on my Myrtle Beach trip. There aren't a lot of them (only seven total), but what's here is an unusual collection of coasters with a few highlights.
Myrtle Beach used to have a LOT more roller coasters, but after the closure of the Myrtle Beach Pavilion and the infamous Hard Rock Park, these seven are all that are left.

For as popular a vacation destination as Myrtle Beach is, it doesn't have very many roller coasters to speak of! Only seven coasters are currently operating ...

24/06/2024

That’s it for my Myrtle Beach trip! I’ve now posted about all seven coasters in the area. Which one would you consider the best?

(I have a feeling the answer will be unanimous…)

22/06/2024

The final night of my Myrtle Beach trip also meant coaster completion! The final stop on my list was the Funplex, a relatively new amusement park featuring a few rides by SBF Visa. The park’s main attraction is the Fun in the Sun coaster, a Big Air coaster model that offers two very different experiences depending on where you sit. Most of the cars are your typical SBF Visa spinning cars, and they provide a nice family coaster-type experience. The first two cars, however, have what are called “Hamster Wheels”, and they’re awesome! As you roll along the track, the wheels spin, giving you a seemingly unlimited number of inversions. They send the train around three times, so you can flip around a good number of times before the ride ends. The rest of the park has a few flat rides as well as a bar at the center, and this has to take the record for the smallest amusement park I’ve ever seen. The coaster runs along the perimeter, and it barely takes up a city block. The park has a heavily-traveled location right at the end of the Myrtle Beach boardwalk, which is arguably the biggest tourist hotspot in the entire area, but the park’s tiny size also means that the walkways are small and can get congested frequently. Still, since the park is free admission and pay-per-ride, that meant I was able to run in, get a couple rides on Fun in the Sun, and get out without too much hassle. The park offers ride credits and all-day wristbands (Fun in the Sun was about $10 to ride once), but I think it would be hard to spend an entire day here. Since the park only has seven rides (which is still impressive that they managed to fit them all in this space), I feel like most people would get through them all pretty quickly. With that said, a quick stop at Funplex is definitely worth it just for the coaster alone. I hope more of these SBF Visa Big Air coasters get built, and with more elaborate layouts!

21/06/2024

Tonight I visited Family Kingdom, Myrtle Beach’s premier seaside amusement park! I had heard good things about this park leading up to my visit, and I was very impressed at how much I ended up enjoying it. Admission is free, however it is a pay-per-ride park. The ride all day wristbands are a bit pricey at $48, however I took advantage of the “early bird” offer, where wristbands go down to $30 for only the first hour after opening. This meant that I got a wristband and parking for less than the normal wristband price! Anyway, the park has a healthy lineup of rides, including portable rides and more permanent installations, as well as four roller coasters. I know most of you probably want to know what I thought of the coasters, so let’s do them one by one.

Kiddie Coaster (AKA Speedy Gonzalez) - This is the one I couldn’t ride, and if you’re an adult, then you can’t either. It’s strictly kids only. That kinda sucks, but it’s a Wacky Worm, so you’re not missing out on much.

Dragon - This is 100% a fairground ride that was just placed here to fill a space, and that makes sense being that Family Kingdom was recently purchased by Powers Great American Midways. It does fit in just fine with the rest of the park’s lineup though, and it was a fun little ride. Some decent laterals that kids might enjoy. It’s a fine family coaster.

Twist & Shout - This Zamperla wild mouse has had a few other homes over the years before ending up here. This one is unique in that its cars look like 1950s automobiles. This coaster has an extremely jarring jolt as you engage with the chain lift, and the slam into the brakes at the end can catch you off guard. Aside from those two moments, the rest of the coaster is surprisingly smooth and it of course offers those sharp turns that wild mice are known for.

Swamp Fox - The premier boardwalk coaster of Myrtle Beach, it’s been here since 1966 and HOLY MOLY! Designed by the legendary John C Allen, Swamp Fox is an airtime machine, especially in the back few rows. It’s a relatively short ride, but it’s extremely re-rideable. I had heard horror stories of how rough this coaster was, but it’s clearly been retracked at some point recently because I found it to be decently smooth. As someone who has ridden other John C Allen coasters (like Blue Streak at Cedar Point) Swamp Fox felt familiar, yet fresh. This alone is worth a visit to this park.

Coasters aside, Family Kingdom has an excellent atmosphere as the park really comes alive at night. The lights look fantastic and it all has such an energy I haven’t witnessed in a long while. Other notable attractions include The Great Pistolero Roundup, the first-ever Sally Dark Ride which was built inside an old Mexican restaurant. It’s a short ride but a lot of fun, and I’m a sucker for anything with animatronics. The park also has a great-looking carousel, a relaxing train ride that runs right up along the front entrance, and a nice antique car ride that goes right under Swamp Fox. Family Kingdom’s flat ride lineup is also impressive, with a great variety of rides for both kids and adults. If you only have time to ride coasters in one place in Myrtle Beach, go to Family Kingdom. It’s such a fun boardwalk park and I highly recommend it.

My Myrtle Beach trip has nearly reached its end, however there’s one coaster left that I have yet to ride. See you tomorrow!

20/06/2024

No coasters today folks, however that doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything park-related. Being in Myrtle Beach, you know I had to stop by and pay my respects at the former site of Hard Rock Park/Freestyle Music Park, one of the biggest failed projects in theme park history. You might remember I did a video about this park years ago and the story of how it failed. Well since then, the remains of the park have been bulldozed and the site is now a FedEx distribution center. Despite that though, very few remnants of the park can still be found. Most notably, the Freestyle Music Park sign is somehow still standing at the intersection of Fantasy Harbour Blvd and George Bishop Pkwy. I also found a few of the park’s directional signs scattered around, and a small portion of the main walkway that led from the parking lot to the entrance is still there along with the lampposts that lined it. This rubs more salt in the wound for me, being that I did visit Myrtle Beach with my family in 2009 and could have visited here, I just didn’t know about it. Anyway, that’s it for my look back at this place. Tomorrow I’ll get back to some coasters that are still open as I continue my posts about all the coasters in Myrtle Beach!

19/06/2024

Tonight I rode the second of Myrtle Beach’s six coasters: Myrtle Turtle! Located at the popular Broadway at the Beach complex, Myrtle Turtle is yet another SBF Visa spinning coaster, the second one I’ve ridden this week. I have a bit of history with this one however, as I attempted to ride it in 2018 only to find it closed. Tonight I got my shot at redemption! Broadway at the Beach features two areas with several amusement rides, a couple of which are taken from the former Pavilion Amusement Park (may it rest in peace). Myrtle Turtle is not one of those rides, but it is the only coaster you’ll find at the new Pavilion Park. The coaster itself may not be anything special, but it does have some great lights on it and its setting at the corner of an amusement midway is certainly picturesque. With both spinning coasters out of the way however, I can now move on to the real Star coasters of Myrtle Beach.

17/06/2024

This week I’m in Myrtle Beach, so I’ll be highlighting some of the coasters in the area! Today I checked a smaller one off the list: Shark Party at The Track Family Fun Center. This is a family entertainment center with an impressive multi-level go kart track, arcade, and a few small flat rides. Shark Party is your typical SBF Visa figure eight spinning coaster and it costs about $9 to ride, but they send you around over ten times so you definitely get your money’s worth. If you happen to be in the area it’s worth getting a quick coaster credit, and this won’t be the last SBF Visa coaster I ride this week either, so stay tuned for that.

15/06/2024

Summer is here and you know what that means! It’s time for me to list off all the new things for this year at Kennywood! This year’s additions are numerous, big and small. We have a new attraction (kind of) in Potato Smash, a new show, and plenty of smaller improvements around the park. There’s a lot to go over, so go ahead to my video below and see for yourself!

Summer is here, and Kennywood's open! There's a good number of things inside the park that are new for this year that you might not know about, so I've colle...

30/05/2024

Framing is everything! Here’s a much more reliable Black Widow framed by those wonderful old Arrow supports. A sight I never get tired of seeing!

25/05/2024

I got a pleasant surprise yesterday on my return visit to Kennywood! Although a grand opening is scheduled for tomorrow morning, Potato Smash soft opened two days early! Crowds were practically nonexistent, so I got to ride upwards of eight times. It’s refreshing to see more than five cars running at the same time now! The cars look great, and I counted 16 of the 20 in total running. Random sound effects also play during the minute and a half ride cycle, like engine sounds and horns honking. It felt like the cars were slower than they should be, but we’ll see how they run tomorrow. It might seem kinda silly, but Potato Smash is a fun retheming of the already existing bumper cars, and it certainly makes the attraction stand out when compared to other traditional bumper cars. I only wish it could have got a center island!