Old Chicago
Bolingbrook, Illinois
Memories

Here are some of the memories of Old Chicago that have been sent to me.  To add yours please email me and I'll add them as well.

 

I just found your website and it brought back some great memories.  I lived in the south suburbs of Chicago and went to Old Chicago probably 5 or 6 times before it was torn down.  I was amazed that the park didn't make it, as it did ease the cold winters of Chicago.  Seeing the site reminded me that there was some film footage shot there in the movie "The Fury" from the late 70's.  I don't know if you knew about it.   - Dave W.

You can see the Old Chicago section of The Fury on the Old Chicago Videos page.

Loved your Old Chicago website!

I've been reminiscing lately.  I remember seeing Willie Aames and Paradise at Old Chicago, back in 1979.  How I loved him.  I think Alicia Bridges was performing there the same night too, before Willie Aames - I never heard of her but I liked "I Love The Night Life" that she sang the night that I saw her.  My favorite ride was The Four Seasons where it would get cold when you rode past winter.  I remember the old cobblestone streets throughout the mall and the Old Fashioned Wendy's (when they had the old ads on the tables).

Thanks for posting all those pictures on your website!  I loved browsing through your site.  What great memories!  - Debbi

From 1974 - 1980 I lived in Downers Grove and Old Chicago was a couple miles down I-55 in Bolingbrook. In addition to working in the games department in the summer of 1979, I went to Old Chicago many times.

My most fond memories of Old Chicago are of the Windy City Disco Movement. It was the only place around where teenagers could go to dance to the latest disco music. It had a great dance floor. I took many dates there. It was located in the southwestern corner of the amusement park.

There was a bookstore that always carried the latest issue of Billboard magazine - not easy to find, especially in the suburbs. Being a diehard music chart follower, this required frequent trips down there before I could afford the pricey subscription.

And of course there were the rides. The Chicago Loop, there was a Tilt-a-Whirl and a Scrambler though I'm sure they had different names, and the Enterprise.

I now live in Minneapolis/St Paul and only seven miles away from me is the Mall of America. Every time I'm there (frequently with 13 and 12 year old daughters), I remember Old Chicago. Because in many ways, Old Chicago was the predecessor to the Mall of America. It was the same idea, but without anchor stores, it couldn't survive. But my Old Chicago memories will always survive. And they are all good!   -John Jacobsen

I enjoyed reading your page on Old Chicago. One question! The ride that you call The Enterprise, the one that went around in a circle as it rose until you were just about upside down, wasn't that ride called "The Windy City"? I had very specific memories about that name and of course the Chicago Loop, as they were my first rides of their kind.   -Laura Smith

I believe it was called the Windy City Screamer.  I called it the Enterprise because that is the name that the manufacturer of that type of ride called that model.  Thanks for reminding me and it has been changed.



I went to Old Chicago many times. I remember that a friend of mine won tickets from the Loop for New Year's Eve. we had so much fun there. I was little for my age and they didn't want to let me on the Chicago Loop, but since my dad was with me they let me. I don't remember that much else about it though, but I do remember that right next to the ticket booth there was a novelty shop that sold all kinds of crazy stuff, & we bought fake dog poop there for our teacher's birthday.  -Annette Mills

I have fond memories of Old Chicago. That was were I got my first job in 1977 at the one and only game that was upstairs “Fascination”. It was tic tac toe with balls that you would roll up to the top of a machine and they would fall in a hole and light up a screen on the front of the machine it was twenty-five cents per game. I worked with a guy there named “Justo”, don’t know whatever happened to him. You would win tickets and you could turn them in for prizes (like the now Haunted Trails/Chucky Cheese).

I moved from that game to the amusement park office downstairs. I worked with Greg Rice and a Mr. Brandolino. I met some of the stars that came to put on concerts – the big ragu (Laverne and Shirley), Peaches and Herb and a few others.

I could hear the “Loop” the roller coaster going and when it jumped the track and got stuck on the top just before it would go down the first hill, I would get several calls from workers that said “Loops jumped”. I would have to call maintenance and the manager on duty to go and check it out.

My brother Richard worked there as well as a game manager. I also met my first husband there William Carlson, he ran the rides. I had a lot of fun at that place and was very sad when it closed down so soon after I started working there. The memories will never be forgotten.  -Renee LaBuda

I remember going to Old Chicago a few times and loved it. We went there on a Saturday when Karl Wallenda walked the tightrope near the dome during a weekend engagement. I was disappointed on its closure but realize it was very much a product of its time period, yet I feel it will eventually be regarded as ahead of its time as well.  -Myron Jenkins

I went in August of 1976 to the park so I'm sure some things changed. But here is what I remember:

After entering the park (which you entered by going down spiral concrete ramps that led from the mall level to the park level) I will describe the rides I remember in a Clockwise fashion. Obviously there were probably more "flat" and kiddee rides than I remember. But any of the big things I remember because my brother and I went on them.

If you looked into the park directly from the ticket booths the first ride in front of you was the Log Ride. It was a rather short ride and the water channels were made of cement instead of fiberglass which I remember as being weird. The ride was kinda boring; it meandered around and ended in a small hill (probably only about 25 ft). To the left of the log ride was the Chicago Loop which was the Corkscrew coaster. This was a standard Arrow model but since it was enclosed it made a really "neat" noise when it travelled on it's circuit.

Working around the outer circle (which the park was laid out in) the next ride was the Enterprise. This ride was placed directly against the wall; when the ride was elevated to its peak it was parallel w/ the exterior glass wall that separated the amusement park from the mall. I remember riding this since it was my first Enterprise and it actually scared me back then. The next ride on the circle (and it was directly behind the Chicago Loop) was a Chance Yo-Yo. Walking past this there was a large food stand and I believe some kind of show stadium. The next thing on the circle was "The Cat" rollercoaster. I remember it being flush against the wall and I remember it having the longest line we encountered all day. The only other ride I remember was a dark ride that was called "The Four Seasons". It was extremely lame as I remember. But what was neat was that the entrance to the ride was flush w/ the amusement park wall. In other words the track traveled under what must have been the walkway for the Mall. The day we went to the park it wasn't crowded at all and we did most everything in about 3 hours.

I remember thinking the layout seemed odd since a couple of ride entrances would be close together and then there would be patches of dead area filled w/ food shops and game booths. Something I read about in articles about the park and something I experienced at that time was the weird noises that the rides generated and that the indoor park contained. In the last few years of the park major bucks were spent (apparently) on sound dampers. When we visited it wasn't that all the rides were noisy. Rather the just echoed in a really strange way. The sound from the Chicago Loop was so distinguishable that you could tell exactly where the train was on the coaster even if you didn't look just by the "pitch" of the sound. I don't know any other way to explain this but I would be interested to hear if anyone else remembers this.   -Christopher 

I remember Old Chicago.

 Only visited a few times. In retrospect, I remember the park did have some cool names of rides. In addition to the Chicago Loop, I thought the Crash of '29 was a neat name for the bumper cars. I also remember the Four Seasons dark ride which I liked a lot. Seem to remember a YoYo as well. I remember getting sick on the Rotor, one of the very few times I got sick at a park. Took a rest and then went on the Tilt a Whirl and got sick again. Pretty stupid.

I remember they had these funny box like things hanging from the sky. Supposedly to dampen noise. The sky or lack there of was a negative. Wish they had skylights like Camp Snoopy at Mall of America. For an indoor park, that one does a good job of making you feel like you are outdoors, almost. Interestingly, the site still attracted me years later.

My two passions in life are parks and cars. I've been back several times for classic car auctions (the site is now a car auction), and in my brief stint as a car dealer, have been there to buy and sell. Still wish it was a park though, and better yet, wish some of the other outdoor parks in Chicagoland had survived.   -Jim W 

I visited Old Chicago in my youth. I believe I went two times. I think the first time was still while the park was in full swing, and the second was when it was in decline.

I don't remember much for sure--my impressions were very vague--but I seem to recall the park not being very crowded on my second visit. I don't remember the rides very well. I know they had a flat ride that I liked a lot. I think it was called the Bobs (I had no idea that there might be a coaster association with this name), and consisted of tubs that swung out freely as the ride went around on a track with some hills. Geauga Lake has one of these called the Yukon Yahoos, and Cedar Point also has one, possibly called Matterhorn. I loved this ride at the time.

I don't really remember the coasters clearly at all. I have the impression the Corkscrew got very close to the roof, but I don't really remember the ride experience at all. Oddly, the one thing I remember clearly is when a guy at the dunking booth was trying to get me to play by calling me "four eyes." This was located on one wall of the park area, along with some other games. This is when I remember the park not being very crowded, because there weren't too many other people for him to make fun of as we walked by. It's really the only visual memory I have of the place now, unfortunately.  -Dave Sandborg 

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Copyright 1999 - 2009 Paul B. Drabek