Negative-G - All Star Adventures 2013 Page One

All Star Adventures
Wichita, Kansas
July 19, 2013
Page One

It is a very long drive from Kansas City to Oklahoma City and you go through a whole lot of nothing between the two. I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere in Western Illinois and between Kansas City and Wichita is REALLY the middle of nowhere. You have views where you can see 20 miles all around and outside of a few windmills rigged to pump water for the cattle that graze the vast expanse there is no sign of any houses, buildings, roads (other than the expressway) or any sign of civilization at all.

Needless to say it was nice seeing a little civilization. Between Kansas City and Oklahoma City there isn't much for those in need of a coaster but one small park and two abandoned parks that are all around Wichita, Kansas. Besides getting us another coaster credit to add to our counts the stop in Wichita would get us out of the van and a chance to stretch our legs.

There have been three parks in Wichita in recent memory. The long running Joyland Amusement Park closed in 2004 after 56 years of thrilling Wichita. In 2007 to much fanfare Wild West World opened to the north of the city and within two months declared bankruptcy, closed down, had every ride sold off and then the people behind it ended up in jail due to massive financial fraud. The third park, and the one that remains open in Wichita is All Star Adventures and that was our first stop in town.

All Star Adventures is not really an amusement park but a "Family Entertainment Center" with an arcade, go-kart track, mini golf, batting cages, a driving range and...

...a few rides. Actually All Star Adventures had a really nice lineup of rides. As we were just passing through and as coaster enthusiasts call it "credit whoring" we really weren't there for just any rides...we were in search of a coaster.