THEME PARK TOUR AWESOME - DESPITE UPS AND DOWNS.Byline: Dawn Yoshitake Daily News Staff Writer Bing Futch loves to ride the wild ones. So much so that he's made a job of chronicling the sites, sounds, history and people involved in roller coasters While there have been hundreds of different roller coasters built, there have been just a few that were notable for specific reasons. Some reasons include:
And to share his experiences with other enthusiasts - and also give the weak-hearted a chance to live vicariously vi·car·i·ous adj. 1. Felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another: read about mountain climbing and experienced vicarious thrills. 2. through his rip-roaring adventures - Futch posts reports and pictures on his site on the World Wide Web (http://www.pages.prodigy.com/alpha/tour.htm). His tour, funded by Prodigy Services Co., began last month at Busch Gardens Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States owned and operated by Busch Entertainment Corporation, a division of Anheuser-Busch. One of the parks is in Williamsburg, Virginia and the other is in Tampa, Florida. theme park in Tampa, Fla., and Friday he was at Universal Studios Hollywood for the opening of the Jurassic Park ride. His tour will end July 4 at Walt Disney World Noun 1. Walt Disney World - a large amusement park established in 1971 to the southwest of Orlando Orlando - a city in central Florida; site of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. ``I've worked at theme parks all my life. Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a brand name of two separate entities: a theme park in Buena Park, California, and a manufacturer of food specialty products (primarily jams and preserves) based in Placentia, California. , Six Flags For the national flags of Texas, see . Six Flags (NYSE: SIX) is the world's largest chain of amusement parks and theme parks and is headquartered in New York City. There are 20 such parks run by Six Flags. and Universal. I love 'em,'' said Futch, a Florida composer/producer and former tour guide at the parks. ``Most people go to the parks to ride the rides. But there are people who make it work and my site also includes them too.'' Information ranging from future plans at the park to size, speed and highlights of major attractions are featured on his site. Impressions from customers and employees also find their way to his page, along with the length of lines. Futch, who visits at least one park a day, uploads the information to his site daily. At Universal Studios Hollywood, Futch buzzed about the perimeter of the ride with his laptop computer and video camera capturing screaming, water-drenched riders as they shot past view and interviewed park employees for their impressions of the ride. Then came Futch's turn to board a boat. And despite his coaster-riding experience, Futch got a few jolts along the way. A jeep tumbled off a ledge and into the water next to the boat, causing an ``Oh, God'' to slip from his lips. And an 84-foot drop through a tunnel was enough to get Futch to cover his head with his arms. ``There was some serious fear going on here,'' Futch said. ``This is one of the most thrilling attraction rides I've seen this summer.'' The coaster tour also kicked off the launch of Prodigy's theme parks interest group that Futch moderates. The interest group covers parks in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and overseas, chat rooms and links to other roller coaster sites on the Web. ``There's nothing better than traveling across the country and riding roller coasters for free,'' Futch said. ``You definitely can't beat this gig.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (Color) Bing Futch is chronicling theme park rides n ationwide on the Internet. Tom Mendoza/Daily News |
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