As you sit there drinking your morning coffee, reading this column, I want you to do me a favor. Think about the first time you drove. Think about the first time you got behind the wheel, the first time you ever put your foot on the gas, the first time you ever felt the exhilaration of being in control of a car.
You are all probably thinking about the first car you owned, but if you were like me, the first time you “drove” was not in a real automobile, but a bumper car. Think about it. Long before you got your learner’s permit or driver’s license, the first thing your drove that didn’t require pedals was a bumper car.
I think that is why so many people felt so emotional last week when Six Flags Over Georgia announced that the famous Dodge City Bumper Cars would be no more.
“It’s a sad day to see the Dodge City Bumper Cars go and it’s a classic family ride,” Six Flags spokesman Gene Petriello said. “But we’re excited because the reason why this bumper car ride is going away is to make way for a big attraction that we having coming, a big ride, in 2017.”
To clear space for the new ride, the beloved bumper cars need to be removed.
“It’s a nostalgic ride. Their moms, their dads, their grandmothers, their aunts or uncles, rode that when they were younger. And now their kids and their grand kids are riding Dodge City Bumper Cars. It’s a classic ride,” Petriello said.
For me, as a kid, the bumper cars were great because I was in charge of something. I could drive that little car around the track just like my parents and other adults. It was empowering. More so than roller coasters or Ferris wheels where you just sat there and let the ride take over, the bumper cars gave you a sense of control. You were in charge of the ride. You could drive them anyway you wanted. You could zoom around the perimeter of the track or you could drive it right smack into the back of another car. They were great.
I always made sure the first ride we went on at the amusement park was the bumper cars and if possible, I would try to have the bumper cars be our last ride of the day.
Nostalgia doesn’t pay the bills I suppose and Six Flags decided that space would be better used for a newer ride.
“I guarantee that the ride that is coming will be an attraction everybody will enjoy,” Petriello said. “It’s a great attraction that is coming, a great ride, and every one’s really going to enjoy the opportunity to take part in this starting in the spring of 2017.”
What will the new ride be?
“Unfortunately, I can’t give you clues on that just yet,” Petriello said. “We will announce officially which ride is coming to the park to the 2017 season and our 50th anniversary on September 1st.”
I’m sure the new ride will be breathtaking, but I’ll still miss my first ride, the bumper cars.
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