The Abandoned Roller Coaster -- Hiding in the Woods

See that photo of me next to an abandoned roller coaster out in the woods? That's how God capped off an amazing 10-day journey of unearthing and discovering a handful of new abandoned Florida adventures. Oh, how fun this has been!

The discoveries seemed to come at me rapid fire starting with a nudge to visit my old home at Patrick Air Force Base's South Housing . This then led to my surprise discovery of the ruins of Houser's Zoo in Melbourne. Which followed with a visit to the outskirts (again) of the abandoned Splendid China theme park in Kissimmee. Which brought about the quirky discovery of a Chinese Restaurant hidden inside a Winn Dixie store... and then, finding the re-construction of a new roller coaster transferred from the old Cypress Gardens at Fun Town in Kissimmee. Whew!

The Discovery

Just before finding the "new" roller coaster mentioned above, an unexpected "old" roller coaster was about to enter my world.

I was enjoying a weekend camping trip with my wife and good friends, Wally and Cheryl, when on a hot Saturday afternoon I decided to grab my camera and take a leisurely stroll through the surrounding woods bordering the campground. We'd spotted several deer the previous night, so I knew that this particular Florida region had obviously not seen much in the area of development and construction.

It looked like a trail edging into the woods, so I took it, the sounds of campers quickly diminishing, swallowed up behind me by the towering Florida trees. I had the late afternoon sun on my left, and I used it as guide to keep me from getting totally lost. (My cell phone's GPS would be my backup guide.) The humidity pressed in on me as the trail zigzagged between bushes and trees. I picked up a stick to use as a spider web "clearing" device, not to mention it could come in handy if I happened to startle a snake.

Wiping my brow, I walked the path, looking around for any kind of discoveries. I spotted a small, half-buried concrete slab and wondered at its history. Had there really been something so far out in the middle of nowhere? Or was it just dumped concrete? I moved on.

An old bed frame came and went, and the sunshine blinked at me between the high branches. I felt a sensation of peace then, and welcomed it, talking with God as I crunched along this path, decades of leaves beneath my feet.

The path made an abrupt turn to the left and I was now walking directly into the sun. Out of the glare I suddenly saw a low, rusty chain between two trees. What was a chain doing out here in the forest? I approached cautiously, my ears straining for any kind of sound. A dilapidated wood shack appeared, and honestly the first thought that hit me was that I'd just stumbled onto some sort of old Florida moonshine location. What better place then out here in the woods, right?

I kept listening, hearing only the wind in the trees. That's when I saw other objects. Large containers of some sort. I approached slowly, then called out.

"Hello?"

No answer.

I gave the wood shack a wide berth, my imagination firing with all kinds of thoughts as I peered into the shadows. A small clearing materialized ahead, with something tangled in the vines. Could it really be? I moved closer, still cautious of my surroundings. And then I saw it. A roller coaster car sitting precariously on some sort of metal frame, green vines snaking around as though trying to hide it from view. It was a moment that made me laugh out loud. An abandoned roller coaster? Seriously? Just exactly the kind of thing that I'd dreamed of finding one day? And then an explosion of movement erupted from nearby, nearly startling me out of my socks. I looked up in panic as a deer leapt from nearby, fleeing into the deeper woods.

With heartbeat somewhat back to normal, I took a deep breath and snapped some pictures (see photos 1 thru 5 at the top of this article) and then slowly looked around. Nearby was some sort of basketball game called "Shoot Out", the hoops poking up through the vegetation like an oddly built fence. A dozen feet further and I discovered an old sign advertising the "Glue Girls" (That's picture #5). Siamese twins, maybe? Several large, red, circular objects were stacked adjacent to more old relics from somewhere in the past.

My trek back toward the trail took me past the decrepit shack that had seemed so scary before. This time I psyched myself up to peek through the open doors. As my eyes adjusted to the dark interior, two objects materialized: Parts from an old "Strong Guy" type of game found at carnivals and amusement parks -- the kind where you hit a hammer and cause a sliding slug to ring the bell at the top. A name I didn't recognize -- Greyhound Amusement -- was cast into the metal frame.

This whole area was so similar to one of my favorite American Picker's episode. What had I stumbled across? My best guess is that this was some sort of graveyard for pieces and parts of nearby Old Town in Kissimmee. The old park bench I found '" with 'Old Town 1986' cast into the side, and some of the other signage certainly seems to lead toward that conclusion. And then there's the name on the front of the coaster car: Wind Storm. Somewhere in the back of my mind is a long ago memory of riding an Old Town coaster with my children -- Who knows, maybe we'd even ridden in this very car back when it once rode the rails.

When I showed off my photos back home to young friends, I had a few ask excitedly: "Did you get anything? Did you take anything?"

Of course I did.

I took pictures. I took memories. I took deep meaning from God as I enjoyed yet another unexpected adventure into the past. Again and again God has been able to surprise me in the most unlikely of places and times. I find an amazing amount of joy in these 'urban archeology' discoveries, and I'm still working out the 'why' of that.

In the meantime -- Wow!

What's next, God? What's next? :)

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More Photos:

Ron Masters' Photography - See 26 Photos of this location on Facebook