Swamp Fox - Family Kingdom (SC)

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1 on the very front car of the first train sent out for the day.

I have ridden a LOT of roller coasters. I have ridden small coasters, medium coasters, and big coasters. I have ridden famous coasters and obscure coasters. I have ridden old coaster and I have ridden new coasters. While I have not come close to riding every coaster in the United States, I have ridden enough to decide what is most important to me: and it may not be something most coaster enthusiasts agree with.

I do not care about tallest, fastest, longest, etc. I am about the EXPERIENCE. Answer me this. What would be more fun? Waiting three hours in the humidity laced heat of Jackson, NJ to ride the world's tallest and faster coaster Kingda Ka or continuously looping Florida's Original Scream Machine (The Starliner) located in Cypress Gardens, FL? Would I rather wait in the long line for a 20 second ride (granted a good one), or put in 10 laps on a 70 foot tall ancient woodie in under an hour? Coasters are about fun people and it doesn't take the the world's fastest or tallest anything to have fun.

I said all of that to say this: the small Swamp Fox located in Myrtle Beach is fun. As you go up the lift hill, you can see the Atlantic Ocean less than 100 yards in front of you for as far as the eye can see. Instead of dropping straight over, the train circles slowly around a half-circle giving each ride a startling view before diving down the first drop. It is a great first drop which leads into a surprisingly airtime filled ride with my all time favorite restraint: the simple buzz bar.

This may not be a good review because I absolutely love these old wooden coaster built decades ago along the seaside. The Giant Dippers in Santa Cruz and Belmont, Great White up the coast in Jersey, the aforementioned Starliner, and the legendary Cyclone take me back to a previous time when coaster riding was not about breaking records but about having fun. And it seems that the more I ride, the more I love these quaint woodies and the small amusement parks where one can buy a wristband and ride 100 times if they wish. To me, that is more fun than waiting forever for one ride.

Thanks to all the small parks like Family Kingdom who do a wonderful job of upkeeping these old rides. i do not know how much longer rides like the Swamp Fox will be around, but as long as they are, I will make them vacation destinations. So give the old Swamp Fox a twirl. I seriously doubt it is the # 8 ranked coaster in the U.S. as the sign proclaims, but it is smooth, fun, and offers a couple of pops of ejector air. Surely that is worth a visit if you are in the area.

Overall Rating - 8

Ride Swamp Fox below.