Castle Park is a little park that seems like a Golf'N'Stuff style place at first, but it's actually was fairly nice. Now this may be in Southern California, but I procrastinated so much in getting here that I ended up coming here in 2011 for credit whoring. My plan was just to get the credits, maybe try another ride or two, and then move on. But nope, I really enjoyed Castle Park. Yeah, I know its a small little park in the middle of Riverside. But hey! I really liked it. Unfortunately, the theme park aspect of Castle Park seems to be declining as they keep closing rides. The coasters weren't really anything that special, since really, their best coaster was just a clone of Pole Position. But now that's gone. As are many of the rides. It honestly really feels like its downgrading to a regular old Golf'N'Stuff type of place. But....hey. Maybe this is only temporary and they have some good things planned for Castle Park, since....the park is owned by Palace, and they may decide to invest in the park. But.....it is in Riverside. Not exactly a hotspot. I hope they can get their sh*t together. But we'll see.
All right. Here are all of the flat rides that are found at Castle Park. First off, they had a falling star. Now, there was nothing really to this ride. Its just an ordinary falling star, though I did slip on the exit. That was fun. =) But sadly, they got rid of it. It's a shame since they're starting to become a dying breed now. They also have some flyers here. The flyers here are fun, but they don't snap. The double shot is fun, but pretty standard. The bumper cars are awesome since they don't have any stupid one way or no head on bumping allowed rules. Their tilt a whirl spins a lot, and the car ride is fun. And these are just the flat rides that I rode. They also have a Ring of Fire, a Gravitron, a Monster, a Scrambler, a Pirate Ship, some Chairswings, and a Carousel.
Just chillaxing on the flyers. =)
Dark Rides
Well this doesn't really seem like the type of place you'd see have a big dark ride. But they do have a shooting dark ride here. Its nothing special, just an ordinary shooting dark ride. Its an exact clone of the one they have at Nickelodeon Universe. Which is fun, but nothing special. If you love shooting dark rides, here you go.
NO!!! I'm not part of the ride!
Water Rides
There is only one water ride at Castle Park. Its just a log flume. Now normally, when parks like Castle Park have a log flume, its usually the sh*tty RCT Style Log Flume, but the one at Castle Park actually was a lot of fun. Ok, its not that great. Its not amazing. But it was fun, and though it does seem similar to the carnival log flumes, but this one seemed bigger for some reason. But hey. Definetly check it out if you're at Castle Park and its got a short line.
Hey. This is a fun log ride.
Dining
While I will admit that the food at Castle Park is nothing special. Theres no mystical food unique to Castle Park that you have to try that you will never find at any other park. But there is something to note about the food at Castle Park. ITS DECENTLY PRICED!!!!! At least for an amusement park it is. Its not like fast food, but it is a fairly good deal by amusement park terms. The Pizza Meal I got was only $8.00 That's a f*cking steal by amusment park terms. Hell, its not even that much more expensive than fast food. So the food itself may be meh, but you won't get robbed for it. =)
See. I'm not lying.
Theming and Other Attractions
Here are the reviews of all the other stuff at Castle Park. Well when it comes to theming, Castle Park isn't really that big, but the park does have a very nice atmosphere. Like I said earlier, it almost reminds me of a Mini-Hersheypark in a very weird and bizarre way. And when it comes for other stuff to do, yeah. Theres a lot more at Castle Park. They do have a really nice arcade. I'm not a big arcade person, but I still managed to have some fun in here, and it did bring a sense of nostalgia to me, but thats probably just the sheer fact that I rarely ever go to arcades. And they also do have mini-golf course. I never checked it out. But I'm sure that it's fun.
Hey, the Arcade is cool. See look. We're having fun.
In Conclusion
Castle Park is not an incredible theme park. The rides are fairly average and its no Disneyland. But I think its safe to say that nobody ever expected this place to be Disneyland. Castle Park knows what it is, and for what it is, it does its job really well. The park is a lot of fun despite its small size because you know that they care about this place. Unfortunately, it seems like the park is dwindling with less rides being built. But who knows. They may change that. I certainly hope so. Cause I will come back if they have a new coaster to replace Screamin Demon. But.....the way it currently is, I don't see myself coming back without some new addition.
Enthusiast FAQs.
*Are there kiddy coaster restrictions? - No. There are no restrictions for Merlin's Revenge.
Tips
*Hit up the park in the morning to avoid all the locals coming at night.
