Re: American Adventure Theme Park
It had such a high profile in the late 1980s and early 1990s - I went there three times; once with school on the penultimate day of the school year, and twice with a group from Nottingham City Hospital that I was a member of. Of course, it was easy for Nottingham people to get to due to the fact that it wasn't too far from Ilkeston. I actually forgot when it closed - I am certain that the profile of it went down from the late 1990s onwards. I know that it was prominently advertised in the East Midlands part of the Central TV region.
Lots of people actually thought of it as a poor man's Alton Towers, probably because Alton was more successful and more recognisable as a tourist attraction when it came to people visiting which they did from all over the country. The Missile was probably just the counterpart of Alton's Corkscrew ride, and no, I was too chicken to get on it. I did get on that ride where one was rocked from side to side, and that was enough of an ordeal!
In my first visit in 1989, I had an unofficial picture (a selfie of its day) with one of the bear mascots (can't remember the name of the character), but he reminded me of ALF the alien if you remember that. I know that it wasn't really like getting snapped with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland but it was the next best thing.
One memory is getting the bus back with a carrier bag full of souvenirs such as a frisbee and one of those bottles with a straw to have soft drinks from.
Quite a great place to visit at the time.
Telling it almost exactly like it was so many years later - and proud of doing so!