Blue Bayou and Dixie Landin'
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| Location | 18142 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 30°20′39″N 91°01′35″W / 30.344116°N 91.026465°W |
| Opened | 1989 (c. 1960 as Fun Fair Park)[1] |
| Owner | Samuel B. Haynes, Jr.[2] |
| Operating season | May 5 through September 3 |
| Attractions | |
| Total | Blue Bayou- 20 total/ Dixie Landin'- 26 |
| Roller coasters | 3 |
| Website | http://www.bluebayou.com/ http://www.dixielandin.com/ |
Blue Bayou Waterpark and Dixie Landin' are adjacent amusement parks in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[3] Blue Bayou is a water park and Dixie Landin' is a dry amusement park with thrill rides.
Blue Bayou
[edit]Blue Bayou has 20 attractions including a lazy river, a behemoth bowl, a quadruple aqualoop, a wave pool, a ProSlide Tornado, and many other slides. Over the years, it has been adding new attractions. The newest attraction is "Mambo", a quadruple aqualoop which opened in August 2012. For the 2012 season, it also updated its lazy river, bathhouses, food menus, and kids' section.[4] It is marketed as "The Land of the Giants", with the park advertising five of its water slides as the world's largest of their types.[citation needed]
Attractions
[edit]- Mambo (World's Largest Aqualoop)[citation needed]
- Voodoo (World's Largest Dark Behemothbowl)[5]
- Azuka (World's Largest Tornado Slide)[5]
- Racers (World's Largest Water Racer)[5]
- Conja' (World's Largest In-Line Water Slide)[5]
- Mad Moccasins
- Pirate's Cove (A Children's Play Area)
- Flyin' Pirogue
- High Water
- Awesome Twosome
- Hurricane Bay (Wave pool)
- Lafitte's Plunge (A 90 Foot Free Fall Slide)
- Atchafalaya Run (formerly Lazy River)
Dixie Landin'
[edit]Dixie Landin' was built in 1999. Some of its rides came from the now defunct Fun Fair Park which was located at the intersection of Florida Boulevard and Airline Highway. It includes rides for all ages, including kiddie rides and thrill seeker rides. It currently has 27 attractions, including an S&S combo drop tower, a log flume, three roller coasters, and a variety of flat rides. The Drop Tower, Hot Shot, was originally the O2 Tower from Panama City Beach, Florida's now defunct Miracle Strip Amusement Park. In 2008, Hurricane Gustav destroyed the Coca-Cola concert stage, however, a new one was built in time for the 2009 season.
Roller coasters
[edit]| Name | Year Opened | Manufacturer | Type | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ragin' Cajun | 2001 | Vekoma | Boomerang | Previously operated at Hafan y Môr Holiday Park in Pwllheli, Wales, United Kingdom |
| Gilbeaux's Galaxi | 2001 | S.D.C. | Galaxi | Previously operated at Pontchartrain Beach in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. and the nearby defunct Fun Fair Park. |
| Loco-Loco | 2001 | E&F Miler Industries | Family Coaster / 24ft Harvest Express | Previously operated at Nut Tree Park in Vacaville, California. |
Amusement rides
[edit]| Name | Year Opened | Manufacturer | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jambalaya | 1999 | Eli Bridge Company | Scrambler |
| Flyin’ Tiger | 1999 | Schwarzkopf | Enterprise |
| Over The Rainbow | 1999 | HUSS | Rainbow |
| Side Winder | 2019 | Moser's Rides | Sidewinder |
| The Splinter | 1999 | D.P.V. Rides | Log Flume |
| Tilt-A-Whirl | 1999 | Sellner Manufacturing | Tilt-A-Whirl |
| Zydeco Express | 1999 | S.D.C. | Music Express |
| Barataria Pirate | 1999 | Morgan | Swinging Ship |
| Cajun Collision | 1999 | WGH Transportation Engineering | Bumper Cars |
| Fouchon Flyer | 1999 | Hrubetz | Paratrooper |
| Frog Hopper | 1999 | S&S Power | Frog Hopper |
| Gumbo Yo-Yo | 1999 | Chance Rides | Yo-Yo |
| Space Odyssey | 1999 | Chance Rides | Whip |
| Gasoline Alley | 1999 | Arrow Dynamics | Track-car |
| Grand Carousel | 1999 | Chance Rides | Carousel |
| Manchac Railroad | 1999 | Chance Rides | Train ride |
| Merry-Go-Round | 1999 | Chance Rides | Kiddie Carousel |
| Old 99’s | 1999 | Chance Rides | Track Car ride |
| The Delta Crop Duster | 1999 | Allan Herschell Company | Plane Ride |
| Around Town | 1999 | Zamperla | Crazy Bus |
| Black Widow | 1999 | Eyerly | Octopus |
| Boat Race | 1999 | Allan Herschell Company | Boat Ride |
| Drums Of Fun | 1999 | Venture Manufacturing | Drum-style tea cups |
Incidents
[edit]On June 9, 2006, a 2-year-old boy broke his arms and legs after falling at least 25 feet (7.6 m) from the “Over the Rainbow” ride. He was seated next to 3½-year-old sister but about 8 feet (2.4 m) from his mother at the time; his mother says she was told that the other adjacent seat was out of order.[6][7]
On July 11, 2010, around 4:00 p.m., a woman fell to her death from the now-defunct Xtreme roller coaster.[7]
On August 4, 2011, Blue Bayou and Dixie Landin' was fined $25,295 by the U.S. Department of Labor for numerous labor violations. The park was allowing minors to work more than eight hours a day. 49 minors in the 14- to 15-year-old category were found to be subject to child labor provision violations.[8][2]
Hurricane Gustav
[edit]Hurricane Gustav caused moderate damage to both parks on September 1, 2008. Many trees were snapped, blown over, or uprooted. The Coca-Cola stage was destroyed, the awnings were blown off the Azuka, a portion of the Pirate's Cove roof was blown off, and a storage building alongside the Lazy River had its metal chimney knocked down onto the roof (it still remains lying on the roof, and was actually damaged again by Hurricane Isaac in 2012); the storage building contains the Lazy River's water flow pump. Multiple other attractions and buildings were affected. Luckily for Blue Bayou/Dixie Landin', the parks had just ended their season when the storm struck. They reopened in time for the 2009 season.
References
[edit]- ^ "Gone but not forgotten - Some of Baton Rouge's most beloved icons have closed their doors in the past three decades". 17 September 2012.
- ^ a b Quillen, Kimberly (2011-08-04). "Blue Bayou, Dixie Landin' cited for alleged violations of child labor laws". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
- ^ Chris Gautreau (June 4, 2009). "Blue Bayou plans camp site". 2theadvocate.com. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
- ^ "Blue Bayou Waterpark / Dixie Landin' Amusement Park". Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
- ^ a b c d "Blue=Blue Bayou / Dixie Landin'". Archived from the original on July 12, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
- ^ WAFB (2006-06-28). "Dixie Landin' Sued for Boy's Accident". WAFB.
- ^ a b WAFB (2010-07-11). "Woman dies after falling from roller coaster ride". WAFB.
- ^ Calder, Chad. "Blue Bayou fined for labor violation". The Advocate. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
http://theadvocate.com/news/410197-64/council-committee-discuss-bond-plan.html