Richard Bannister

Dixie Landin' is located in the greater New Orleans area, albeit far enough away to have completely avoided the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. It is promoted mainly as a water park, and indeed most of its guests seem to know it under its other name, the Blue Bayou. The water slides are supplemented by a small number of amusement rides all included within the admission price, including three roller coasters.

A lone operator was managing reasonable throughput with one operational train on the Galaxi (#1178). The track on this model was pretty rusty but this wasn't affecting ride quality; it was still as smooth as ever. The only negative point was that the brake before the final corner was out of commission. The track there is not banked at all, and the speed the train went round it resulted in severe laterals. Presumably this is why only one train was in use, as the ride operator was stopping the train with a manual brake on the exit platform.

I wasn't particularly positive about Xtreme in its previous home, and the same criticisms still apply here. There was one particular oh-my-god-that-hurt moment as the car came round the final corner, meaning that once was definitely enough. Once again the operators were doing a good job with efficient loading, albeit with only three cars on course; the other three were visible opposite the ride maintenance workshop.

The final coaster was the Ragin' Cagun (#1179), quite possibly the slowest Vekoma Boomerang in the known universe. It took almost ninety seconds for the winch to pull the train to the top of the first drop, but from there on in it was the standard ride we all know and, er, love. This model was actually smooth by Boomerang standards, but not smooth enough that we'd have tried it a second time!

George wanted to visit Celebration Station Baton Rouge after Dixie Landin', as he knew it to contain a small kiddie coaster. Neither of us realised until we got there that it was a) powered, and b) absolutely tiny. However, it would have been rude not to ride Minor Mike since we were there. As it turned out we were not the only ones; the operator told us that he'd had coaster enthusiasts through the place before. Perhaps that's why he sent the thing round twenty times!

Our evening drive took us through New Orleans, a truly beautiful city. We had our dinner in the French quarter, which looked to be mostly untouched by the events of three years ago. Even there, though, the number of buildings for sale or rent was quite telling. As we drove out of the city we saw the remnants of abandoned housing estates, many buildings missing walls and roofs. Where have all these families gone? Who knows.

Perhaps the most poignant image of all though was of Six Flags New Orleans, where many rides still stand. A deserted amusement park is a symbol of much of what this community has lost. Will it ever open again? I'd like to think so, but I'm not holding my breath.