The Magic Forest is a small fun fair in upstate New York that is a gold mine of unique Americana from a bygone era including the world's largest Uncle Sam figure and the nation's only remaining diving horse.
Created in 1963, the Magic Forest amusement park has not changed a great deal since then. The park is one of the final surviving example of the kind of simple, kid-friendly rural amusement park that were once ubiquitous in the heyday of Route 66. There are all the classic rickety carnival rides that shake, spin, and generally work hard to make riders nauseous, alongside the quaint fairytale-themed attractions based on nursery rhymes that seem almost aching quaint. However the park features a number of more one-of-a-kind attractions that set it apart from its quickly disappearing counterparts.
In addition to all of the standard fun fare, the Magic Forest is dotted with large fiberglass figures known as "muffler men," due to their former homes as mascots for auto repair shops. Towering over these already over-sized figures is a nearly 40-foot tall statue of Uncle Sam which claims to be the largest in the world. While there has been no official research or comparison to truly establish this fact, its validity is unknown, although its safe to assume that it is true. Would Uncle Sam lie to you?
The true star of the park though is Lightning, the Diving Horse. This chestnut gelding is the only remaining performer of a type of show the president of the Humane Society of the United States once called, "... a colossally stupid idea," in which the horse jumps muzzle first into a pool of water. During the height of the popularity of diving horses the poor beasts were often shoved and prodded off of high dives that would make a human being balk, but Lightning's show has been maximized for his health and happiness with a much shorter fall, high class boarding and a light performing schedule that is only in effect for two months out of the year. Which is all to say that the show can be enjoyed free of most ethical qualms that ruin so much fun in this world.
Ever wondered how airplane toilets tanks are emptied? Check out this awesome clip which shows how Lufthansa does it at Frankfurt Airport:
Now that's a $hitty job...
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Last week I wrote that US Airways will be increasing the cost of miles purchased through its bonuses, that come November American and US Airways will get aligned in how they sell miles.. which means they’ll be more expensive. US Airways is running a 100% bonus on purchased miles, it was supposed to end September […]
The post Last Shot at Buying US Airways Miles for 1.88 Cents Extended Through October 12 appeared first on View from the Wing.
Arguably the most anticipated hotel opening of the year has been the Park Hyatt New York, which I had the opportunity to stay at on their opening night. It's an absolutely gorgeous property, and deserving of its place as the flagship Park Hyatt property.
Something that has made this hotel interesting is that for the most part they haven't been selling standard rooms, and in turn haven't been making any standard room award nights available. Hyatt has no blackout dates on award nights, so as long as a standard room is available you can redeem points for it. But when there are no standard rooms...
As the schedule has opened up a year out, some standard rooms have periodically become available, though we're talking about as many award rooms as there are Qantas first class award seats.
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News and notes from around the interweb: Smithsonian’s Air & Space magazine: When Airliners Vanish Modern Family staffer live-tweets a passenger’s drunken meltdown (HT: Brian B.) Another vote for the Singapore Airlines Prawn and Chicken Laksa. I consider it to be the best meal I’ve ever eaten on a plane. It seems that police at […]
The post When Airliners Vanish, and Modern Family Live Tweets a Drunken Air Meltdown appeared first on View from the Wing.
