DelGrosso's Amusement Park - Photo Journal

A fifteen minute drive down the road from Lakemont Park is DelGrosso's Amusement Park. They didn't have much in the way of new rides to interest me since I was last here in 2008. (They gave up trying to build the Arrow corkscrew from Libertyland and sold the parts to a park in the Philippines.) But DelGrosso's is free admission and is well received for their food (DelGrosso's also own a local sauce factory), so I figured this would make for good dinner plans today.

Parking for DelGrosso's is across the road from the dry rides park, meaning you have to take an overpass walkway to get there.

Tipton was pretty hot today (93°F), although it wasn't quite as bad as in 2008 (96°). Thank you, park sign, for helping me keep record of these details.

This Wacky Worm was my first Wacky Worm credit in 2008. Unfortunately there have been many more since that time.

Mafalda and Ferdinand DelGrosso, founders of the park and food company.

Despite more expensive and less interesting rides, DelGrosso's was a bit more popular than Lakemont this evening. Must partly be the cleaner, newer atmosphere around the park, as well as the fact that it's not as spread out.

"Buddy Bear" is one of my favorite theme park mascots ever. The emotion conveyed by his situation is almost Shakespearean.

DelGrosso's Amusement Park, the little park that likes to think big.

Here was reason number one for my visit to DelGrosso's this evening.

Meatball sub sandwich, quite a bit better than Subway. The real winner here is the combination of marinara sauce and a thick layer of provolone that holds it all in so you get a juicy little explosion when you bite into it. Worth a Golden Ticket Award for Best Food? Probably not. Knoebels or Dollywood still deserve the accolades, but that doesn't mean I'll pass by DelGrosso's for lunch if I'm ever doing a similar trip in the future.

DelGrosso's offers a better view of the Appalachians that surround the area than Lakemont.

Carousel Dome. The spindly tower on the left is one of the new rides for me.

The Pharaoh's Fury on the right was also new since my last time here. It replaced the Sea Dragon, which closed after someone drove into it. Apparently he was driving himself to the hospital after cutting off his finger, and fainted on the way from blood loss. I think he was eventually okay, unlike the Sea Dragon.

Don't people know how to park anymore?

I enjoy a good Paratrooper, but since I wasn't getting the unlimited ride wristband I was going to save it for later.

Apparently DelGrosso's is the place to be on a Thursday in July.

The park clearly does what it can to keep up appearances.

The Little Toot would not be tooting today.